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* I told subscribers about this earlier today, but yesterday’s Wikileaks dump (courtesy, apparently of the Russians) of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s e-mails included a demand by the campaign manager to move Illinois’ primary date back to April or May in order to help a “moderate” Republican win the nomination…
Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook wrote to Podesta in November 2014 about getting [Bill Daley] involved, suggesting the key contacts to get to Madigan were through Tim Mapes, his chief of staff, and Mike McClain, a Springfield lobbyist.
The tone was urgent because the window was closing on Illinois lawmakers to act if the 2016 primary date were to be changed.
“The overall goal is to move the IL primary out of mid March, where they are currently a lifeline to a moderate Republican candidate after the mostly southern Super Tuesday,” the hacked email says. “IL was a key early win for Romney in 12.
“Our preference would be for them to move all the way to May, but if they at least move to April 12 or April 19 they will have the day to themselves and presumably garner a lot of coverage. They will also be influencing a big northeast primary day on April 26.
“They will receive a bonus of 10% extra delegates if they move to April and 20% if they move to May. Mapes has said repeatedly they don’t care about that.
“As we discussed, they don’t really care about being helpful and feel forgotten and neglected by POTUS. The key point is that this is not an Obama ask, but a Hillary ask. And the Clintons won’t forget what their friends have done for them. It would be helpful to feel out what path, if any, we have to get them to yes. This will probably take some pushing.”
* Yep…
Lots of us Illinois folk are laughing good that Clinton brain trust thought Bill Daley was good Madigan bridge to move IL Primary.
— Thomas C. Bowen (@thomascbowen) October 13, 2016
Trying to get McClain involved was a pretty good idea, but when MJM doesn’t want to do something, that’s usually that.
Subscribers know more about why this request was turned down.
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:32 am
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In the immortal words of Richard J. Daley…”That’s only national”.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:34 am
Can’t be easy to have that name. “Mr. Speaker…Mook’s on the line”.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:35 am
===As we discussed, they don’t really care about being helpful===
Yep.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:38 am
When you’ve got the DNC chair working to eliminate the primary competition for you, I guess your campaign can start working on selecting the Republican candidate you want to run against.
Comment by Downstate Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:39 am
And Bill Daley can help in Illionis how?
Comment by James the Intolerant Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:39 am
I wish the primary date would be moved to either early June or early July. To me mid-March is just too early.
Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:39 am
MJM had a primary…no way he wanted that to go on for another month or two.
Comment by The anti-trib Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:40 am
Geez, those guys had a lot of time on their hands with the cockamamie scenarios.
As it was, Trump won the Illinois beauty contest and most of the delegates.
Was he the “moderate” they were worried about?
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:40 am
For subscribers who read the whole article by Rich in this morning’s Cap Fax, any illusion you may have ever had that your opinion, your vote or your rights count in this state was just blown away. The political powerbrokers are operating at a level so far removed from the common person, it’s stunning. And it’s not for your benefit the game is played. It’s theirs.
Oh, and sorry Bernie supporters, you were clearly being played the whole time by your own party bosses.
Comment by Team America Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:40 am
===Oh, and sorry Bernie supporters, you were clearly being played the whole time by your own party bosses.===
Thanks for your concern TA.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:48 am
==in order to help a “moderate” Republican win the nomination…==
It seems from the article the move was to prevent a moderate R from winning, because the IL primary is described as a “lifeline” for them after a presumably brutal stretch of Southern states.
Comment by Century Club Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:48 am
But in 2008, we had to vote in a frigid February primary designed to benefit Obama’s candidacy.
Comment by Luke Warm Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:49 am
Podesta is a former Chicagoan. Will Clinton throw him under the bus during the next week?
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:51 am
“But in 2008, we had to vote in a frigid February primary designed to benefit Obama’s candidacy”
Did you really have to remind us of the weather that January and February? I remember knocking on a door in Peru and all but begging the home owner to let me thaw out for just a few mins. That had to be the coldest primary campaign in the history of Illinois.
Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:53 am
TS, I don’t know how you got that Bernie stuff from reading this morning’s Fax. Also, the request was turned down.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 10:59 am
“Did you really have to remind us of the weather that January and February?”
It was awful. The traditional rationale for the Chicago mayoral primaries/elections being held in February was that the organization wanted bad weather to lower voter participation on the part of the general public since their party loyalists and patronage armies could always be counted upon to vote.
I would prefer a primary to be held in the spring rather than the winter.
Comment by Luke Warm Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:05 am
“I don’t know how you got that Bernie stuff from reading this morning’s Fax. Also, the request was turned down.”
That’s exactly what one of the Illuminati lizard people who secretly rule the world would say!!1!
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:25 am
How does a campaign offer more delegates? Doesn’t the party control the number of delegates?
Comment by Jon Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:26 am
I have to agree with Country Club. The point of scheduling the IL primary LATER in the season was so that a “moderate” Republican (e.g. Rubio, Kasich) would be LESS likely to gain traction. The DNC strategy, according to all the e-mails released so far, was to encourage nomination of the most extreme and, therefore, beatable GOP candidate.
Comment by Secret Square Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:28 am
If the Russians are leaking all of this, then for once, I thank them.
Comment by Federalist Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:32 am
–Podesta is a former Chicagoan. Will Clinton throw him under the bus during the next week?–
Seriously? Create a story when Trump is doing such a great job for you owning the news cycle?
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:32 am
The Party determines the size of each State’s delegation, not a candidate competing for the nomination. Just another indication of how Clinton controlled the DNC and that the fix was in…….
Comment by truth squad Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:35 am
While I understand Madigan declined the idea the fact that this was even discussed just goes to show how Illinois residents are just an inconvenience to the Speaker. If this helped him in any way he would of done it. No doubt about it. Voters be damned.
Comment by Big Muddy Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:44 am
===While I understand Madigan declined the idea the fact that this was even discussed just goes to show===
So, HRC campaign approaches MJM about primary change, his chief of staff says no multiple times, and that’s still evidence that MJM is a bad guy. Got it.
Sometimes, you gotta step back.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:50 am
It’s just evidence that MJM takes care of the home turf first and foremost. Good guy or bad guy; depends who you ask. Home Guy; everyone can or should agree on that.
Comment by A guy Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 11:58 am
The story reads like they wanted to NOT help a moderate win the GOP primary. They saw a hard-right conservative would do well on Super Tuesday and IL would be a firebreak that a moderate would win and stop that momentum. Moving IL to very late would let that hypothetical conservative (maybe Cruz?) continue to build momentum so that by the time IL voted it might not matter. That makes a lot mores sense, a hard-right candidate would be easier to knock off in the general, than a more moderate one. Back then, I imagine they saw Cruz or maybe Huckabee as the easiest to beat.
Comment by Harry Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 12:13 pm
Rich - your 10:59 comment should have been aimed at Team America.
I get the connection, though, because if Bernie had an extra month or two in states like Illinois he might have won. He barely lost Illinois and had a lot of momentum in early March.
Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 12:24 pm
If Bernie’s team had spread the word that GTCR paid Hillary $280,000 for one of her famous private speeches he might have won the Illinois primary. Don’t know why they only played the Rahm angle.
Comment by X-prof Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 12:54 pm
The idea that the Clintons would do anything to benefit anyone else but the them is impossible to believe.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 2:11 pm
Team Sleep - right on both counts.
Comment by Team America Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 2:12 pm
“A GUY” You got it right MJM is all about his HOUSE and not much else…opponent or not. He probably does’t care who is Pres or US Senator etc
Did he go to the Fair this year????
Comment by scott aster Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 2:30 pm
Rich I understand the relevance because it’s a very IL story with a dark comical tone for all of us.
But I am a little surprised that you would cover a story that is basically the publication of illegally obtained and anonymously published communications - which the accuracy has not been confirmed. I know your content is sometimes based on anonymous sources, but you use info that was given to you willingly by someone - not stolen. Not the bi-product of spying.
By printing so called “real emails” that Russia gives to WikiLeaks, American media outlets are essentially giving these foreign actors / criminals what they want.
Most normal news organizations have no soul, no ethos, no morality. But I believe you do and that’s why I’m surprised to see this item.
A lot of very disturbing things have happened during this election, the invited hacking of government and political systems by foreign governments is one of the most bothersome elements to me.
(Anyone else need this soap box?)
Nothing that Mook says in any of these emails (if accurate) is illegal, it’s just political gamesmanship which both parties do all the time. Does not make it right, but that is our system.
Federalist - You should not be cheering this hacking or this spying by the Russians, no matter how much you hate Clinton or Madigan or any political powers. This is Russia.
The Russian hacking is not some random allegation. It’s a fact. The US Director of National Intelligence and Homeland Security said so on Friday.
Comment by siriusly Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 2:46 pm
Clinton pulled 50.6% of the primary vote and held off Sanders by approximately 4,000 votes statewide.
The cross talk about Clinton wanting a later primary date to boost the prospects of a preferred Republican challenger seem to be a distraction.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 2:56 pm
Siriusly - while I understand your concern, this is now public information. What are Rich and others supposed to do - ignore it even though it has a potential impact on Illinois politics? Anonymous sources often leak tidbits without permission or access documents in less-than-ideal ways, so to me this is no different. It gives an interesting glimpse into the eye of a major presidential machine (er, campaign).
Comment by Team Sleep Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 3:10 pm
Sirusly it doesn’t take the Russians to make the Clintons look bad. Is that what yesterday’s surrogate email instructed you all to argue? Because I have seen that argument in multiple places now
Comment by Longsummer Thursday, Oct 13, 16 @ 8:29 pm