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* I think I told you during the primary that the Sun-Times made a better case for JB Pritzker than he made for himself…
Among the essential leaders in building Chicago’s vibrant tech industry, which barely existed two decades ago, has been J.B. Pritzker, whom we endorse in the Democratic primary for governor. He bought into the vision of “Silicon Prairie” early on, as a venture capitalist and public servant. He has put his energy, leadership and money behind it ever since.
Pritzker founded 1871, the tech business incubator in the Merchandise Mart credited with creating some 7,000 jobs. This remarkable nonprofit has raised Chicago’s profile nationwide as a high-tech hub. He served as chairman of Chicago’s Technology and Entrepreneurship Committee. He was a founder of Matter, the nonprofit healthcare technology incubator.
This kind of future-focused approach to economic development is precisely what Illinois sorely needs right now. It is also reflective of what seems to be Pritzker’s philosophy for trying to make a difference in this world: work it from the bottom up.
That’s the common thread — start at the beginning — running through Pritzker’s many years of public service, whether he was supporting new technology, working to expand childcare services and early-childhood education, or simply trying to provide every child with a good school breakfast.
Pritzker saw the promise and nurtured it.
Illinois could stand more of his positive and inclusive approach to leadership, as well as his ability — as witnessed in this campaign — to build broad coalitions.
* Well, the CS-T editorial board did it again today…
Let’s get moving.
Illinois has been losing ground for four long years, and that’s just pathetic for a state blessed with so many strengths.
Take a boat ride on Lake Michigan and wonder at Chicago’s skyline. Ride the California Zephyr through western Illinois and marvel at the cornfields that run to the horizon and feed the world. Fly into O’Hare Airport and remember that our state is still the crossroads of the nation, even now, and our future is bright.
If only we’d get moving.
We’ve been a bed-ridden strongman for too long.
So that’s why we’re endorsing Democrat J.B. Pritzker for governor in the Nov. 6 election. We believe he offers the best plan to put Illinois back on its feet in a way that benefits all of us, from billionaires to bus drivers.
His main opponent, incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, has been a failure.
Pritzker, like Rauner, pledges to do what’s necessary to grow our state’s economy, but he wants to do so in a way that best benefits ordinary people. Sounds good to us. Illinois has suffered through almost four years of a governor whose whole pitch has been to make life easier for the monied classes; it’s about time we remembered who really built this state and country
It’s not that the endorsement is surprising. Of course they endorsed Pritzker. That’s a given.
But Mario Cuomo once said you campaign in poetry and you govern in prose. Pritzker campaigns in prose. Those endorsement editorials are much more like poetry.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 1:22 pm
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Pritzker is very fortunate to have a catastrophic failure as an opponent in key respects: Pritzker’s cageyness about his property taxes and progressive income tax.
Pritzker is an actual job creator. That’s something he should really highlight in this campaign. Rauner couldn’t name a job he created and ripped off workers for millions of dollars (see also Cardinal delivery drivers).
Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 1:45 pm
Illinois was a technology leader in the nineties. We have generally been on a decline ever since.
Rauner’s solution was to take on unions. And the debate last night did not offer a new direction.
How many high paying technical jobs are unionized? My guess is the number is close to zero. So Rauner is not going to help the state grow with his 1960’s “Dick Van Dyke Show” era anti-union reforms. Rauner squandered his political capital on trying to get reforms that would mean little to Illinois growth and there is no reason to suspect that four more years of Rauner would be any different.
Comment by A Jack Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 1:56 pm
===Pritzker campaigns in prose. Those endorsement editorials are much more like poetry.===
That is Restaurant Quality right there.
The fundamental errors the Pritzker Crew makes is highlighted brilliantly by how the Sun-Times makes the same case… poetically.
I never understood why, with Rauner so under water, so unlikable, that Pritzker and his Crew continually box themselves in exacting policy… when the focus should be on writing prose to the policy at jump steet.
You were always, always, always gonna get dinged on “no substance” but as Edgar reminded everyone who would listen… stop with exacting policy.
Fundamentals never change.
Yes, campaigns have evolved… but fundamentals never change.
That’s why they’re fundamentals.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 2:09 pm
Watch the Chicago Sun Times endorse with a straight face the Democratic legislative leaders who have failed Illinois for decades.
CST believes Illinois suffering somehow started 4 years ago
Of course JB’s “broad collation” does not include a single business group in Illinois
Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 2:15 pm
==CST believes Illinois suffering somehow started 4 years ago==
Oh they do not. That’s just more victimhood from you. Poor Governor Rauner. He’s not to blame for anything. Everyone’s just picking on him.
Nobody is blaming him for everything but they are holding him accountable for his role in the goings on the last four years. It’s a concept you can’t seem to grasp.
==Of course JB’s “broad collation” does not include a single business group in Illinois==
Business groups don’t vote. People do. And those people highly disapprove of the Governor and seem to favor JB by 20 points.
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 2:47 pm
===Of course JB’s “broad collation” does not include a single business group in Illinois===
Crain’s?
===In his most recent interview with Crain’s, in late September, the governor rejected the idea that fiscal stability has value in the eyes of the business community. Our business readers know better.===
Hmm. Sounds like a business community.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 3:03 pm
LP: “JB’s ‘broad collation’ does not include a single business group in Illinois”
Crain’s: “Fostering economic growth in Illinois is the chief job of any governor. By this measure, J.B. Pritzker is the superior choice over Bruce Rauner in the 2018 race. *** Pritzker is a known quantity in Chicago’s moderate business community—in many ways, he’s its unofficial mayor—and he’s widely recognized as a no-nonsense problem-solver more likely to reach across the aisle with an open handshake than a clenched fist.”
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/opinion/jb-pritzker-governor
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 3:12 pm
Crains is a business publication run by journalists not an organization run by businessmen.
Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Oct 12, 18 @ 3:26 pm