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* John Kass wants Gov. Bruce Rauner to wage an all-out war against House Speaker Michael Madigan beyond some TV ads. For instance, Kass notes that Joe Berrios will have to win his ward committeeman’s race to remain the county’s party chairman…
Berrios belongs to Boss Madigan, and the boss doesn’t like it when people see a chink in his armor. Madigan needs Berrios. And that’s where Rauner and company could make a play. They could quietly drop some cash on Democrat candidates to challenge Berrios.
And later, with commercials, they can make the low-key but vitally important post of Cook County assessor into a high-profile race. Republicans could turn that assessor’s race into a referendum of taxpayers against the Boss Madigan and his cronies.
Berrios is gonna have big problems with legit party members unhappy with his reign, but there’s no reason those folks couldn’t receive a bit of help from Team Rauner.
* Kass also wants Rauner to go nuclear on Madigan’s property tax law business. Madigan, as we all know, represents a sizable portion of the city’s downtown real estate owners…
I wonder how Madigan would feel if those wealthy Republican landowners changed lawyers? I don’t know if they have the guts to defy him. And you run risks when you cross the Rubicon.
But no one ever said that Illinois politics was a game.
Thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:45 am
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I’m excited to see Mr. Kass promoting cooperation in governing, and encouraging Sonny.
I’ll remember this when Kass writes “The Combine” and then describes actual “Combine” behavior for Kass’ own means to an end.
Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:50 am
How about war on Kass and the Trib? Does this ever stop from those guys? When will Kass and rest of Trib staff ever demand Rauner will actually govern?
Comment by Tired Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:51 am
I agree with him on Berrios - why not cause a little trouble there.
To his other idea, I suspect that wealthy republican landowners are self-interested enough to keep Madigan’s firm as their property tax lawyer.
Comment by Robert the Bruce Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:52 am
I’d like to see the Republicans take all their advice from Kass. In fact, every time Kass comes up with a new idea the Republicans should try to parse it into English and implement it.
Comment by The Captain Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:53 am
The Speaker wins races.
Whether Berrios wins or somebody else wins, Democratic committeemen are going to be behind the Speaker. They back winners.
Heck, look at Guzzardi. He ran as an independent, beating a Berrios. And as soon as he won, he backed the Speaker.
Kass lives in a fantasy world if he believes an attack on Joe Berrios will make any dent in Madigan.
Comment by Gooner Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:54 am
Yes and yes.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:55 am
John Kass has a 3 year old’s understanding of political strategy. Even if Berrios is not the party chair, he is still assessor and that is the job that Madigan cares about. In any event, the Cook County Democrats will always do what Madigan wants regardless of who the chairman is because Mike Madigan is Mike Madigan.
Comment by tominchicago Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:56 am
Does Kass know when the assessor’s race is? Missed the boat buddy. It will also help Barrios if Rauner plays in the committeeman race. It would split the anti-Berrios vote. Let’s not forgot Ray Suarez, Berrios’s alderman, got taken out this year.
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:58 am
If Madigan goes, we can just name the state “Raunerville,”
Comment by downstate commissioner Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 9:58 am
Kass is betraying his ignorance on the who, how, and what happens in the Cook Co Democrats. Attack Berrios all you want, or replace him — almost no impact.
Attacking Madigan’s law practice? Do Rauner and friends really want to focus the public heavily on private businesses practices? That’s a tar pit for both players.
Comment by walker Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:01 am
I apologize, last comment really wasn’t on track, but every time I turn around, it seems like Rauner is trying to purchase another political favor or person with his money-I’m just fed up…
Comment by downstate commissioner Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:01 am
I expect the ILGO Rauner front to get involved in Dem primaries. What else is the point of their existence? “Progressive” government ?
Regarding Madigan’s law firm, I didn’t notice them doing slip-and-fall spots when Houlihan was assessor. He and Madigan weren’t exactly drinking buddies.
Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:01 am
Great. Rauner is lighting fires and Kass is dancing around them naked. Very nice.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:05 am
Difficult to believe that taking Rauner’s money would be a smart strategy for someone running for DEM ward committeeman.
Comment by Bluefish Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:06 am
Thus far, the new Governor has had a strategy of going around the state picking fights, accusing Democrat leaders of being corrupt, and threatening their reelection chances with his huge campaign war chest. So far the strategy doesn’t appear to be working, in fact it seems to have had the negative effect of the Democrats reacting by digging in their heels. If Rauner’s first legislative session results in failure, he might want to take a look at it as a failure of his own leadership. I don’t know if escalating the war another notch is going to serve the best interests of the state, it could likely make things even worse. Madigan is likely going to be around until which time that he decides on his own to retire. Maybe it’s time for Rauner to learn to be a statesman.
Comment by The Dude Abides Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:10 am
One can almost trace the demise of the once-proud Chicago Tribune to the day they gave John Kass his own column. The quality of the editorial content, as well as the health of the business model, has been going downhill ever since.
Leave the section one, take the sports.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:14 am
Bluefish, you have an innocence regarding politicians and money that is refreshing, lol.
Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:14 am
The only writer on the Trib payroll that has a clue about reality is Eric Zorn. I can’t imagine how he keeps his job with that Republican rag. I don’t need to read anything Kass writes.
Comment by Big Joe Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:15 am
I’m surprised Kass didn’t urge Rauner to make-up cutesy nicknames for Madigan and Cullerton and to rehash them liberally. That will definitely bring them to their knees.
Comment by too obvious Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:17 am
47th Ward - I agree. I think that it is laughable that the Tribune brain trust thinks that the Kass column is the sort of content that visitors to Tribune.com would pay for.
Comment by tominchicago Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:18 am
If it didn’t work in Wisconsin with a much weaker party, why would it work here? I know there are different variables in this kind of election, but it’s not going to be difficult to explain to voters IllinoisGO is a mafia front.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/12/fake-democrats-lose-in-wisconsin-primary-recalls/
Comment by Nuke the Whales Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:20 am
The specifics of the Berrios attack don’t quite line up, but in general, I agree that Rauner’s money would be better spent going after the Dem infrastructure/building the Republican infrastructure. And, c’mon, it’s not like the money won’t be there to run ads later, when it really matters. The only problem is I think that money might be the kiss of death in the insular world of Dem primaries, but if you spend enough…
Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:32 am
When you look at the client list for Madigan and Getzendanner, you can’t help but wonder who Mike Madigan and the Democratic leadership of Illinois is really aligned with. And every time Madigan and Getzendanner arrange a big real estate tax win for a client, who really picks up the tab?
Comment by Cook County Commoner Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:33 am
In the context of Illinois politics, the Rauner money network is unprecedented and virtually unlimited, especially if can keep Griff happy.
The spots will keep coming, but the question for down-ballot races will be whether they can hire the Hessians to get out in the field to actually do the work to put them over the top.
Mercenaries are motivated solely by money. It’s going to take a lot more than $8.75 an hour for proper motivation.
Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:40 am
Wordslinger - Actually, I’m looking at this from a long-term political viability perspective. Any Dem taking Rauner’s money, especially for Chicago ward committeeman, will find themselves considered toxic and have a huge target on their back going forward. It’s one thing to run as an independent and then get back into the fold. It’s something entirely different to align with Rauner against Madigan and then try to walk that back.
Comment by Bluefish Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:42 am
This viewpoint doesn’t really give a lot of credit to Speaker Madigan or the democratic process. It also disregards that there are often many reasons that a client chooses to be represented by an attorney or a law firm and those reasons can both be very personal or very business oriented.
Comment by Anon Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:42 am
Kass is bad, but Berrios needs to go.
Comment by Tone Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:51 am
I quit reading Kass a very long time age. This posting reminds me how much I miss Royko.
Comment by Buddy Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 11:08 am
—– 47th Ward - Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:14 am:
One can almost trace the demise of the once-proud Chicago Tribune to the day they gave John Kass his own column. The quality of the editorial content, as well as the health of the business model, has been going downhill ever since.
Leave the section one, take the sports—-
Amen. But they fired half the sports editors yesterday. The only thing left to ‘take’ is the Cannoli.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 11:13 am
So basically, Kass wants to hasten Rauner’s already rapid evolution into Rod Blagojevich.
Comment by Bill F. Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 11:19 am
If Berrios goes, he might be replaced by someone competent. Berrios has been painted as the face of corruption in Chicago. He might be worth leaving in place and used as a whipping boy.
Comment by Rhino Slider Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 11:48 am
Rhino: Concur that the Dems in Cook Co, and even Madigan IMHO, would likely be better off without Berrios.
Repubs should be careful what they wish for.
Real good gov types, have at him.
Comment by walker Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 12:04 pm
Kass so badly wants to be a player.
Comment by Northsider Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 1:57 pm
People still pay attention to Kass?
Comment by K3 Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 4:12 pm
It may have already been said, but where was Kass when Berrios was running again for assessor? I imagine Berrios could carry on without the county party chairmanship but still be assessor and have more time for Madigan’s bidding.
Comment by Southern Illinois Hoopdee Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 4:13 pm
C’mon Kass has his loyal following. Unfortunately 12 uniformed bitter people and a beer can chicken is not enough to sustain a radio talk show. I say give him time and he’ll get bounced from his column also. He certainly is entitled to his same old opinion and we’re equally entitled to not buy the Tribune. They need to bring in someone with fresh ideas or at least relevant ones
Comment by 13thone Thursday, Jun 4, 15 @ 10:46 pm
I find no value in what Kass writes.
He’s an angry, full-of-himself whiner who cannot write witty or insightful columns.
That the Tribune keeps him around makes me sad for how low the newspaper has fallen.
Comment by zonz Friday, Jun 5, 15 @ 6:15 am