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Obama cuts video for Pritzker, who just dumped another $20 million into his account

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* Press release…

Today, the Pritzker campaign released a new digital video featuring President Barack Obama on why he’s backing JB Pritzker for governor. In the video, President Obama commends JB’s leadership in creating thousands of jobs at 1871 and expanding the school breakfast program to over 200,000 kids.

“Juliana and I are incredibly honored to have the support of President Barack Obama as we fight for the values that defined his presidency,” said JB Pritzker. “President Obama has done so much to move our country forward: expanding healthcare for millions, leading our country out of the Great Recession, and standing up as a model of leadership and integrity for millions across our great state and nation. I was proud to play a role in his historic presidency when I led the White House Summit on Early Childhood Education, and I’m proud to have his endorsement in this election. I look forward to fighting to preserve and build on his legacy as Illinois’ next governor by putting Springfield back on the side of working families.”

“I am proud to endorse JB Pritzker to be the next governor of my home state of Illinois, and let me tell you why,” said President Barack Obama in the video. “It’s simple. JB gets things done. When folks said Illinois couldn’t be a leader in creating high tech jobs, JB thought we could, and he started a tech incubator that’s helped entrepreneurs create hundreds of new companies and more than 7,000 good jobs. When JB saw that too many of our school kids were going hungry, he made it a personal mission to change that, and working with Illinois non-profits, he helped expand a program we started to make sure more than 200,000 low-income Illinois kids have access to school breakfast.

“I know JB. I trust JB, and that’s who he is — someone who is always thinking about how he can make difference. Someone who identifies the right problems and brings the right people together to solve them. And that’s something we can use in Illinois. JB will be a governor who looks out for all of us — from downstate towns to northern suburbs to the neighborhoods of Chicago. He’ll work as hard as he can to strengthen opportunity for every Illinoisan, today and into the future. So, I’m asking you to join me in supporting and voting for JB Pritzker for the next governor of Illinois.”

* The video…

* But a helpful little birdie in an opposing camp sent this over the transom as a reminder…

* Accompanying National Journal story from 2012…

Chicago billionaire J.B. Pritzker isn’t sure whether he’ll back President Obama in 2012, Bloomberg TV reported on Friday. “We’ll have to wait and see. We have to see who the nominee will be on the Republican side,” Pritzker said. “I’m a Democrat, and I tend to lean towards voting for the president.”

“As in every election, it’s going to be a choice between two people and two parties that you’re not 100 percent behind,” Pritzker said. “You just have to pick the best of a mediocre set of choices.

…Adding… I should’ve put this here…

Billionaire J.B. Pritzker has pumped another $20 million into his Democratic campaign for governor, bringing his record self-funding total to $126.5 million with 2½ months to go before the Nov. 6 general election.

Campaign finance reports filed late Saturday night showed Pritzker made his latest out-of-pocket contribution Tuesday, two days before he was a featured speaker at Democrat Day at the Illinois State Fair.

At the fair’s Republican day, Gov. Bruce Rauner asked the gathered crowd for financial help, warning that he would be outspent by Pritzker by a 3-1 ratio, though he offered no specifics. […]

Still, the Republican governor has put $95.3 million of his own money into his campaign fund since March 2013, when he announced his first candidacy for governor. In December 2016, Rauner made a record one-time contribution of $50 million to his re-election fund.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:25 am

Comments

It’s a solid endorsement from Obama. At this point, if he didn’t have that video, the questions would be around why didn’t Obama cut a video for JB? It helps JB with his base and puts that wavering from 2012 out of play.

Comment by Montrose Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:31 am
Obviously, Rauner will answer with a Trump video of support.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:31 am
A mediocre set of choices would be welcomed in this election.

Comment by Greater Rockwell Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:32 am
The Obama video is Restaurant Quality.

Here’s why.

Each point… there’s a long enough pause… it can be sliced, diced, edited, reworked, massaged… every single thought has at least a 3 second pause to let things breathe before and after, and outside that, it’s video, so when cut with B-roll and music overlay, this is the type of raw wood that can produce a neighborhood of houses, multiple layers, lengths, themes, and the endorsement at the end.

This should gin up Dems in Obama’s home state.

If you are not looking at this as the raw framework for a multiple message from Illinois’ native son president polling better here than the current president in his midterm, you are looking at this all wrong.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:34 am
JB is proud to have Obama’s endorsement, as are the vast majority of Illinoisans. Pritzker gets things done, unlike Governor Gridlock.

Comment by PublicServant Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:35 am
===Obviously, Rauner will answer with a Trump video of support.===

Trump hates BHO so much that he can’t help himself from immediately responding. It wouldn’t surprise me if he proactively issued a statement of support for Rauner or something

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:40 am
I have always said President Obama is one of the great speakers who have held the office. He comes off most often as someone who can be trusted. This is a very good ad for the Pritzker campaign. It will resonate with Democrat voters.”A”

Comment by Retired Educator Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:41 am
When is Rauner rolling out the President Trump endorsement video?

Comment by Fax Machine Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:47 am
If that’s the best your little birdie can come up with, that’s pretty weak sauce. If there is a video with Pritzker referring to Obama as something worse than a “mediocre choice,” then Rauner can get his hopes up. Until then, weak sauce.

Also, I think we’ll hear more from Obama in this race. Probably GOTV radio ads at a minimum, which will remind everyone to vote for JB and Juliana. In fact, I’ll guess we’ll be sick of hearing them before the election is over.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:58 am
I am sure the Rauner campaign will respond that President Obama was controlled by Madigan.

Comment by Cyprian Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:59 am
I never liked Obama or Trump. This video makes no difference as far as I’m concerned. There are those of us who party means nothing.

Comment by Generic Drone Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:59 am
Well, the two videos show me two things:

1) Pritzker was “all-in” in his support of Hillary Clinton, which is evident in his hesitation to full-throatedly support Obama.

2) Just as the case with the honey-badger, Obama don’t care.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 9:59 am
Adding…a clever strategy for Pritzker’s folks might be continually trolling Trump until he praises Rauner…

Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 10:01 am
So Pritzker isn’t the knee-jerk, liberal puppet he’s portrayed as? Wow, sick burn.

Comment by AnonNice Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 10:01 am
You won’t see Rauner posting a reaction to this Obama video..

Well this is good news. Illinois ia now closer to ridding itself of the worse Governor in America and perhaps in history.

Comment by Real Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 10:16 am
==I never liked Obama or Trump. This video makes no difference as far as I’m concerned. There are those of us who party means nothing.==

Cool, but for most voters, party is *the* thing.

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 10:23 am
= But a helpful little birdie in an opposing camp sent this over the transom as a reminder…=

Meh, welcome to politics. Obviously Obama didn’t see it as a stinging rebuke that he would hold a grudge over.

The Obama ad is a good one, no hedging and a strong endorsement by a former president that is extremely popular in Illinois. Very good get for Pritzker.

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 10:25 am
Pretty stark ad, no self-introduction (as if Obama needs to say who he is), no visuals/graphics, no music, etc. Just Obama in front of a camera. It’s longer than I thought, but it’s intimate, as far as something like this could be.

I think it’s very good and starts off the bat with Pritzker’s jobs record, as it should. JB is a job creator who listens and works with people. Bruce is not a job creator, and he loathes his opponents to the point that he’s unable to work with them. JB’s campaign has to use Rauner debate footage when he could not name a job he created.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 10:32 am
Pritzker running at $126.5 million.

I guess it might ratchet up that… wait for it…

$207,000… a day.

… Pritzker is spending.

The good?

Pritzker is spending on field offices and bodies for GOTV.

As the Mendoza campaign (against Munger) found out.

You can run a decent campaign, and lose…

You can run a mediocre campaign and win…,

You get the right people to organize bodies and GOTV, it’s worth more to a campaign than anything.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 11:11 am
“Illinois’ native son president…”

Ronald W. Reagan was the only native son president from Illinois.

Lincoln, Grant and Obama were all born and raised elsewhere. Each man subsequently move to Illinois.

Comment by Practical Politics Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 11:46 am
Stranger things have happened, but I don’t see how Pritzker loses in November. The party is rallying around him and the Blagojevich tapes seem like a distant memory.

Comment by Chicagonk Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 12:11 pm
What’s worth more the Obama video endorsement or the $20 million Pritzker donated to his campaign?

I think the Obama endorsement is.

Comment by Real Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 12:14 pm
The former president cut a very nice ad for JB.

It is an A and I think it will help him especially with some people who may have been turned off by JB’s lukewarm support of Obama in the past.

Of course the reality is that when one looks beyond the message, any one of us could also probably “get things done” if we had billions to play with.

Comment by Responsa Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 12:33 pm
Lost in the $20 million contribution is that 2 other people each contributed $25,000 to JB that same day. Imagine dishing out $25K of your hard-earned money to a campaign only to have what seems to be a significant contribution be totally eclipsed by a 8-figure contribution by that same campaign. Why bother? Maybe put a stop payment on that check.

Comment by City Zen Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 12:46 pm
Of course the reality is that when one looks beyond the message, any one of us could also probably “get things done” if we had billions to play with.

-Except ofcourse Bruce Rauner who gets nothing done for anyone, but himself.

Comment by Real Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 12:50 pm
Lost in the $20 million contribution is that 2 other people each contributed $25,000 to JB that same day. Imagine dishing out $25K of your hard-earned money to a campaign only to have what seems to be a significant contribution be totally eclipsed by a 8-figure contribution by that same campaign. Why bother? Maybe put a stop payment on that check.

-I’m sure each of those people knew JB was funding his own campaign with 8 figure donations already.

Comment by Real Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 12:53 pm
==the Blagojevich tapes seem like a distant memory.==

Yeah, but we’ve got two more weeks before the toilets are a distant memory, too. /s

Snark-free, Rauner seems to have landed on the Madigan messaging, and I always figured that was the strongest one, anyway.

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 1:00 pm
“There comes a time when you have to ask yourself if you’ve made enough money. Fortunately JB has never asked my question to himself.”

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 2:03 pm
I’m waiting for the tweet from Donald Trump giving his full endorsement to Bruce Rauner.

Comment by Steve Brown Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 2:39 pm
Does anyone know whether BO has retained his legal residence in Illinois. Or has he like thousands of others fled the State?

Comment by Sue Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 3:29 pm
- Practical Politics -

lol

Don’t be “that person”

Lincoln and Obama especially called Illinois home.

You want to tell them they’re wrong?

Don’t be “that person”…

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 3:47 pm
“When I am in Illinois, my preferred governor is JB Pritzker.”

Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Aug 20, 18 @ 4:53 pm