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* Sometimes, trying too hard to stay on message can complicate matters when reporters want to ask about different stuff…
Rauner earlier this week said on a Chicago radio show that high-speed rail is not a priority for Illinois. Asked about high-speed rail Thursday, Rauner initially avoided the questions.
“I have not studied high-speed rail issues,” he said. “I cannot comment on that.”
Reminded of his comments on the radio, Rauner said, “There are many priorities. I don’t think that’s one of the top few.”
He said the state needs to invest in all of its infrastructure to remain competitive.
So, he said he doesn’t like high-speed rail, but he hasn’t studied it so he can’t comment on it, but the state needs to invest in infrastructure to remain competitive.
Got all that?
* He also indicated that maybe he wasn’t as eager to “bulldoze Springfield” as his ads suggest…
He has been staking out the position of being an “outsider” who is going to “shake up Springfield.” After remarks to a Springfield Republican luncheon Thursday, he was more conciliatory toward one of the other thirds of state government.
“I’m excited to transform the government. I need to work with the legislature. I need to understand them. I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the legislative leaders over the last couple of years,” Rauner said. “I’m going to get to know every member of the legislature,” he continued. “I am going to find ways to get legislation passed.”
Discuss.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 9:29 am
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Rauner continues to talk out of both sides of his mouth. Is he pro-choice or anti-choice? Pro-gay marriage or opposed to it?
Is he for pension reform for police pensions, or not? For more state spending on early childhood education or not? Does he live in Wilmette or in Chicago?
Comment by Truthteller Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 9:33 am
So he’s also an “outsider” but he’s spending a lot of time getting to know the legislative leaders over the last couple of years?
Comment by Demoralized Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 9:41 am
“You have radio down here?”
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 9:44 am
Rauner is trying to say all the right things, but he is just not cut out for this. You can feel that in his comments. Rauner believes he can fake it till he makes it. When I think of Rauner I think of the old western movies, with the fake building facades. If you willing to suspend disbelief you can follow the plot line. If you are not willing to do that, its hard to watch.
Comment by John A Logan Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 9:50 am
“I’ve spent a lot of time getting to know the legislative leaders over the last couple of years… I even asked them ‘What is “your price” for numerous things …”
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 9:54 am
“Just tell me when we are going to start recording … oh … we are …”
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 9:56 am
It looks like Rauner has a slight disagreement with Schimpf on pension reform too. Lol
Comment by foster brooks Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:00 am
“I am going to shake up the Bulldozer in Springfield and Bring Back pizza for everyone …”
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:01 am
==When I think of Rauner I think of the old western movies, with the fake building facades.==
Kind of like Blazing Saddles. Maybe Rauner can get enough fake people to vote for him.
Comment by Darienite Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:02 am
Great example of how the anti-all-public-investment view of some of the financial players in Chicago run into the fact of lots of Republican primary electorate support for Amtrak and higher speed trains. It’s worth remembering that Senator Brady and Senator DIllard (the top two candidates in the 10 primary) were outspoken in support of passenger rail investment as particularly important for Downstate while Mr. Proft, the most aggressive anti-high speed rail candidate, came in dead last.
Comment by Dan Johnson Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:05 am
The ego is a powerful thing.
Comment by Obamas Puppy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:07 am
More dribble drabble from Oswego Willy. Never a positive comment about anyone in “his party”. Which party is that?
Comment by Downstater Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:07 am
Darn, someone caught him taking a position, no wait he hasn’t studied the issue. Great leadership fellow.
He’s good at attacking boogeymen, but he is rather shallow when asked about how address real issues.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:08 am
Rauner is going to shake up Springfield - and guess what is going to fall out? More insider deals for his big money friends, just like the ones he engineered for himself.
Comment by Eugene Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:11 am
- Downstater -,
I have posted about Leader Durkin, I have Posted about Comptroller Topinka, I have praised Mr. Sandack, I gave encouragement to Chairman Dorgan …
Read. Learn. and stop making it about me.
With kindest personal regards, you Dope, I remain.
Sincerely yours,
Oswego Willy
“I even plan on slumming it in the Mansion, but if i Have to again, I will move back to Chicago and clout another child, just so everyone is clear …”
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:11 am
I’m not sure if Rauner knows much else besides counting money.
Comment by Jimmy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:14 am
Jimmy - what other qualifications does one need to be elected?
Comment by Gathersno Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:22 am
There is an old folk tale that ends like this:
=== First, I never borrowed your pot; Second, I returned your pot a long time ago; Third, the pot was already broken when I borrowed it. ===
This is what happens when you try to say different things to different people.
Comment by Bill White Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:25 am
Downstater-
Thank you for finally saying what many think in that Oswego says a lot but little of actual substance.
Comment by Finally Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:33 am
Well, I don’t think I am going anywhere soon.
If you learn, don’t learn, …. you might not be my target audience, ever think about that?
We are all guests here, guests of Rich. I never forget that.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:39 am
*Rutherford botches petitions AGAIN.
*Dillard votes for Cosgrove saying even with 20 years in politics he didn’t know who cosgrove was, and then says he models himself after Joe Walsh
*Rauner makes it even more obvious he has no message or any idea what he is doing.
Brady is the only one who hasn’t shot himself in the foot recently.
What a field of candidates. If Oberweis gets in the senate race this will be very entertaining.
Comment by Watch your feet Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:46 am
Besides the constitutionality, wouldn’t forcing everyone into a 401(k) force the state to pony up for social security?
Also, I find Bruce’s comment that because other people have 401(k) plans that means state workers should too. What was Bruces retirement package from GTCR? I’m guessing it was a bit more lavish than your average teacher or Springfield secretary and not just a 401(k).
Comment by hisgirlfriday Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:47 am
“I heard the mansion needs repairs and safty things, so I am going to send Evelyn there, to walk around. Evelyn is real good at seeing things, but noit reporting them, or not seeing thngs, and not reporting them, I just hope Evelyn has a nice Trip, she might be a fixture at the Manison next … Fall.”
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:48 am
Raunerbo has his troops a stirring trying to defend his lack of specifics by attacking poor Willy.
Instead of whining, if you don’t understand what Willy says, skip his comments. Rich doesn’t force you to read them.
If you disagree, try putting some insightful comments together in response.
The problem with the Illinois GOP is that the powerbrokers do not understand or don’t want to listen to the messages that Willy and so many others have been espousing to reinvigorate the party.
In my opinion, the party has been taken over by the darkside and I and many others I know can’t call themselves Republicans any more. The party of my father and most of my adulthood is gone. Willy has chosen to stay and try to encourage change to make the party relevant again. To the Kool-Aid drinkers, they don’t want to hear Willy’s efforts.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:57 am
=== *Rutherford botches petitions AGAIN.
*Dillard votes for Cosgrove saying even with 20 years in politics he didn’t know who cosgrove was, and then says he models himself after Joe Walsh
*Rauner makes it even more obvious he has no message or any idea what he is doing.===
Add Brady have about $16.32 in his account, and everyone wants me to have “Happy” posts?
If you are a member of the ILGOP and you are watching what is going on in My Party and think, “Boy, that Oswego Willy is so negative, there is plenty of good, why focus on the small, itty-bitty negatives?”
Can’t get petitons right ….
Statements making any og them easy to paint “too extreme”…
One of Rich Daley and Rahm Emanuel’s donors of the six-figure nature…
Ridiculously “unqualfied” LG choices…
And I am the “bad guy”?
Plus a possible candidate at the tippy-top that can taint everyone with “pitchforks and torches”, intolerance and a “must” of 100% purity for My Party …
Either look at what is going on in the realm of reality, or get pummeled again, and then try to be even more “pure” becuase you can’t have enough “purity” … in a POLITICAL Party.
We are off the rails, and not the high speed rails … and those not willing to see that, are not ones to help get us back on track. If you are ignorant to what is happening, how do you expect to be someone to fix it?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 10:57 am
===If you disagree, try putting some insightful comments together in response.===
We’re getting way too many drive-bys attacking another commenter without offering anything of substance. Those comments will be swiftly deleted in the future.
If you wanna comment here, then add something to the debate. Drive-bys are a no-no.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 11:10 am
Rauner is caught between two sets of messages: what his campaign advisors are insisting he say to the GOP primary base, and what he really believes might work.
A common rookie problem — slider or fastball?
Comment by walkinfool Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 11:12 am
- Norseman -,
Thanks for understanding. You are not just a fine sticler designer.
To the Post,
I remember alot of advice that was given to the RGA staffer brought in to help Rauner, and one piece of advice in particular is starting to be ignored more and more.
Rauner needs to remember, what is heard in Cairo, will be talked about in Chicago, and what is said in Alton …will be picked up in Zion.
Up, down, A-Z, all the media markets… when a Candidate for Governor speaks, and is considered noteworthy, that soundbite, that clip, that subtle nudge of a position … is magnafied.
Can’t be different in all places and seem the same when the voters decide.
Also ….
Sam/Frank …
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 11:18 am
=== A common rookie problem — slider or fastball? ===
Kirk Dillard ain’t a rookie. What’s his excuse?
Comment by Bill White Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 11:50 am
I have a question, how will Rauner, who now “knows” these legislators he speaks of, and wants to “Shake up” Springfield, and Rauner says the Illinois Governor has a great deal of power to do thinks without the legislature, and …
My Point?
If PPC Rauner need to learn more about how Illinoi Government works, and Rauner needs to work with the Legislature, and Rauner feels he can go around the Legislature, and add to all this the “term limits” issue, where is Bruce Rauner going to find a partner in this?
Has Bruce Rauner seen how Pat Quinn is treated by Cullerton and Madigan? Does PPC think he is going to be treated … better .. than Pat Quinn, even with one…. ONE “mea culpa” that workig together is probably a good thing?
Pick a lane, pick a story and stick to it, and stop polling about what buzz words are working, because unless you are this Dopey with this all-over-the-place governing idea, you must be polling words and phrases, and some are now counter to the Narrative that got you to commit to the race to begin with.
You one problem is your fatal flaw, Bruce Rauner;
You can’t just run as you are, because if you just ran as who you are, you would have had to have chosen another Party to run in a a candidate, and if you expose yourself to being an open book, the voters wil close that book and move on.
It has been questioned here a bit and I backed off, but I guess i wil join those voices today;
When you tuirn in those petitons, wil you show those tax returns?
What ….address … will those returns show? Chicago? Winnetka?
I would be very interested, right out of the box, tax returns with that Winnetka address, with the Clouted Denied Daughter going to a Chicago school… Hmmmm. That would be a tasty treat to start off, “living” in Chicago, tax return from Winnetka, house all over the country … and the monies made … off Pensions.
Tax returns … it’s not “political baloney” in Illinois … its Steak …red meat, actually … that gets devoured if its tasty.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 12:01 pm
And the crowd at the coliseum chants “tax returns, tax returns!!” Lol
Comment by Wowser Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 12:30 pm
Rauner is taking justly-deserved hits for keeping his views to himself, but I do get it… In general the public has a decent tolerance for flip floppers. In the first place they just have come to expect it naturally. In the second if a guy is a flipper, that means there’s always an outside chance he’ll flip in your direction. In 2011 the Obama camp flirted with going after Mitt Romney as vague and lacking any core convictions. They ultimately dropped it as a tactic, deciding it wouldn’t get the job done, and went after Romney as a vulture capitalist who put working men out of work. That’s still Rauner’s vulnerability. If he can get through this primary (as Romney wasn’t) largely fending off any claims he’s fatally out of touch with every day Illinoisans, then he did pretty well. This vagueness thing will come back to bite him if he actually wins and then has to start rapidly disillusioning … someone. But I actually think it’s a mild handicap as regards the election.
Comment by ZC Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 12:38 pm
- Wowser -,
We are at the “gates before entering the coliseum”, at this point of the campaign. Remember when Brady and Plummer ran 3 years ago? It has been that way for quite some time.
It ain’t new, except to those not expecting to face it. It is part of the game if you want to play.
Rauner will , no doubt, face it in the General Election. Pat Quinn is going to release his, so that will be out there… if PPC gets that far, so Rauner might as well take the heat now … maybe from a Winnetka Tax Return…
A very wise move for the other 3 would be to release their returns the day they file petitions … keeps the heat on PPC from Day 1 of the filing …Quinn would release too I would guess if Rauner beefs about it.
Going to be … F.U.N.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 12:40 pm
“High-speed rail” is the code name for corporate welfare, in which the State of Illinois and the U.S. Government literally give Union Pacific Railroad millions and millions of dollars to improve UP’s private property - that is, UP’s own railroad. In theory, this corporate welfare is needed so that Amtrak trains can go sliightly faster - except that, under the agreements among IDOT, Amtrak, and UP, there is no requirement that UP give any enforceable guarantee of Amtrak’s ontime performance. In other words, Illinois, via IDOT, gives UP money; UP spends the money to improve its private roads, so that those roads have more capacity to carry faster and heavier freight trains, operated by UP. Amtrak’s trains can go faster as well - but nowhere near the 220 mph ‘high-speed trains’ of Europe and Asia - and with no assurance that those Amtrak trains will travel on time between Chicago and St. Louis.
Comment by Chicago Publius Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 1:44 pm
What Rauner and other knee-jerk opponents of high-speed rail ignore is that countries stay atop the economic pile by keeping up with and leading technological advancement. No country’s history illustrates that better than our own. In one way or the other our government played a major role in providing funding and research for technological advancements in the automotive industry, energy industries, aircraft industry, communications industry and more. Heck, the Internet we’re using to do things like this was a U.S. government invention. And yet now we are on the sidelines watching as Europe and Asian countries invest in high-speed rail as a superior transportation system that spurs economic development and raises standards of living. Should there be constraints on how much our government spends? Sure. Should our construction of those constraints lead us into economic and technological decline? No. We need smart government spending, not the cut-government-spending-at-all-costs political populism of opportunists like Rauner.
Comment by OldSmoky2 Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 2:56 pm