Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Today’s number: $97.31 million
Next Post: What’s up with the state treasurer’s race?
Posted in:
* As we all know by now, Bruce Rauner said this on election night…
“I placed two very important phone calls. I called Speaker Madigan. I called [Senate] President [John] Cullerton, and I said to them ‘This is an opportunity for us to work together.’”
* Rauner admitted yesterday that he didn’t talk to either man. He said he called Madigan’s chief of staff and left a voicemail and said “I…we” called Cullerton’s chief of staff.
Madigan’s spokesman said Tim Mapes received a call from an “unknown number” and let it go to voicemail. Mapes was kinda busy on election night and didn’t have time to chat with someone he didn’t know. Mapes didn’t listen to the voicemail until yesterday after he was told what Rauner said. Madigan had previously checked all of his lines because the Rauner campaign insisted that Bruce had tried to call him. Sun-Times…
“Why he called a staff person’s cell phone from an unknown number” was beyond him, [Steve Brown] said.
“The bottom line is, they never talked on election night,” Brown said of Rauner and Madigan.
Notice a change in tone?
* Cullerton’s chief Dave Gross said he answered the call and some staffer he didn’t know started going on about something or another and he cut the guy off and said something like “I get it, Rauner wants to talk to Cullerton,” said he’d pass the word and clicked off. He was kinda busy too.
Anyway, now you know.
* John Kass gets the last word…
Elected officials are taken at their word, until they don’t have one. And then it’s over.
The Boss Madigan fib isn’t a monumental thing. But it’s not a tiny little thing either. You might think of it as a wake-up call from the Boss to Bruce.
So wake up, Bruce Rauner.
It was an unforced rookie error. He’ll make more. Hopefully, not too many more.
Rauner says he’s working on setting up a meeting soon with Madigan and Cullerton. I’d sure love to be in that room.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:31 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Today’s number: $97.31 million
Next Post: What’s up with the state treasurer’s race?
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
It seems like just yesterday, some of us were criticizing Rauner, ie
== If you really ‘need’ to track him down…you’d know who to call to go give him a message. Clearly, Rauner isn’t that guy. ===
I agreed. Looks like we were wrong.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:35 am
A Guy - You win! Mea Culpa.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:38 am
So per Steve Brown, you should always make calls from clearly-identified, non-blocked phone numbers when calling important people like Tim Mapes. Uh, yeah right.
Comment by anonymous Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:39 am
== “Why he called a staff person’s cell phone from an unknown number” was beyond him, [Steve Brown] said. ==
Much easier to just call the boss directly on his cell phone during election night, right Mr. Brown? /s
Rauner jumped the gun a bit and should not have gone that far in his statements, but this was not nearly the outright lie it was originally purported to be.
Comment by Formerly Known As... Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:39 am
Is Brown trying to make something out of this? It’ll backfire on him when Madigan inevitably snubs Rauner.
Comment by phocion Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:41 am
I’m not going to pick nits about person-to-person call. Staff made the effort, albeit a half-axxxx effort (C’mon man, get better phone numbers). I’m moving on.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:42 am
The normal procedure in these cases is to exchange numbers (through staff) in advance so these calls can be successfully made when/if needed.
Comment by Madame Defarge Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:44 am
===Rauner says he’s working on setting up a meeting soon with Madigan and Cullerton. I’d sure love to be in that room.===
You and many, many others, me included.
To the Post,
Simple errors are easy to correct.
I expect more unforced errors, but that is part and parcel with someone new to politics, let alone high stake politics. Rauner’s errors speak more to his green-ness than to anything else, good or bad.
What should trouble Rauner is that prepared remarks made him look foolish.
Prepared remarks. Yikes.
Until MJM and Cullerton can trust Rauner, it will be about “training” Rauner, and how to work together.
If your …prepared remarks…are seen as disingenuous, does Rauner think trust will be earned? I don’t.
You are the Governor-Elect of Illinois; parsing words will only lead to more scrutiny, most of the time, not needed.
Think this way; if you say you spoke to …Jesse White, dontcha think a reporter is going to ask…Jesse White?
Scrutiny.
Stop preparing overreaching words to seem bi-partisan. Period. That was a fail with many cooks.
#2 toughest job in the Rauner Administration - press flack.
Perfect example.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:45 am
Please insert Rauner, Cullerton and Madigan into the above story.
Comment by Peoria Guy Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:47 am
==Why he called a staff person’s cell phone from an unknown number?==
Brown should know that if Rauner’s cell phone is blocked, which it may likely be, even if Mapes has it in as a contact (which he may or may not) it would come up as unknown, so I am not sure why he made that a point. Also, Mapes’ isn’t “a staff person” he is the chief of staff, and that is a little different that “some staff person”.
Finally, Rauner’s choice of words was poor. “We have Reached out to Madigan and Cullerton” would have been a much better option, however he was probably as shocked as the rest of us that he had just stomped Quinn, so I’ll give him a little benefit of the doubt on that one.
Comment by Jaded Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:47 am
The campaign has ended and the governing will now commence. This is less about “phonegate” and more about Madigan and Cullerton establishing who’s in charge here. Rauner isn’t used to being in his new role. The larger question is how well prepared is he for dealing with it.
Comment by pundent Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:48 am
Rauner should have said i left messages instead of i spoke to them. Otherwise statement was legit.
Now i’m curious what phone Rauner used. I am sure he blocks his name on caller id but you would think Madigan’s staff would be expecting a call.
Comment by Mason born Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:49 am
Story’s over. Lesson learned.
Comment by walker Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:54 am
Would Rich Miller take a call from an unknown number on election night? Apparently Madigan and Cullerton didn’t want to be bothered. Let the games begin.
Comment by The Colossus of Roads Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:54 am
=== Norseman - Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:38 am:
A Guy - You win! Mea Culpa.====
No rubbing it in Norse because it was hardly eloquent execution. Rauner ate a little humble pie by revealing that a message was left. Now Brown is begrudgingly acknowledging a reasonable attempt was made. Same thing on the Senate side.
Everyone deserves a little slack here since it was showtime for Rauner with the discomfort of having to do so before Quinn conceded.
Nobody lied. Let’s move to the next interesting aberration and hope everyone’s learning as we go. Things are way too serious for “gotcha”.
You’re a man of your word Norse. It’s a gentlemen’s bet which means you have not surrendered your gentlemenness.
Comment by A guy... Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:54 am
To both sides, stop presenting symbolic gestures as literal statements.
Comment by Wensicia Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:57 am
Okay, enough already. This is a stupid topic. More important things going on.
If anything, the whole episode shows how childish Madigan and Cullerton are. They should have called Rauner to congratulate him. Neither of them are statewide winners of an election. Rauner is.
Comment by Bogart Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:57 am
Rich Miller gets it exactly right - “It was an unforced rookie error” that gave Madigan and Cullerton free ammo.
Comment by Bill White Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:57 am
A sensible, middle of the road observation from Kass in which he doesn’t make himself the focal point…things really are changing!
Comment by Wow Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 11:58 am
For the record, I never take calls from “unknown numbers”
Comment by Hacksaw Jim Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:00 pm
So key staff called key staff on both sides. Let the ridiculous bluster end. Election is over, time for serious people to work on the serious issues of tax revenue, pension reform, and union agreements.
Comment by The no story, story Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:01 pm
Who cares…. Really tit for tat!
Comment by Calling u out Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:24 pm
Let me try to help all the interested parties
1. In my personal experience with more than a few statewide and county campaigns senior staff usually talk with one another before election nite, trade some numbers with the express purpose of making congratulatory calls, etc. In this case someone passed numbers along without asking if that was the best way to contact someone on election nite. Rich is right. It gets busy.
My comments have been in response to media questions.
2. I tracked down the call after the circumstances were described at the press conference…nothing “begrudgingly” about it.
3. On the way to “moving on” it should be noted that had the media devoted this much attention to other activities voters might have had a better information set to use when voting.
Meanwhile some of you can pass the ketchup around
Comment by Steve Brown Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:26 pm
I’d make sure I got the Cullerton aides name. The all important staffer would never speak to the Governor again. What a bunch of self important….
Comment by So of 64 Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:26 pm
And to add, Mapes is a staff person. That’s the problem with these people! They’ve been there too long and in their minds they “are” state government.
Comment by So of 64 Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:29 pm
Bogart,
Keep in mind, the Democratic Governor hadn’t conceded at that point. You don’t announce the next engagement until the first divorce is finalized.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:31 pm
I think it isn’t unimportant, because the underlying issue isn’t the phone calls, isn’t the Governor-elect, isn’t Mapes, isn’t Gross. It’s a lack of good staff work, and we’ve noticed it before. That’s the lesson. And it can really harm the Governor-elect because the number of balls in the air and the price of dropping them grow exponentially now
Comment by steve schnorf Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:36 pm
At 12:30am, Dave and Tim should take a call from an unknown number. Hilarious. But more important, Bruce - just say I plan to reach out to the leaders soon, rather than “I’ve spoken to”?
Boneheaded thing to say. OW is exactly right. Gotta get it together over there. The first item on the agenda for the top notch Rauner transition team is to get correct phone numbers for legislative leaders and make sure they know your #.
Can transition team get that done? Maybe that’ll be Bill Daley’s assignment.
Comment by low level Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:36 pm
==So key staff called key staff on both sides. Let the ridiculous bluster end. Election is over, time for serious people to work on the serious issues of tax revenue, pension reform, and union agreements.===
Amen. Let’s stop the silliness in state government
Comment by Peoria Guy Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:42 pm
More from Kass: “I respect Bill Daley. But now Rauner puts a Daley on his transition team? Is that really shaking things up and changing the status quo in Illinois? What’s next, Mayor Rahm Emanuel strolling into the governor’s mansion swinging another ridiculously expensive bottle of wine? But let’s get back to the fib.” http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-rauner-madigan-kass-met-1107-20141107-column.html
I don’t blame the Combine Quixote for not wanting to contemplate the reality of the new Rauner administration for too long. Our hero might start suspecting he’s some kind of “chumbolone“.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:45 pm
Looks like Rauner, Inc has discovered this forum. They are representin’ today.
Comment by Rory Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:47 pm
This issue is silly. But what it reveals about Rauner’s understanding of the situation he faces in Springfield is anything but.
Comment by Sam Weinberg Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:48 pm
=== I’d make sure I got the Cullerton aides name. The all important staffer would never speak to the Governor again. What a bunch of self important…. ===
So of 64, since you probably have no clue as to what goes on let me educate you. Legislative staff are quite busy on election night tracking their caucuses races. The COS’s have to keep their bosses updated on results on a regular basis. They also have members, those up for election and not, call for information on what’s going on. It is in that context in which Gross responded. No big deal. I suspect that Gross would have responded differently if Rauner staff highlighted that Rauner would be mentioning the outreach in his victory speech.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:54 pm
So the President of the United States can take time to call the Governor-elect of Illinois, but the Speaker of the Illinois House is still whining about a voicemail and caller ID?
Comment by Driver Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:55 pm
How about the fact that the Speaker or the Pres didn’t think it necessary to reach out to the new Governor. They didn’t even call him and say, hey we never talked, did we?
Instead just try to embarrass him right off the bat. This guy is a new animal and he will buy out their supposed super majorities pretty quick so they might want to at least be courteous.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:56 pm
- Peoria Guy - Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:42 pm:
==So key staff called key staff on both sides. Let the ridiculous bluster end. Election is over, time for serious people to work on the serious issues of tax revenue, pension reform, and union agreements.===
I agree completely, but you know the phrase, “if you can’t do the little things right…”
Comment by low level Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:58 pm
=== I think it isn’t unimportant, because the underlying issue isn’t the phone calls, isn’t the Governor-elect, isn’t Mapes, isn’t Gross. It’s a lack of good staff work, and we’ve noticed it before. That’s the lesson. And it can really harm the Governor-elect because the number of balls in the air and the price of dropping them grow exponentially now ===
This is why Steve S. is such a venerated contributor on this blog.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:59 pm
This is almost as bad as ketchup on a hot dog.
Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:06 pm
Exactly. You mean to tell me Rauner spent $65M on the race, knew details of volunteers on Quinn’s campaign, yet Bruce couldn’t get the right phone numbers? Amazing.
Comment by low level Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:07 pm
==Rich Miller gets it exactly right - “It was an unforced rookie error” that gave Madigan and Cullerton free ammo.==
Yes, exactly right, and MM and Cullerton should not be so crass as to fire away, guns blazing, with that ammo. The people of this state want a fresh start, and having Madigan and Cullerton hunker down to their default partisan modes will be correctly viewed as a snub to that “fresh start”. They may hold the high cards with a veto proof legislature now (pending Kankakee recount), but the voters won’t stand for it in the end.
Comment by Conservative Republican Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:09 pm
==So the President of the United States can take time to call the Governor-elect of Illinois, but the Speaker of the Illinois House is still whining about a voicemail and caller ID?==
This.
Comment by Confused Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:10 pm
==but the voters won’t stand for it in the end==
Good luck with that. Let me know how it works out for you.
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:13 pm
Low - what if Speaker Madigan refused to give his number to anyone in the Rauner camp? Considering the fact that he had and called Tim Mapes’s cell number, that is a decent start.
I like Dave Gross and have worked with him in the past, but wouldn’t it be safe to assume that the only/main reason Bruce Rauner or one of Rauner’s top staffers would be calling on Election Night would be extend an olive branch after winning the Office of the Governor?! I’m sure that Bruce Rauner didn’t just call to chit-chat.
Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:13 pm
==what if Speaker Madigan refused to give his number to anyone in the Rauner camp?==
Well, Gov. Quinn didn’t have a way to get ahold of Madigan last year, and the Speaker still apparently doesn’t have a cell phone.
But Rauner is still wrong to have lied in his prepared speech. A foolish unforced error. He should know how difficult Madigan can be.
The combined arrogance of Rauner and Madigan…this won’t be their last spat.
Madigan wins round 1.
Comment by Robert the Bruce Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:25 pm
Team Sleep- “He refused to give his #, Quinn couldn’t get a hold of him..,Dave Gross chit chat”.
Now it’s getting silly.
(Rich, the CheezeWhiz kids (or Raunerbots) are still out in force I see.)
Comment by low level Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:33 pm
Geez, can’t anybody play this game?
Somebody senior from team Rauner should have called Gross and Mapes well before the election and said something like:
“Hey, depending on how this all shakes out next week, Bruce is going to want to speak with the Senate President/Speaker. Here is Bruce’s cell number (or the cell phone number of his body man who can easily get him on the phone) if you need it. Would it be possible to give me the best number to reach the Speaker/President on Tuesday night?”
Problem solved. File this away for next time rookies. It ain’t rocket science, but attention to detail is important when you’re in the big leagues.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:53 pm
- Conservative Republican - Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:09 pm:
==Rich Miller gets it exactly right - “It was an unforced rookie error” that gave Madigan and Cullerton free ammo.==
Yes, exactly right, and MM and Cullerton should not be so crass as to fire away, guns blazing, with that ammo. The people of this state want a fresh start, and having Madigan and Cullerton hunker down to their default partisan modes will be correctly viewed as a snub to that “fresh start”. They may hold the high cards with a veto proof legislature now (pending Kankakee recount), but the voters won’t stand for it in the end.
As far as I can tell neither leader is firing away - it’s the media and intraweb commenters who are firing away.
Comment by Bill White Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 1:56 pm
- Driver - Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 12:55 pm:
“So the President of the United States can take time to call the Governor-elect of Illinois, but the Speaker of the Illinois House is still whining about a voicemail and caller ID?”
As a non-insider I considered this whole thing mostly silly, but Driver makes a good point heh.
Comment by liandro Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:11 pm
Sorry folks but the classy thing for Cullerton and Madigan to do was call Rauner themselves. Rauner and crew made the attempt and those who think it makes them look foolish for even trying are dopes. To me the arrogance of Cullerton and Madigan (and their staff) is just world-class stuff if they think Rauner should genuflect and kiss their rings. That’s some of the bs that Rauner ran against. Right? Exactly right.
Comment by Big Muddy Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:29 pm
Shouldn’t Rauner be talking to folks who can help him shake up Springfield and take down half of the 100 years of corruption?
What’s the goal of meeting with Madigan and Cullerton? Is he going to lay his hands upon them and drive out the corruption, “save” them like he’s going to “save” the state?
Comment by Wordslinger Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:30 pm
A call the next day would have worked as well. The landline #’s are available as well. $65M and they couldn’t find out the contact info?
They should have given OW a nice consulting contract to find out how to teach them if they couldn’t themslvrs
Comment by low level Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:32 pm
@Big Muddy,
I don’t think Rauner and crew were foolish for reaching out to Madigan/Cullerton.
But exaggerating/lying about the reachout was foolish. Include me in that group of “dopes.”
Expecting Madigan to be classy rather than petulant doesn’t seem to be a wise governing strategy. Especially after you just ran ads calling him crooked.
Comment by Robert the Bruce Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:34 pm
Give him a $500 retainer, look om the GA website for the numbers- easy work.
Better than some if the other goofy stupid uses of the money they came up with!
Comment by low level Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:35 pm
===Sorry folks but the classy thing for Cullerton and Madigan to do was call Rauner themselves.===
Let’s not forget why we’re talking about this stupid hiccup in the first place Brainiac: Rauner said on live television, before the whole world, that he called Madigan and Cullerton.
Maybe the classy thing would have been for Rauner not to embellish his election night speech in a ham-handed attempt to sound like a stateman instead of a salesman.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:39 pm
Problem solved:
http://goo.gl/9V1RjD
Comment by Bill White Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:39 pm
- low level -,
Rauner has some really good people learning as they go with a green Principle.
To borrow from MJM; They’ll be fine.
They need the likes of me like anyone needs a third ear.
They’ll get there.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:45 pm
Needless to say, I believe this topic has passed its “sell by” date
Comment by Bill White Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 2:52 pm
Raunerites please note: Your guy went on TV and said “I said to them” without actually speaking to either man. That’s what’s known as a lie. You can try to diminish that or downplay it but it is what it is. He didn’t have to say it but he said it.
Comment by DuPage Dave Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 3:17 pm
- DuPage Dave -,
With respect,
This is an unforced error that the new Administration will learn from, now that there will be a heightened accountability.
You have a green Principle, and a Staff learning on the fly, making fundamental errors that lead to learning experiences.
The campaign is over, gaffes like these go to governing, and I’m glad for them if it were to happen to learn, the transition is the time to get the bugs out.
Simple fixes.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 3:29 pm
Norseman, sorry I upset you. Actually I have been there and know exactly what goes on. You win some and lose some and apparently you’re still a little upset over the final tally.
I do agree with others however, it’s time to move on.
Comment by So of 64 Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 3:35 pm
I agree with Bogart, 11:57, the guy who wins an election should not be expected to call others to say, “I look forward to working with you.” The other guys should call the winner and say, “Congratulations, we look forward to working with you.”
Comment by One of the 35 Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 3:45 pm
@Oneofthe35 3:45 pm
Both Madigan and Cullerton were on the ballot on Tuesday and they both won their elections, as did Rauner.
But by all means continue to suggest that the legislature should genuflect to the new governor.
I will find that entertaining.
Comment by Bill White Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 4:08 pm
You know, if someone had spent the last six weeks making me the center of “100 combined years of corruption” ads I don’t know I’d take his phone call either.
Comment by Jessica Hyde Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 4:40 pm
At the time of Rauner’s statement, Quinn had not conceded. For Madigan and Cullerton to talk to Rauner as the next Governor would have been outrageous. Rauner’s statement was not just a harmless exaggeration…He was saying that he was the winner, Quinn’s desire to hold off on the concession was irrelevant not just to him but to the Democratic GA leaders. I was horrified. Glad to find out it just Bruce lying again.
Comment by DuPage Grandma Friday, Nov 7, 14 @ 5:07 pm