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I’m not sure that either of these points help showcase the governor’s new contention that he has learned hard lessons, matured and is growing into the office.
With Elvis’ “Blue Suede Shoe’s” blaring over the sound system, Governor Rod Blagojevich walked onto stage with his wife Patti and daughters Amy, and Annie to officially kick of his re-election bid. […]
He was also about 30 minutes late to his own re-election rally.
Clinton ditched the saxophone for his re-election bid. Blagojevich might want to consider dumping Elvis and start showing up on time. At the very least, they should adjust the schedule to his reality.
Add your own unsolicited advice below.
UPDATE: Pete Giangreco says in comments that the story quoted above is in error. The governor was not late to any of his events Sunday. So, he’s got that going for him. But let’s go ahead and continue with the unsolicited advice.
UPDATE: The reporter stands by his original story. So there.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 1:27 am
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Matured? Naw, not a guy who for the second straight election runs as a Dem pledging not to raise taxes hasn’t matured.
Let him toddle on being immature, playing Elvis and being late - he won’t grow up and Illinois is going to hell. Does he care - doesn’t sound like it.
Comment by Doug Dobmeyer Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 2:10 am
Did you notice he tried to kiss his daughter and she turned away from him? No “Daddy!!!” so maybe it was a simple as being late, but that’s not a good sign.
Campaign gurus can’t trick kids.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 5:11 am
For a guy who claims to be sweeping out “business as usual” he seems to be following in the footsteps of one of his predecessors. Big Jim Thompson, you may recall, was notorious for being late to press conferences, ribbon cuttings and even to his own addresses to the general assembly. Some in the press corps referred to it as “Thompson Time,” which meant the event would start anywhere from 1/2 hour to an hour later than the scheduled time. At least Thompson had the charisma to pull it off without getting slammed about it all the time.
Comment by stoney Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 5:11 am
Off the subject a little… Have you seen Gidz/Raush billboards in Springfield? It says “…and we’ll live here!!!” They almost got my vote with that one.
Comment by Shallow Pharnyx Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 6:36 am
The Governor was on time to all of his events on Sunday (even a little early!).
The only reason he is ever late is because he sticks around and talks or shakes the hand of every person in the room. I think that is a nice gesture.
I was at the Peoria announcement yesterday and the Audio/Visual guy, who has worked many a political event the past 20 years in state and presidential races, said that Blago was the only candidate to ever come up and say hi to him and thank you. You could tell it meant alot to the guy and this two kids.
To me, that says alot.
Comment by The Band Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 6:44 am
Hey anon 5:11 am….I’m not fan of Rod, but lets leave his kids out of it, for the duration. Kids get tired, cranky, or moody sometimes. Governors’ kids, bloggers’ kids, anybody’s kids.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 6:52 am
If he’s changing his way’s what did Blagojivech say about moving to Springfield?
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 6:55 am
Blah-Blah still thinks that Illinois citizens only care about a dead Tennessee drug addict.
A reasonable person would think that this guy would, by now, be able able to find something I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S that he likes, but we have seen in crystal clarity that Illinois is very, very low on his list of concerns.
VETERANS FOR EISENDRATH !!!
(please?)
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 6:59 am
Hey he’s the king and he does not have to be on time.I got news for him there is some fence sitters that do not know who to vote for.If he keeps acting like the god all mighty they will go the other way.As many enemies as this guy has made he can not afford any missteps.He claims one day that they have finished everthing he promised since being in office and now he says re-elect him he needs more time.Arod which is it?
Comment by DOWNSTATE Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 7:01 am
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Elvis is still alive and working in a Hardee’s in Springfield so don’t go dissin him with this Blago guy. Elvis told me he is voting for EdWIN because Blago on one hand has set up all these FREE kids programs saying he cares about them when the truth is if he really cared about them he would not saddle their generation with billions of dollars of debt. The kids are going to be the ones who have to pay for all of this so really, lets think about them in that respect to. Nothing is free according to Elvis, unless you have a Hardee’s coupon!
Comment by Paul Powell Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 8:23 am
Hate to burst your bubble Rich, but the Governor was on schedule all day long. Some reporters don’t get the difference between a call time and an arrival time, but hey they just report the news, they don’t always have to get it right.
Comment by Pete Giangreco Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 9:11 am
Either stop lying all together or get much, much better at it.
Comment by Stavros Popodopolis Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 9:38 am
Teddy took the words right out of my mouth. Dump Blago now!
Comment by Randall Sherman Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 9:39 am
late to his own rally…not surprising. The guy can’t resist blaming others for his problems. He (not the GOP) has made things worse. In 02′ he was given a golden oppurtunity to straigthen things out, and he blew it. He continues to flat out lie about the budget and his accomplishments.
Comment by scoot Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 9:44 am
Blago has made a caricature of himselvis.
Comment by Reynolds Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 9:53 am
How about an explanation of his “reforms” at DCFS.
The Peroria Journal Star has been covering the brutal death of a four year old Canton girl this month. Her mother and uncle have been charged in her death. DCFS has admitted investigating a report on the child in September, but community members, including high-ranking professionals, claim there were 18 reports to DCFS on the fmaily. The Blago-Tusk admin and the Dems in the legislature have been remarkably silent on this tragedy.
So it was left to the Repubs (State Rep David Leitch, R, Peoria) to propose reforms. Leitch’s HB 5219 would require the state hotline to notify the police of all reports taken for investigation, not just the ones with a clear potential for criminal charges. Even Democrat William Delgado signed on despite his Human Services Committee’s lack of action. It seems that even some Dem legislators don’t trust DCFS to get the job done.
But if the police are going to investigate DCFS reports, why do we need DCFS? Well, effectively the bill takes the pressure off DCFS to reform is troubled child protection division (DCP) while shifting the division’s responsibilities to the local police. DCFS patronage jobs are maintained, including a large number of plum management jobs. Sounds like a solution for everybody but the taxpayer, who must, if the bill passes,and to the tune of higher local taxs, fund a duplicate child protection system because the state system doesn’t work.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 10:04 am
WGEM just got doing a call up poll asking if the callers thought Blagojevich would get elected again. The results were that 34% said he would and 66% said he would not. We can only hope!! This guy lies so much and has so much dirt around him that George Ryan should be insulted by his petty wrong doing.
Comment by WARDOG Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 10:12 am
Did you people know that because of the prison under staffing that a female dietary worker was raped by some inmates.This has been hushed up.That is all I’m going to say now let one of Blago’s people come forward and tell us what happened.
Comment by DOWNSTATE Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 10:45 am
That story wasn’t “hushed up.” I saw at least one big story on it in the SJ-R.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 10:48 am
It is good to see everyone in such good form this morning! let’s review:
He doesn’t live in springfield.
He is always late.
He combs his hair.
He likes Elvis.
He has a funny name to downstaters who can’t pronounce it and must resort to calling him blah-blah,hairdo,arod,rgod, etc.,etc.,etc.,
There, now that that is over with maybe some of you can make some comments of substabce.
The Governor has a record of accomplishments that will resonate with the voters in all parts of the state. Health care, education, and human services have all been improved with the strong and innovative leadership of the govwernor. The voters will show all of you in March and then again in November. Who will you villify then?
Comment by Bill Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 10:55 am
I think it speaks volumes of a guy’s reputation that one of his spokeswheels has to defend the fact that he was actually on time. If he would show up on time more often it would not be an issue. Plus the arrogance of his post “they just report the news they don’t always have to get it right”! Let’s talk about getting it right. What about a guy who just last Wednesday told the entire state that there is no longer a deficit. That is not spin, that is an outright lie. I can’t wait for him to try and convince us that it was really the Cubs, and not the White Sox, that won the World Series last year.
Comment by Jaded Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 11:13 am
Bill-10:55 It isn’t just us downstaters who have trouble pronouncing it… remember Gover “Smith” from the Daily Show? (I did take the trouble to learn the correct way after he won the primary.) Here’s an issue of, as you say, “substabce”:
The raiding of the funds (you know, the taxes paid for specific purposes) is causing a LUST fund site contractor to get out of the business. 13 pages of bills are waiting to be paid at EPA. Now, ALLKIDS is coming and we can’t pay the medical bills we already have! And now free pre-school….? The daycare/preschools can’t find qualified people to work NOW!? Should we lower standards?? See you in November.
Comment by Darrell Democrat Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 11:29 am
The problem is not that Rod is late. The problem is that he doesn’t really care about the issues that he talks about at his photo ops/fly-arounds/press conferences. I go back and forth about whether voters are perceptive or easily deceived. With Rod I think they have it right: they think he’s a transparent phony.
Comment by Shani Davis' Agent Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 11:56 am
somebody needs to update the link. Don’t know what story Rich is referring to.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 12:55 pm
“…remember Gover “Smith†from the Daily Show?”
Ummm…yeah…that was sarcasm.
Comment by SenorAnon. Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 1:25 pm
If Pete Giangreco said it, it must be true.
He and bond salesman Scofield are quite credible.
The Enron brothers.
Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 1:28 pm
Darrell, good post - but don’t pick on Bill for his typo. We all make them. Bill’s problem is that his candidate lacks substance.
Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 1:53 pm
1. He has no record. He runs the state by running up the credit card and not paying debts. We have more debt and less state services then in any time during the past 30 years.
2. Advice to Gov.-political corruption and hide the ball politics is your game and you are in too deep to quit now. It is harder to indict a sitting governor then a defeated one so keep up the game.
-keep making promises not to raise taxes but spend money like you have the keys to the treasury.
-continue fly arounds promissing to dole out cash accross the state. uneducated voters don’t realize they are getting screwed and will only have to pay it all back under the next governor.
-you need to kill this EE thing now. He is on the ropes and you need to debate him. You need to ensure the any body but blago voters don’t see EE as a legit option. IF you allow him to flounder to the primary he will pull close to 50% downstate and show a chink in you armour.
-try sleeping with some republicans, messing around with the wives of democrat campaign donors only hurts your own cause.
Comment by the Patriot Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 3:07 pm
Norseman… thanks. I’ll be more non-judgemental in the future! He does have $15 million of substance, though……
Comment by Darrell Democrat Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 4:38 pm
Best UNSOLICITED advice I can give to the taxpayers (current & future) is to send Rod into retirement with his 15 million.
Comment by anony2 Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 5:12 pm
Hey Rich, I think I see a caption contest here http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16164920&&&BRD=1719&&&PAG=461&&&dept_id=25271&&&rfi=6
Comment by RodReport Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 8:46 pm
Pete Giangreco - What was the ‘call time’ when he arrived late for meeting with Illinois Congressional delegation?? How about the call time for Sen. Demuzio’s funeral?? I could go on and on.. Its obvious Blago is not very punctual. The funeral tardiness was inexcusable and very disrespecful.
Comment by Tony Soprano Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 8:49 pm
Hey Rich, funny how the Rushville Juv. Joint is now going to open up, but not as a IDOC Facility but under DHS, housing SDP’s moving thme from Joliet. I was just curious, less then 100 yards away from the institution is a day care center, I wonder if Lord Bountyful and Sen. Sullivan have thought about this. It okay to house SDP’s next to a daycare but when they live out on the street, they cannot be within 1000 yards of a school, daycare etc… Sound like some politicans will do anything for votes.
Comment by dumb ol' country boy Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 8:57 pm
Hm, Rod can’t keep the 15 million if he quit, board of elections rules are campaign funds must be refunded to donors in amounts not more than they initially gave (to avoid pyramid schemes), they can also be donated to some other campaign, or donated to charity. but Rod can’t keep the money. I don’t know where it goes if the campaign is indicted, I think it’s frozen or put in escrow.
Maybe the plan is to lose to Edwin, then donate his money to Edwin’s campaign to beat Judy in the general. That would be sweet. Dadaist, but sweet.
I was around in Thompson’s day; “Thompson time” was a reliable 15 minutes late, you guys exaggerate. He would always show up well briefed, and was not nearly as evasive or fact-impaired as the current guv. Edgar was punctual as all get out, because he was not as gregarious as Jim, he’d bug out sooner. Ryan was usually punctual, but the variable was you didn’t know which George was going to show up: the kindly old smiling and jovial “Wilford Brimley” George, or the “get the hell off my lawn you damn kids, you’re all fired”. George. Blago is late and also consistently uninformed when he shows up to things: “what the heck are we doing here, Cheryl? Cutting a ribbon, signing a bill, what?” It’s telling that he’s always late for affairs of state, but right on time for campaign stops and fundraising.
Really, if you want to know who Rod is: he never left college: he pays for everything off a credit card he has little care about repaying (state debt), he’s late for class, skips assignments, blames the dog (previous administration, republicans) for lost homework, and instead of doing the hard work of governing and making legislation, he cribs off the internet and throws together a half-@ssed term paper during an all-nighter the day before it’s due (the budget, reforms). I’m just trying to place what frat would have taken him… tappa kegga brew, maybe. He’s Governor Van Wilder. He’s been on double-secret probation for a long time now, and Dear Wormer, er, I mean, the feds - are going to move on him sooner or later.
I want you all to flunk him in the primary.
Comment by Mars in retrograde Tuesday, Feb 21, 06 @ 9:45 pm
Mars:
Thats probably the BEST description of the Gov that I’ve ever read. It’s dead on.
Made my morning
Comment by Reilly's Brother Wednesday, Feb 22, 06 @ 6:53 am