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Edgar tees off on Eastern Bloc

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Illinois

* Mark Maxwell at WCIA TV…

If your elected representatives are trying to persuade you that you’re not being properly represented in state government, they just might be right.

That’s the insight former Republican governor Jim Edgar imparted as he jabbed the inexperience and lack of accomplishment of the far-right conservative lawmakers who are stoking regional tensions and calling for a downstate divorce from Chicago at rallies around the state.

“I think the voters need to send competent people to Springfield,” Edgar told WCIA on Sunday afternoon. “Because if you’re not getting anything from Springfield, maybe it’s not just because you’re from downstate. Maybe you don’t elect the right people.” […]

“They can say whatever they want, and they can feel that way. And a lot of people feel that way,” Edgar acknowledged. “I’m just saying if you’re working in a system where you’re in the minority and you want to help your constituents, then you have to try and figure out how you can work with them. Fighting with people might be fun, and maybe it plays well back home, but it’s not very effective.”

“Illinois is one state, contrary to what some people might say,” Edgar said. “There’s no way they’re going to kick Chicago out of the state. Sure, maybe it sounds great at a rally in Mount Vernon or some place, but in reality that’s not going to happen.”

There’s more, so go read the rest.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 2:31 pm

Comments

Once again, Edgar shows how good politics and government is done.

Unfortunately, the Eastern Bloc is not interested either.

Comment by Norseman Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 2:37 pm
IN “either”

Comment by Norseman Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 2:37 pm
If a majority of people in that area want those kind of representatives then they are getting exactly what they want AND deserve. At some point however they will probably be like some of my farmer neighbors who are suffering serious buyer’s remorse over their 2016 vote. Hopefully they will learn a lasting lesson about the consequences of voting for snake oil salesmen.

Comment by former southerner Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 2:52 pm
“I’m just saying if you’re working in a system where you’re in the minority and you want to help your constituents, then you have to try and figure out how you can work with them.”

Edgar knows. It’s too bad Republicans like Edgar are seemingly nonexistent or very few. Instead we have haters making noise. Many I assume are “Christian values” types. But they hate thy neighbor Chicago.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:00 pm
….they were able to work the system and get things.

Edgars very own words. That about sums it up.

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:01 pm
The Eastern bloc seeks..chaos?

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:12 pm
I meant …

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:13 pm
“It’s too bad Republicans like Edgar are seemingly nonexistent or very few” and there are lots of others who say “why should we listen to him?”

Comment by Skeptic Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:15 pm
When i read the entire article, i was reminded of what created the Eastern Bloc

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:19 pm
===“They can say whatever they want, and they can feel that way. And a lot of people feel that way,” Edgar acknowledged. “I’m just saying if you’re working in a system where you’re in the minority and you want to help your constituents, then you have to try and figure out how you can work with them. Fighting with people might be fun, and maybe it plays well back home, but it’s not very effective.”

“Illinois is one state, contrary to what some people might say,” Edgar said. “There’s no way they’re going to kick Chicago out of the state. Sure, maybe it sounds great at a rally in Mount Vernon or some place, but in reality that’s not going to happen.”===

… which is why I’m with Edgar.

All day. Every day. Twice on Sunday. Always.

I grabbed all that because… well, all that is the real crux.

You can’t take a line or a snippet or a small lil grab, it’s a major problem… based on the entirety of that grab.

The Eastern Bloc ignorance… they are oblivious to governing, and sow anger and ignorance that can’t be possible to make themselves seem part of a solution.

Help me, help you.

Listen to Jim Edgar

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:23 pm
Does Edgar have a house in Charleston?

Comment by {Sigh} Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:24 pm
===….they were able to work the system and get things.

Edgars very own words. That about sums it up.===

Use your words, friend.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:24 pm
Jim Edgar is the Republican voice of reason.

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:33 pm
They should listed to Edgar, but they won’t. Governing is hard, pandering is easy.

Comment by Pundent Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:34 pm
** and there are lots of others who say “why should we listen to him?” **

Because he’s a proven winner? Because people like him can win statewide races? But go on, Eastern Bloc, keep being an angry minority out of power.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:36 pm
I miss Republicans in the vein of Edgar or former Rep. Roger Eddy. They understood you have to be willing to work across the aisle to get things done.

I would love to believe there will be better options in the next primary, but the last few have come down to which Republican candidate had the biggest campaign war chest to flood the district with their big, colorful signs, in large part thanks to their Chicago backers.

I think that’s what’s called irony.

Comment by Seenitall Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:39 pm
McKinneys words..a ramp towards disaster.

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:49 pm
Blue Dog:

Sometimes when you miss the boat you miss it big time.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:58 pm
Dem. Sorry. I am not an Edgar fan, but my track record is not that good. I once voted for Blago…

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 3:59 pm
===“It’s too bad Republicans like Edgar are seemingly nonexistent or very few” and there are lots of others who say “why should we listen to him?”===

This is delicious.

“…”It’s too bad Republicans like Edgar are seemingly nonexistent or very few”…”

Actual Republicans believe in him. I believe in. Rauner, Raunerites, and Raunerism itself tried to destroy Republicans and they imploded the Republican brand so Diana Rauner herself could save face. That’s one…

“… and there are lots of others who say “why should we listen to him?”…”

Seems to me “lots” is going a lot of phony work there.

It’s the minority of the minority party that doesn’t believe in an Edgar. Bruce and Diana Rauner bought the rest off.

Questions?

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 4:00 pm
Sadly, there’s zero chance that someone like Jim Edgar could make it through a 2020 primary.

Not as a Republican, anyway.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 4:10 pm
===Sadly, there’s zero chance that someone like Jim Edgar could make it through a 2020 primary.

Not as a Republican, anyway.===

While terribly accurate, the hope is by 2022 and after being pummeled again in 2020 that cooler heads and winning leaders will emerge, bringing back Edgar thinking into vogue.

That’s my hope. Hope is good.

Illinois needs two parties. Raunerism is an agenda that begat the Eastern Bloc and the things they stand for that makes winning statewide… impossible.

Who will lead this new emergence?

Not Barickman, Demmer, Skillicorn or Oberweis…

The phonies like Barickman and Demmer aren’t leaders but Raunerites hoping people forget. The Skillicorn Crew can’t decide which state they want to lead, and the Oberweis types are tone deaf to voters.

A new leader must emerge.

A leader Durkin and Brady know will help in the collars, and with women, minorities, “millennials”

None I named… could hold Jim Edgar’s can of hair spray.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 4:17 pm
Edgar using some common sense. I do miss those days when republican policy was something I could live with.

Comment by Generic Drone Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 4:20 pm
It’s a different state and not apples-to-apples, but a Republican governor, Charlie Baker, annihilated his Democratic opponent in deep blue Massachusetts in the 2018 election. He must have had many Democrats voting for him. He was portrayed as reasonable and willing to work with opponents/people in a TV commercial.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 4:42 pm
People can blame Rainer for the destruction of the party if they want. But the destruction happened earlier. Rauner was the opportunist who came in and bought up the pieces for his own agenda. And too many were far too eager to sell out to him. The party was destroyed by Ryan. That is what set things up for a Rauner to come in and buy the rest out.
But thats history. We cant go back and change that now. We can only move forward. The problem with that is who will be the next Edgar? Who will be the new leaders? Look around. There is nobody out there that I can see as a strong cnadidate to lead the party. And the GOP will continue to stumble around lost until that person is found. As long as the Eastern Blockheads are the best candidates that we can find, this will never heal.

Comment by SOIL M Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 4:42 pm
===People can blame Rainer for the destruction of the party if they want. But the destruction happened earlier. Rauner was the opportunist who came in and bought up the pieces for his own agenda.===

That’s the history, and why and how Rauner ruined and imploded the party.

GHR and the aftermath, there was first Jim Ryan and then JBT, and when JBT passed, that’s when Raunerism ruined the party.

While Geo. Ryan is the lazy point of the downfall, the idea that Jim Ryan and later JBT faced headwinds Edgar also faced, but overcame, because Blago has the cash and the message that he could run roughshod over the GOP.

Rauners, both Bruce and Diana, were indeed opportunitist. They also took down Rutherford, and Rutherford stayed in to take down everyone else.

Rutherford’s Friday Fiasco sealed Rauner’s victory, not because of the meltdown, but because the meltdown was left to fester long enough to let Rauner consolidate enough with his utter phoniness.

Letting Demmer or Barickman even *think* they are the future, both Demmer and Barickman are Raunerites and will only cause more losing and will make the party less competitive. Both Demmer and Barickman thinking they are leaders is scary enough for a rebirth, let alone both trying to rally others to their thinking.

Demmer and Barickman are no better than Ken Dunkin in Raunerite voting records.

Let that sink in. They are indeed… Ken Dunkin.

So, blame GHR, I guess, but Jim Ryan, JBT, they faced an Eastern Bloc that Rauner embraced and made “stronger”

Jim Ryan and JBT were undercut by those Rauner made relevant.

I miss Jim Ryan, JBT, Edgar, but GHR didn’t begat the Eastern Bloc, they hurt everyone, and the Rauner gave them their voice.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 4:57 pm
O.W. You appear to be full of political hope.

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:02 pm
Seeds were sown a long time before George. The GOP has had an internal feud for decades. Too many would rather be right and sometimes extreme right instead of winning elections. Good people with GOP roots were never allowed a foot hold because they didn’t match the “White, male, straight, gun supporting, anti-choice framework. There are conservative downstate dems who know they can’t vote for their beliefs. They are still there, will always be there. How many moderates are left in the GOP?

But the seeds that brought the eastern bloc also brought trump and those were fueled by Rosser, Ives, and so many others over the years. George didn’t cause the destruction. There were plenty of others who could have led pushed aside by the extreme side of the party.
The only question is how long before it swings back or changes into something else. They’ve had a pretty good run 160 years, perhaps its time to put a fork in them and start something new.

Comment by frustrated GOP Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:03 pm
- Dotnonymous -

And?

Desperate for attention or…

You got it. Better?

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:07 pm
Charlie Baker did not have to contend with the reasonable and moderate Speaker Madigan

Comment by Lucky Pierre Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:09 pm
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:07 pm:

- Dotnonymous -

And?

Desperate for attention or…

You got it. Better?

I mean no disrespect…I do believe your hope of a “new’ Republican leader may turn out to be a false hope.

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:12 pm
===I mean no disrespect…I do believe your hope of a “new’ Republican leader may turn out to be a false hope.===

Ok. Thanks.

Moving on…

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:13 pm
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:13 pm:

===I mean no disrespect…I do believe your hope of a “new’ Republican leader may turn out to be a false hope.===

Ok. Thanks.

Moving on…

You are welcome…anytime.

Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:18 pm
=== The Party was destroyed by Ryan ===

Nope.

The GOP was a wooden ship, rotting from the insides, full of shady deals and contracts, patronage, shakedowns.

When the ship started to sink, some of the biggest rats jumped on the USS Blago.

That left a relative handful of moderates battling hordes of ideologues for what was left.

I think you have to go back to the Jim Thompson years, all of the folks who either earned their bones working for him or built their empires around contracts in his tenure.

Comment by Thomas Paine Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:20 pm
The problem with hoping for someone to come out of nowhere to lead the current Republican party is that the ical part of the base wants nothing to do with rational thought or progress. As others on here have said before, a big tent mentality is needed. And right now? They’ve burned that tent to ashes.

Comment by Fixer Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:24 pm
The 1995-1997 years were the high water mark for the ILGOP

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 5:53 pm
I guess if Thompson was the pinnacle, and he left office in 1991 and 1995-1997 were the high water mark years for the GOP… how was it that Thompson was the beginnings of the end?

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 6:15 pm
Build Illinois was pork barrel spending. Some good things obviously, but come down to Southern Illinois and I can show ya some of that good ole fiscal conservative thing we have heard about.

Comment by Blue Dog Dem Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 6:37 pm
LP- Massachusetts’s current, longest serving speaker is an old-school Democrat who has some similarities to Mike Madigan.

In Massachusetts, speakers, not governors, regularly go to federal prison. Speaker DeLeo, however, unlike his theee predecessors, has not been indicted.

Gov. Baker has worked with the speaker and taken a moderate course, and is very popular. Your old friend, Gov. Rauner, chose a different path.

Comment by Keyrock Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 7:24 pm
===Charlie Baker did not have to contend with the reasonable and moderate Speaker Madigan===

… and yet, in the end, Madigan became even more powerful, with more seats, under Rauner.

Thanks Bruce Rauner, LOL

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 7:30 pm
I was visiting some friends in the Eastern Bloc over the weekend. I ended up at a large cookout and quite a few people asked me if I’d heard about ‘Illinois secession up there in the big city’. After I explained that I had, as I don’t live under a rock, I tried to get the opinions of some of the locals.
Generally, no one believes it’s possible, but they support it to stick it to Chicago and Madigan. They don’t believe any research that shows downstate gets a lot more state tax dollars than they pay because they trust their gut. Every single problem the region faces is due to Chicago liberals and Madigan. They seem to be genuinely convinced that a Planned Parenthood will be opened in every county and guns will be confiscated in nighttime raids because of Chicago and Madigan. Suburban GOP moderates are just as bad as Chicago and Madigan. Peggy Hubbard would crush Dick Durbin if it wasn’t for rampant voter fraud. If they could only become part of Indiana, they’d pay less in taxes and get more tax money back.
Totally anecdotal evidence, but the consistency of the faux arguments was remarkable. I guess Facebook is good for groupthink. I was amazed with the total lack of concern for solving the state’s real problems; I asked some people about how the state should solve the pension problem and I either got a blank stare or a rant that we’d be just fine if we’d only ‘cut the welfare checks’ to Chicago liberals.

Feels good to make it back home, but I do need a periodic reminder of why I left the day after HS graduation.

Comment by SIUEalum Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 7:35 pm
Being in the minority and pandering to your constituents that “I’m for everything you’re for, re-elect me!! What a waste! Governor Edgar is right. It’s fun to play politics but a Rep or Sen in the minority is worthless if they are not willing to work across the aisle.
South of I-70 is absolutely filled with those pandering right now.

Comment by So odf I-64 Monday, Aug 12, 19 @ 8:15 pm