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Weird doings

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This is pretty solid evidence that Stroger’s campaign is flailing late in the game.

What was billed as a kickoff for the “Rod and Todd Show” instead stumbled getting out of the gate Monday.

More than 100 ministers gathered at New Spiritual Light Missionary Baptist Church, 7566 S. South Shore Dr., armed with campaign fliers and signs touting the candidacies of Rod Blagojevich for governor and Todd Stroger for Cook County Board president.

But Stroger was almost two hours late for the event and Blagojevich was a no-show.

Stroger campaign officials said he was delayed by earlier campaign appearances, while Blagojevich campaign officials said he never committed to the event and instead had staffers there on his behalf.

“Bizarre” is the word that immediately comes to mind.

I thought they were supposed to be working together?

Gov. Rod Blagojevich leads his opponent in cash and in the polls while Cook County Board president candidate Todd Stroger is struggling on both counts, but both are quietly exploring how to benefit each other by mobilizing African-American turnout.

Sources familiar with each Democrat’s campaign said plans are in the works for a rapid-fire, street-level effort to begin in the hours shortly before Nov. 7 to secure a large turnout of African-American voters–a core voting bloc essential for both men. […]

Publicly, Blagojevich has been making Stroger part of his campaign pitch, including at recent stops in the city’s black wards. On Saturday, Blagojevich campaign workers yelled, “Vote for Rod and Todd!” as a truck with campaign signs for the two idled nearby. Inside a South Side Target store where he was campaigning, Blagojevich enthusiastically told one shopper, “You should vote for Todd–and Rod.”

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 8:52 am

Comments

The “legendary” Mike Noonan couldn’t manage a campaign out of a paper bag. What a fiasco team Stroger is. And the Democratic bosses want Todd Stroger to be CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation?! Scary stuff.

Comment by Noonan Watch Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 8:58 am
Vote Flanders’s 2006!

Rod is in a no-win situation. For non city folk, this move will forever link him with Toddler and the cook county machine and all the ills that go along with it. For Blacks that are silly enough to support Toddler, this makes Rod as a less than willing ally, one who is not really there for Todd, but there for his own votes. Blago doesn’t care about Black people only the votes that the Black wards could bring him if he plays Kumbayah w/Todd.

Comment by Wumpus Diva Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 8:59 am
Give the ministers some credit; when they’re bought, they stay bought. Perhaps one of them could be reassigned to keep Toddler on schedule until he gives his concession speech two weeks from tonight. However, it would be a bit too much to ask these clergymen to have Gov. Sleazy be on time, because even Moses couldn’t have performed that miracle!

Comment by fedup dem Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 9:18 am
From the standpoint of both campaigns, this was not a must-go event. For whatever reason, the vast majority of Illinois blacks will vote for Stroger and Blago. And as the election approaches, the candidates need to focus on the undecideds, not the sure things.

Comment by Cassandra Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 9:36 am
There is no enthusiasm in this get out the vote for Todd campaign. It seems more to be a desperate plea to the black community to bail out a foundering and corrupt administration. It doesn’t sit well with voters no matter what ethnicity. People like to feel they are voting for a good candidate-not just to preserve a corrupt status quo-

There is also this. Lots of leaders in the black community might not be as displeased as some would think if Stroger lost. People like Danny Davis, Ike Caruthers, Dorothy Brown and others all would be licking their chops to run against Peraica in four years. If Todd wins he could be there a long time.

Plus, someone like Jesse Jr. wouldn’t mind blaming the loss of the Cook County Board Presidency on the Mayor of Chicago

Comment by Garp Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 9:37 am
Sigh.

Rich give me a break. This is no more evidence of the Stroger campaign FLAILING than any other gaffe they’ve managed to come up with (which seems to be reaching record numbers).

On the other hand, who really cares? Even Zorn (sworn hater of all things Stroger) noted today that the Sun-Times, for better or worse, is backing a winner.

Peraica is done. Stroger will beat him. Gomolinski will beat him. And he will have to go back to his huge house, his successful careers in law and real estate, pretty wife, nice cars, smart kids and…well, I guess he’ll be just fine.

Nice when your fall-back plan is to be a successful millionaire businessman, hunh?

Meanwhile, Todd will get to be Board President on a group of folks who are (1) discombobbled, (2) letting the budget go to sheizer, (3) chomping at the big to embarrass him and (4)planning to embarrass him in a way never known to man.

Nice work if you can get it.

Not really.

Comment by The Picolo Player is a... Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 10:03 am
Rod Blagojevich for governor and Todd Stroger for Cook County Board president. That says why no one showed up.

The idea that the African American voters in Illinois are just a bunch of lemmings is insulting and no longer valid. These guys have no respect for people.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 10:04 am
Toddler can’t run a simple campaign, and people want him to run our $3 billion county government? Pray for Peraica.

Comment by Bubs Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 10:37 am
On, The Simpsons, what were the Flanders boys names? One of them was Todd, was the other Rod?

Comment by leigh Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 10:41 am
Bubs, you took the words right out of my mouth (and I am a Dem!).

Comment by Niles Township Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 10:42 am
Todd isn’t ready for prime time. And I said this when they first talked about putting him on the ballot for Cook County Board President. I even wonder if John Stroger thought his son was ready to replace him. I’m starting to doubt it.

Comment by Levois Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 11:02 am
rich,
todd and rod will win by a landslide. Neither perieca or topinka have any traction. I was happy to see 150 pastors come together to support the citizens in their community.
I also like that that called out the democratic party to support Todd, as a republican i feel to often the democratic party exploits the black church for their candidates but will not step forward for african american candidates.

I think we will see this carry over to the mayoral election and if i was mayor daley, i would be on the phone calling Mike and Lisa and telling them to get on the phone and support Todd before they kick Daley out of office.

Comment by anon Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 12:20 pm
As Illinois is blue state and this is going to be a huge Democratic year nationally, under the circumstances, how would one define “landslide?”

Coming into this election, RB wanted a “mandate.” You really think he’ll get one?

Comment by ChuckAmok Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 12:37 pm
I suppose flailing in this case is a 300k margin instead of a 600k blowout. Cook County for the GOP has gone from catching lightning in a bottle to pipe dream.

Peraica will run behind Topinka’s 2002 results. She had all the advantages of an incumbant running against a placeholder and did great in Cook. Eight points ahead of the rest of the ticket in the suburbs and won wards on the NW side and Lakefront(41,42,43,45). Still ended up over 170,000 short of Dart.

It’s not doable.

Comment by HappyToaster Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 3:37 pm
Vote for Rod and Todd. Get it? They rhyme. How lame.

What’s next. Maybe they’ll pull out the ole Saturday Night Live skit… “A vote for Todd is like a vote for God.”

Comment by Chicagograssroots Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 10:11 pm
“Rod and Todd Rhymes?”

“Really? Cool!” Todd says in response. “I had no idea.”

Comment by Think about it Tuesday, Oct 24, 06 @ 10:55 pm