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* From Illinois Watchdog…
“Gov. Quinn is an excellent populist politician, but while populists can gain favor for brief periods, it is hard to sustain it over the long run,” John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute said. “The essence of the strategy is to divide people, driven by resentment and bitterness based on false narratives that must hide the truth.”
Resentment and bitterness, eh? Sounds like a lot of stuff Tillman says.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 12:44 pm
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Rauner has given $500,000, that we know of, to iPi and that’s the best john shillman can do?
Comment by William j Kelly Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 12:49 pm
Populist?
Try short-attention span. Pat Quinn has been a gadfly in Illinois politics since he showed up about forty years ago. He has flitted from one issue to another and rarely focusing on completing any task. Once an issue loses the spotlight - Pat moves onto a new issue that he finds an interest in.
This is why he has had an on-again, off-again political career with an on-again, off-again level of public support.
Pat Quinn isn’t an excellent populist, he is a nice backbencher with a severe need for Ritalin and for a public office.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 12:49 pm
The IPI continues to demonstrate it is anything but non-partisan.
Comment by Demoralized Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 12:59 pm
Really? The same people who brought us the recent bill in Arizona, Willie Horton ads, phrases like “welfare queens” and “cut and runners”, swift boating of outstanding military records, etc, etc do not “divide people, driven by resentment and bitterness based on false narratives”?
That’s funny. it really is.
Comment by LBJ Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:06 pm
Populists build coaltions around popular issues, concerns and ideas which empower the general public
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:10 pm
Does the old saw about the pot calling the kettle black come to mind?
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:17 pm
Projection isn’t really an art. It can be either a psychological defense mechanism, or a rhetorical tactic. In this case I’d say it’s probably both.
Comment by Eugene Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:23 pm
The Right Wing of US politics takes money from the 1% to sell White people that they should blame various groups (Blacks, Muslims, immigrants, single women, etc) for their problems.
IPI is at the trough of this game and spend their energy blaming the people that Republicans love to hate.
On a good day you can get Democrats to focus on problems that affect peoples lives until… squirrel!
Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:24 pm
John Tillman said that? Is that for real? Put down the crack pipe, dude.
This is the guy who showed up at Blago’s sentencing because he knew there would be tons of TV cameras and reporters at Dirksen desperate to interview anyone.
You didn’t have to like Blago, and I didn’t, but leveraging his family’s tragedy for publicity was disgusting.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:26 pm
Funny. I always thought “False narratives that hide the truth” was IPI’s business model.
Comment by ChicagoR Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:27 pm
Perfect case of the pot calling the kettle black here. Tillman continues to be a joke and a shill.
Comment by PublicServant Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:27 pm
It’s like “class warfare.” Ever notice how the guys who squeal about it the most are the same ones who are waging it?
Comment by olddog Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:42 pm
“Bruce Rauner is an excellent populist politician, but while populists can gain favor for brief periods, it is hard to sustain it over the long run,” John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute said. “The essence of the strategy is to divide people, driven by resentment and bitterness based on false narratives that must hide the truth.”
Better.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 1:47 pm
The IPI and Illinois Watchdog would do well to continue treating each other as respectable entities with opinions that matter. God knows the rest of us don’t.
Comment by Daryl Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 2:00 pm
Well done, Oswego Willy!
If only someone had a fake Twitter account to spread this around!
=== “Bruce Rauner is an excellent populist politician, but while populists can gain favor for brief periods, it is hard to sustain it over the long run,” said John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute. ===
Comment by Bill White Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 2:08 pm
Assuming Rauner wins the primary, it will be interesting to see two candidates who both are pushing a populist agenda: one on how government fixes all the problems, and another on how government and government unions are the source of all the problems.
Comment by Just Me Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 2:16 pm
===Sounds like a lot of stuff Tillman says===
My thought exactly. I said to myself, it sounds like Tillman is describing himself. But Willie really hit the nail on the head:
===“Bruce Rauner is an excellent populist politician, but while populists can gain favor for brief periods, it is hard to sustain it over the long run,” John Tillman, CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute said. “The essence of the strategy is to divide people, driven by resentment and bitterness based on false narratives that must hide the truth.”===
+1
Comment by Mighty M. Mouse Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 2:20 pm
“The essence of the strategy is to divide people, driven by resentment and bitterness based on false narratives that must hide the truth.”
Sounds exactly like the Rauner strategy.
Comment by AFSCME Steward Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 2:53 pm
@VanillaMan - Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 12:49 pm:
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Comment by Pensioner Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 3:06 pm
Great job, Willy, as always.
Rich, thanks for posting the link to Tillman’s statements about public workers. Classic projection, after Tillman himself was trying to get the “working class” to resent public employees who have a little more than they do.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 3:48 pm
While you Springfield insider bozos take shots at Tillman and the IPI, they’re out doing the research you should be doing, like this report about local pensions they released today:
http://illinoispolicy.org/wp-content/files_mf/1393288448MuniPaper2014Local_Pension_Crisis_e.pdf#
Comment by Driveby Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 3:51 pm
- Driveby -,
Should we do the research of the $500K donated to the IPI first, or just read the report and just nod that they are coming from this unbiased?
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 3:59 pm
Oswego Willy- you should read the report and answer with facts and not ad hominem stuff, which is how IPI research is typically dismissed, in error, on this site.
Comment by Driveby Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 4:20 pm
- Driveby -,
There are times the messenger is not the best vessel for the message, and sometimes being the recipient of cash-money to run your organization makes the “unbiased” seem …less so.
The $500k is a fact too… right?
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 4:25 pm
“Oswego Willy- you should read the report and answer with facts and not ad hominem stuff”
“While you Springfield insider bozos”
You criticize someone for ad hominem attacks after making one yourself. C’mon man, get some better game.
Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 4:32 pm
Thanks to all for the props, appreciate it
- GOM -, point well made.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 4:39 pm
GOM, Oswego- My criticism was that you offer no facts to answer IPI research. That you are ‘Springfield insider bozos’ is unrelated.
PS: Get a life. If you spent as much time looking hard at pension numbers as you do writing here there might be more consensus.
Comment by Driveby Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 4:54 pm
Quinn hasn’t run as a “populist” nor has he campaigned on a “populist message” for many years now. Populists run against big government and large concentrations of power. When is the last time Quinn has talked about streamlining government?? (Answer: Well over a decade) He can’t run as an outsider against special interests because he is on the “inside” now. Can’t talk about taxpayer rights anymore, not with his dismal record of taxing and spending, are you kidding?
Comment by Fearless Freep Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 6:42 pm
===Populists run against big government and large concentrations of power. ===
So the whole “Paycheck holding” and the Pension “Glorious Leader” stuff is explained… how?
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 6:49 pm
Projection indeed!
Comment by collar observer Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 7:39 pm
…And the “essence” of Tillman’s opinions are to obviously take them with a grain of salt…!
Comment by Just The Way It Is One Tuesday, Feb 25, 14 @ 8:26 pm