Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Biss appears to backtrack on his pledge to “elect the Democratic nominee for governor whoever that person is”

Posted in:

Illinois

Biss has yet to formally endorse Pritzker - saying he wants more assurances the nominee will work for issues like campaign finance reform. “It’s really important for us to say more than just we are against Bruce Rauner. I would love for J.B. to empower me to make that kind of affirmative endorsement of his campaign.”

* Last October, the gubernatorial candidates were asked by Mary Ann Ahern at a forum: “Will you line up behind the Democratic nominee for Governor whoever that may be? Do you all agree?” Sen. Biss raised his hand with everyone else…

That was an Our Revolution candidate forum, by the way, and the audience loudly cheered when everybody raised their hands. The group went on to endorse Biss.

* And this is from a transcript the Biss campaign sent me back in December…

But I will say, yes I did vote for Mike Madigan for Speaker. He was the Democratic candidate for Speaker and I’m a proud Democrat. And I’m going to work with everyone in the legislature, including [Madigan]. I’ll work with him to elect the Democratic nominee for governor whoever that person is. You can be a loyal Democrat and be independent as well. That’s who I am.

Biss also attended the Democratic unity event the weekend after the primary and had his photo taken with the nominee.

* From Biss’ own campaign website…

That’s why in the past few days I spent time in conversation with JB Pritzker. While we have our differences, we have always been united in our commitment to defeat Bruce Rauner. And I am still 100% committed to defeating Bruce Rauner.

* All that being said, Pritzker has yet to propose his own campaign finance reform plan. His website doesn’t mention the topic and he’s been pretty vague elsewhere…

Campaign funding has been an issue in the last few months. Should there be changes in the state’s campaign finance rules? Why or why not? If so, what changes would you want to see?

We need comprehensive campaign finance reform in Illinois, and as governor, I will work with stakeholders to change the system and put limits in place. We must also overturn Citizens United at the federal level.

* Sun-Times editorial…

To his credit, Pritzker wants to restrain billionaires like himself, but says he can’t “unilaterally disarm” before the November general election. He says he favors campaign finance reforms that, at the very least, include a more generous system of public funding of elections.

That line may have been based on his answer to a Sun-Times questionnaire about publicly funding judicial races.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:44 pm

Comments

Time for Biss to go away!

Comment by Anon Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:50 pm
==include a more generous system of public funding of elections==

You mean I have to pay for Dorothy Brown’s mayoral campaign without the promise of a city job?

Comment by City Zen Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:51 pm
Biss should soon see that he’s got no leverage. Is he going to flirt with McCann? He should sit out, study, and learn from the experience.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 1:55 pm
“Senator, we’re both part of the same hypocrisy….My offer to you is this: Nothing.”

- The Godfather

Comment by Thomas Paine Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:02 pm
Biss “The Pension Thief” couldn’t be trusted to look out for his district, for state workers, and for students with debt. Is anyone surprised that his word is no good?

Comment by Retired Educator Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:02 pm
This is a story that will soon be forgotten . JB is in a very good position. He doesn’t need to campaign much . He doesn’t even have to run many ads (even though he might). What Biss has to say or not say in the coming election doesn’t matter much. JB can even run a positive campaign. He doesn’t he have to mention Rauner or any other politicians..

Comment by Steve Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:04 pm
Someone forgot to tell his 15 minutes are up.

Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:07 pm
His answer previously and his actions now both line up with his incentives, and it’s hard to say that we should demand truth-telling politicians when we’ve nominated Pritzker. Biss is acting rationally.

Comment by Chris Widger Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:13 pm
Daniel Biss might run for higher office again. So, we might not have heard the last of him.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:14 pm
Am I missing something here? How does “hasn’t done it yet” translate into “appears to backtrack”? None of the links show any “backtracking”. As the runner up Biss has some leverage here and it seems like with campaign financing he’s using it for a good cause. It’s also six months out from the election so wouldn’t it be better to hold off on an official endorsement until things get moving a little further along?

Comment by David Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:17 pm
Biss was it it only to show that he is ready to take Jan Shikowskis seat . It’s one of the safest (sadly) in the country

Comment by Kauai Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:21 pm
He is irrelevant. Moving on.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:29 pm
===None of the links show any “backtracking”===

Then you’re blind.

Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:29 pm
The Daniel Biss of the world don’t seem to have a problem when the Washington Post is owned by super-rich they don’t mind. Would Daniel Biss be for campaign finance reform if the Koch brothers network started buying up media properties?

Comment by Steve Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:30 pm
Seems like a bit of a stretch to say Biss is back tracking, just as it seemed like a bit of stretch to say Rauner didn’t forget UIC earlier…. Agree to Disagree on these.

Comment by Concerned Dem Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:32 pm
I wonder how long Biss will wear his fake progressive costume until he moves along to a new flavor of the month?

Comment by former southerner Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:35 pm
I enjoyed working with Biss in the General Assembly. He has not been the same thoughtful, principled person as a candidate for Governor that he was as a legislator.

Biss didn’t build a movement. He just tried to tap into a movement that was legitimately built by progressives like Bernie Sanders and Chuy Garcia. Biss cut pensions. He supported Hillary before cynically pretending like he supported Bernie. Don’t forget, the day before the election Chuy yelled loudly that Biss isn’t a real progressive. He was right.

You got 26% of the vote. Great. You beat Kennedy. Great. Now get on board and stop fawning for attention.

Comment by Lil Lebowski Urban Achiever Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:36 pm
I guess I’m confused as to what leverage Mr. Biss has at this point to support or withhold? What exactly am I missing?

Comment by A guy Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 2:50 pm
I’m shocked! Biss backtracking on his word!

Comment by Deadbeat Conservative - Hold for Moderation Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 3:27 pm
It’s Biss’ prerogative to backtrack if he likes. I feel though that he has less of a pull with his primary voters than Ives did. There were always narratives that questioned how deeply held his more progressive beliefs were. Ives on the other hand didn’t have a credibility problem with her conservatives. Also, he won a lesser share of party voters than Ives did. So again his prerogative to backtrack, but he’s probably only hurting himself in the end.

Comment by Chicago_Downstater Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 3:40 pm
And the campaign continues to take a toll on my opinion of Daniel Biss.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 3:45 pm
Biss ran a very nasty campaign against the guy who holds the key to his much-desired political future. That’s a pretty weak hand so I expect he’ll fold pretty darned soon.

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 3:59 pm
Biss please, the only person that you have to blame for your losing campaign is yourself.

Comment by Boone's is Back Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:06 pm
==I guess I’m confused as to what leverage Mr. Biss has at this point to support or withhold?==

There’s a demo that still really, really, likes him, and if they’re not big enough to swing the election on their own, they could conceivably kick up a lot of unnecessary noise.

Now, I suspect that this demo is much smaller than his 26% of the vote, and that they’re not actually inclined to make much trouble for JB, pining though they are for Biss. But I’ve been wrong before. If I were JB, I wouldn’t sleep on it.

Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:15 pm
There’s six months left in the campaign for Biss to endorse. Campaign finance reform was always a huge issue for Biss (and should be for the state) and his bill is getting tossed around in the GA.

Good on him for fighting for it when the politically expedient thing for him to do would be to just go along to get along.

Comment by Frankly Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:18 pm
When did extracting concessions in exchange for an endorsement become a post-primary thing to do? I was under the impression that you did that before you were beaten as a way to avoid being beaten, not after.

Comment by Back to the Mountains Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:43 pm
Ars, he could turn him on to his sign designer…

Comment by A guy Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 4:55 pm
Why does anyone call Biss a pension thief? The pension bill was supported by a Dem Governor along with a democratic legislature. Albeit the law was struck down by the S Ct but how is it Biss single handedly responsible for the bill passing? Someday when there are missed pension payments some of you will wish the Biss bill was upheld by the Courts

Comment by Sue Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 6:46 pm
Well Sue, let me explain it to you. Biss sponsered the bill.

Comment by Generic Drone Thursday, Apr 19, 18 @ 7:09 pm
Last ditch effort to stay in the news.

It won’t work. Once the 2 billionaires really ramp up their spending Biss won’t even be a blissful afterthought.

Comment by Anon Friday, Apr 20, 18 @ 7:05 am
Biss only cares about catering to white bros because he’s more interested in their adulation than in actually doing anything. He’s a moderate at heart, but I guess doesn’t want to give up the excitement of being treated like he’s a god by privileged white boys.

Comment by Anon Friday, Apr 20, 18 @ 10:06 am