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Those negative ads…

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Illinois

My Sun-Times column runs today.

Judy Baar Topinka’s campaign estimates that the average voter has seen Gov. Blagojevich’s TV ads at least 200 times. So, I don’t have to tell you that the vast majority of those ads have been negative.

I don’t even watch much network TV and yet I still find myself asking, “What’s she thinking?” about 10 times a day. It doesn’t even have to be about politics. A dog will walk across the street in front of my car. “What’s she thinking?” I’ll mutter as I slam on my brakes.

A waiter forgets to bring the check. “What’s she thinking?”

The Sun-Times endorses Rod Blagojevich. OK, I’ll just let that one drop.

I was mildly surprised that they let that last line through. It shows they’re willing to take a joke.

By the way, I apologize for what comes next in the column, but it was the best way to illustrate my point. You’ve been warned.

Meanwhile, Sun-Times editorial page editor Steve Huntley’s column runs next to mine today and is entitled, “. . . and here’s what we can do to get back to the issues.” Huntley had to write the Blagojevich endorsement for the Sun-Times. But he appears to try to make up for it today.

Let’s face it, voters: We must come across to the politicians as being more inclined to flip-flopping than John Kerry. We say we hate negative campaigning, loathe it, can’t stomach it. But every election we let those nasty TV ads influence us, too often decisively, in crucial elections. In other words, we were against attack ads before we listened to them and succumbed to their message.

A case in point is the gubernatorial race. As soon as he had the March primary behind him, Gov. Blagojevich, looking vulnerable to a strong challenger, had his campaign go on the airways with ads attacking his opponent, state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. […]

Far from the political hack and handmaiden to the Ryan corruption the ads depict, the lively and personable Topinka is a mainstream politician who has proved herself an exemplary public servant in the Legislature, where she served 14 years, and as Illinois treasurer for the last 12 years. She has been a wise steward of state finances and expanded the responsibilities of the treasurer’s office with programs to help families save for college, educate women and children on financial matters and aid qualified home buyers to get access to low-interest mortgages.

Blagojevich calls her “George Ryan’s treasurer” because Topinka served four years when the disgraced Ryan was governor. She was an independently elected constitutional officer and bears no responsibility for the corruption that will land Ryan in prison next year. Scandal hasn’t tainted her office.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:04 am

Comments

“Letâ€™s face it, voters: We must come across to the politicians as being more inclined to flip-flopping than John Kerry.”

Do you think Steve Huntley was going for deep, rich irony on this one? You could have an entire college course based on that one line.

Comment by Tweed Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:12 am
Steve Huntley is one of the reasons to read the Sun Times ( along with Neil Steinberg, Fran Spielman and Jack Higgins’ cartoons)and I hope that the Limey dip-wad turning that once wonderful paper in to the Pauly Shore of journalism gets ‘pantsed’ and sent back over the pond to Old Blightey.

Comment by Pat Hickey Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:19 am
It was irresponsible for the Sun Times to endorse Governor Corruptavitch. I, for one, will not be purchasing that rag again. But, it has occurred to me, that Illinoisans really don’t let corruption bother them to much.

Comment by Buck Flagojevich Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:20 am
So which side of the flip-flop line is the S-T on? We hate negative campaigning and feel Topinka really has done a very good job while having no responsibility for what the Gov office does, but we recommend the negative ad group. Sounds like mea culpa.

Comment by zatoichi Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:26 am
Although I am a Republican, I am no Judy Barr Topinka fan. I feel that there were better qualified individuals for the Governor’s race. Jim Edgar would have been one of them. Edgar’s recent political ad is a definite help to Topinka.

It makes me realize that I should probably give Topinka my vote and give her a chance to see if “maybe” I have sold her short on her abilities simply because I don’t care for her “style”. Is she my ideal candidate? No.
But, perhaps she represents the proverbial “Let’s make the best out of a bad situation.” I plan to vote for her in order to give her a chance to show me what she can do to correct this mess that Illinois finds itself in. She is fiscally conservative. On the social issues, her views and mine do not necessarily agree but she is still no worse than Blagojevich. I hope that others (Republicans & Democrats) also follow the same thought process or path that I have travelled and have recently reached the end of my journey.

Comment by Beowulf Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:26 am
TimeLife infomercials at night and now Rich in the morning. Will it ever stop?! (honey, honey…)

Comment by CrunchyCon Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:48 am
I saw JBT on Channel 11 last night and I thought she came across as considerably calmer and more articulate than she has in other venues. Of course, it wasn’t a debate situation, so she wasn’t under pressure.

In the likely event of his win, I think negative ad overkill could come back to haunt Blago. As the indictments come down, even if he himself escapes indictment, as illegal patronage and corruption continue to be exposed, as the severe deficiencies in programs like Allkids are exposed, as financial pressures mount, he’s gonna to need some good will. It’s not like he has any powerful allies, except among black politicans like Emil Jones, with their own agendas. Madigan, Daley, Obama, Jesse White–they’re keeping their distance. They don’t like him. And soon, as his second term debacle unfolds, the majority of the citizenry won’t like him either. Even the ones who bought jobs and contracts from him.

Politicians of different parties aren’t necessarily mortal enemies in life and they probably feel a certain amount of camaraderie
under the surface. And their memories are long.

My guess is Lisa and Alexi won’t be doing the
ad overkill on each other or even on Republican opponents when they run in the 2010 primary and election. Overwhelming negative attacks can come back to haunt you, and both are, of course, much smarter than Blago.

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:54 am
Steve Huntleyâ€™s column sounds more positive about Topinka than the papers endorsement of Blago. Yikes! Who’s next? Periaca?

Who’s the other Buck I see on here? I have been using Buck Flagojevich for months.

Comment by Buck Flagojevich Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 8:58 am
“Buck” at 8:20, please choose a different name. Thanks.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:00 am
Steve Huntley is a good journalist doing his job; i.e. what the ST asks him to do. Unfortunately, sometimes that means you write an article that is completely contrary to your personal opinion. I don’t place blame on him. But it would be appropriate for the Sun Times to have a bit of a fallout of readership over their endorsement of Blago. In my opinion the Sun Times sold its soul to the devil over that endorsement. It takes a long time to gain a good reputation and in the blink of an eye, it can be lost. The Sun Times should have known better.

Comment by Little Egypt Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:00 am
Lively and personable? Is he kidding??

Comment by anon Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:02 am
Another reason that the Sun Crimes is not suitable to wrap fish. He was simply following orders.

Comment by Wumpus the Free Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:06 am
Damn you Rich Miller! That earworm is going to be stuck in my head day now!

Comment by S. Illinois Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:12 am
Blagojevich calls her â€œGeorge Ryanâ€™s treasurer did he forget that she was and is his treasurer also? What’s He Thinking???

Comment by Just Because Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:37 am
Watching and thinking about the Blago campaign makes me think of some of the observations made at mydd.com about the post-primary Lieberman. Bowers (I think) said that Lieberman is the best politician he’s ever seen up close. Not that he’s a good candidate or person, but effective at the political game. I have the same feeling about Blago. I’m a dem. I can’t stand Blago. I’m voting for him in the hope that he gets indicted and Pat Quinn becomes governor. I can’t stand JBT. I did like Jim Edgar, and even voted for (once i was 18) George Ryan. But JBT rubs me wrong. Always has. Anyway, I get the feeling that Rod has political skills that put the average DC Dem consultant to shame. I think once Rod gets out of prison, he’s got a great career as a political consultant ahead of him. Either that, or whoever is running his campaign is due for a big promotion. Somebody at team Blago knows what they are doing.

Comment by jerry Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:38 am
There is no credibility to anything the Sun-Times says regarding editorials.

For some reason, they release crap, then back track. There is some coercion going on.

Comment by Deck Marker, Potluck & Roly Poly Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:39 am
Steve Huntley doesn’t know his a$$ from a hole in the ground. If he writes one more editorial or commentary featuring the utterly meaningless, internally contradictory phrase “Islamic fascism,” I’m going to hurl. It really bends the mind to consider that someone with such extreme hard-right foreign policy positions would turn around and endorse Blagojevich.

Meanwhile, Rich ignores the Chicago Reader’s Jerry Weller cover story (summary: he owns millions of dollars’ worth of Nicaraguan real estate he failed to mention on his congressional disclosure forms) for the second day running….

Comment by crickets chirping Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 9:46 am
I’ve been around politics for a while, anything that Jim Edgar ties his name too, WILL NOT have corruption anywhere close to it. The best Gov. the State of Illinois has ever had isn’t going to go down that road at this point in his life…Sorry folks JBT is the best choice!

Comment by Dan Fan Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 10:01 am
Not only is Judy Blago’s treasurer, but Dan Hynes was also Ryan’s Comptroller. And it can go on and on and on. Two can always play that game and in reality it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference.

Comment by anon Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 10:31 am
Dan Fan,
Edgar has been down the road quite a few times. It was Edgar who recommended Levine for Board appointments.
Has he given his contributions from Levine and others to charity yet?

Comment by Bill Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 11:30 am
This is basic human psychology.

People tend to vote less for someone and more against someone. This is why painting an opponent in such a harsh light works so well. People vote against candidates they don’t like more than voting for anyone they do like.

Rich Whitney’s poll numbers prove this point — except for Squideshi and a few dozen other peeople hardly anyone’s going to be actually be voting for Whitney. Rather, they’ll be voting against Blago and Topinka.

Comment by NW burbs Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 11:57 am
Exactly! Rod has been slinging the mud while in absolute overdrive precisely because JBT is a strong challenger.

The feisty redhead kicked the tails of ALL the guys in the Republican primary. How did you think Rod would handle her? By playing nice?

Ignore the 90,000,000 negative campaign ads that have run, ad nauseam, from Blago’s side of the political aisle. ‘Tis but a sign of desperation, my friends.

That said, if JBT doesn’t start cleaning this Illinois mess up, I’m not even voting for a gubernatorial candidate next time around, unless it is Fitz who is running. I hope TIME makes Fitz person of the year, to be perfectly honest. And I am so NOT kidding, either.

Comment by Angie Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 12:06 pm
Bill,
Your arguments are getting tired. Do they hand out a script every morning to you and your staff? We’ve already read that line in the papers. And so what that he appointed him. Rod re-appointed him. If he was indicted under Edgar that would be just as bad. But, alas, he’s been indicted during your boss’s reign. We’ll just anticipate what’s to come out today.

Comment by Madigan Brown Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 12:16 pm
Bill’s no doubt on the state’s payroll.
Thanks to Corruptovich hiring him/her.
Bill what is your title/position?

Comment by TICK TICK TICK Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 12:23 pm
Go read Crain’s Chicago Business to see the scathing critique of Rod Blagojevich that is part of their endorsement of JBT. They have also endorsed Peraica. Rich? Might want to get that up somewhere if not already on the blog.

Comment by Angie post-script Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 12:36 pm
MB,
Don’t get your hopes up.

Comment by MB Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 12:42 pm
Whoops that was from me.
Sorry,Im a little distracted right now

Comment by Bill Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 12:45 pm
To Dan Fan. The best Illinois Governor we ever had Was Richard Ogilve.

Comment by Milorad Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 12:58 pm
The Sun-Times endorsement is worthless. Their editorial board didn’t even meet with all three candidates, so they couldn’t have done that good of an evaluation!

Comment by Squideshi Friday, Oct 27, 06 @ 7:03 pm
If No-Show Rod is re-elected, the State of Illinois should hang its head in shame. He can’t look a reporter in the eye & answer a question honestly. He doesn’t show for debates. He surrounds himself with indictable characters, doesn’t remember a lot about much of anything when asked a question he doesn’t want to answer, doesn’t know where Springfield is & yet, some people are actually thinking of voting for this pretend governor? It’s beyond me.

Comment by Southern Illinois Voter Saturday, Oct 28, 06 @ 4:01 pm