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Rauner, Pritzker release first TV ads of the general election

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* Gov. Rauner is kicking off the festivities by taking the Blagojevich route, which is mighty interesting since President Trump is considering letting the man out of prison and Rauner’s Blagojevich TV ads during the primary didn’t really hurt Pritzker all that much. I mean, the dude won by 20 points after Rauner spent millions.

Then again, general election audiences are very different than Democratic primary audiences, and it’s well known that the Rauner folks have been polling and focus-grouping the heck out of this topic. And the spot most definitely takes a wicked shot at Pritzker, which his GOP base will appreciate. Press release…

Today, the Rauner campaign is launching the first TV ad of the general election, and latest in a series highlighting JB Pritzker’s conversations with corrupt ex-governor Rod Blagojevich, federal inmate #40892-424, caught on FBI wiretaps.

The ad features Pritzker and Blagojevich talking about potentially appointing Barack Obama’s controversial spiritual leader Reverend Jeremiah Wright to the former president’s open Senate seat.

Pritzker quipped how “hilarious” it would be, followed by both of them rounding out their conversation with a rousing “God D@mn America!”

* Rate it…

Not a lot of context there. But the patriotic theme could take hold. Again, this is a sop to the base, which is absolutely fine for this point in the campaign.

* Background text from a GOP operative…

Only 16% of people in the state blame Bruce Rauner solely for our problems. An overwhelming majority blame Mike Madigan — to whom Pritzker has solidly hitched his wagon.

* On to the next one. Press release…

Today, the JB Pritzker campaign released the first in a new series of TV ads that will document how Bruce Rauner has failed Illinoisans across the state as governor.

The first ad in the series, “Brent,” highlights how Bruce Rauner’s failure to pass a budget led to the halt of road construction and 20,000 workers being laid off at the height of construction season. Learn more about the Rauner Failed Me campaign at www.RaunerFailedMe.com.

“Bruce Rauner’s failed leadership has had a real and lasting impact on hardworking people across our state and after three and a half years in office, it’s clear this governor has nothing positive to talk about,” said JB Pritzker. “Working families have been lied to, let down, and failed by Rauner for nearly four years — and it’s time their stories are heard.”

* Rate it…

* If you wanted Pritzker to draw serious blood with his first ad, this definitely ain’t it. They’re trying to build a narrative, though, so we’ll see. Actual general election voters may not want this thing to start out as an 11 on a scale of 1-10 and the ad does tell a story about how a real person was hurt by the governor’s choices.

Even so, it looks to my eyes like an overreaction to Hillary Clinton’s unexpected blue-collar losses in the “Rust Belt” states. Illinois isn’t Wisconsin, or Michigan, or Pennsylvania or Ohio, however. Hillary won Illinois by 17 points.

The spot seems like a too-careful-by-half, overpaid consultant’s ad and not what the relatively small number of people who are actually paying attention right now really want (which is what the Rauner ad most definitely is - a vicious assault). Instead of kicking it all off with some nasty red meat for a few days, they’ve taken the safely bland route from the get-go. They may live to regret that choice. If you’re gonna say you’ll “protect” the state from President Trump and Gov. Rauner then you need to show you’re up to the task. This ad most definitely falls short. I’ve been warning for months that Pritzker may not be tough enough to win this thing, and his inaugural ad, in my opinion, only bolsters that prediction. But, hey, they’ve got reams of polling data and endless focus group experience and I don’t.

* Script…

My name is Brent Williams, and I’m a proud union laborer. I’m one of the guys that works construction out there on the highways you drive by. Last summer, in the middle of our busy season, because of Bruce Rauner not passing a budget, I was told my job was being shut down. We just bought a house. I need to be working. When I’m not working, I’m not making money, and roads and bridges aren’t being fixed. Along with me, there were 20,000 other workers that were laid off. I don’t know that Bruce Rauner does think of me. Why would we do it for four more years?

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 5:00 am

Comments

JB will have to screw up royally to lose the election. Having said that, this ad is not a good start. Road construction workers don’t conjure up happy feelings. Most associate them with long, frustrating road trips, and while it isn’t fair to criticize their work ethic, many do. There are better ways to get this message out there.

Rauner stays in his comfort zone with the Blago ad. If he has some new tapes to share going forward, that’s one thing, otherwise, this is going to get old quickly.

So this is the choice we have?

Comment by SSL Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 5:43 am
The next Pritzker ad can be, “I’m George, a conservative voter. Bruce Rauner tripled our State’s debt, never proposed a balanced budget and expanded abortion access. And now he wants me to vote for him because two guys were joking once. Bruce Rauner failed me.”

Comment by Concerned Dem Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 7:13 am
The Blago one sounds like the guys are joking about appointing someone controversial. Pritzker said Bill Ayers. I’m mean, seriously? Blago is so yesterday. If Trump pardons him, that would cause an interesting conflict among Republican voters.

I rate it a B, because of the comedic value. But it seems frivolous.

The Pritzker video brings the focus directly where it needs be, on Rauner’s massive budget crisis damage. The part I didn’t like as much is that Brent said he doesn’t know what Bruce Rauner thinks of him. Bruce Rauner has contempt for him by puttin’ on the hard hat while tryin’ to rip down his wages.

B+

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 7:42 am
What I heard is Blagojevich leading the conversation and goofing on silly senate nominees while Pritzker listened and responded to the governor. Big deal. This doesn’t effect you or me.

Thn what I heard in the second ad is a good man telling us that Bruce Rauner prevented him from providing for his family and he was one of 20,000 effected by Rauner. It effects the listener personally since Rauner shut down our roads.

One ad doesn’t effect us. but the kther does.

Telling voters how they are effected by their vote is how you do ads.

Rauner, alas, fails. Grade=D
JB, succeeds. Grade=A

Democrats will lose elections if they continue to ignore blue collar voters.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:04 am
Rich, as always, thanks for getting things like ads and releases out to be seen here, so the whole discussion can happen in the real time happenings.

To that specifically, this is also what I mean by insight.

===Instead of kicking it all off with some nasty red meat for a few days, they’ve taken the safely bland route from the get-go. They may live to regret that choice. If you’re gonna say you’ll “protect” the state from President Trump and Gov. Rauner then you need to show you’re up to the task. This ad most definitely falls short. I’ve been warning for months that Pritzker may not be tough enough to win this thing, and his inaugural ad, in my opinion, only bolsters that prediction.===

The reason Rauner was able to take it to Quinn… was Rauner took it to Quinn. At no time was there quarter or a sense that Rauner was going to let up or not hold Quinn accountable for everything, including the weather, it seemed.

Pat Quinn failed worked because it wasn’t about the nuance of it, it was about the selling the reality of its truth.

This is an instance of me asking the time and the Pritzker crew politely telling me how a watch works.

What I respect about Caprara, and check out her twitter no matter where you fall on the political spectrum, is she’s unabashedly who she is, a Philly product and she embraces that. While managers of campaigns make the campaigns about the candidate and not themselves, a lil more “Philly” could go along way in keeping the pressure on a sitting governor polling at 26% approval… in a state Trump lost by 16 points.

That crew, to their credit, knows that the ground game and building, mirroring Rauner’s building of 2014, might be the biggest investment, even outside the long game messaging they are doing here.

They’re not wrong, but if this slow build a burn is to build to a crescendo, using the Pat Quinn failed line of thought, this is at a whisper.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:20 am
To the Rauner ad,

Rauner needs more “Brewskis with Bruce” and less trying to sink Pritzker right now.

Ignoring the 26% approval and putting “Brewskis” on the intertubes and this ad on the Tee-Vee… I dunno if that’s the best way to close the gap on Pritzker, as Pritzker is already under water himself.

If the plan is to ignore how terribly unpopular Bruce Rauner is and try to sink Pritzker, which could work I guess… a 26% approval isn’t the line you want to have as an approval when choosing the “lesser of” model to victory.

If Rauner’s Crew is conceding Rauner won’t move his popularity anytime soon… the the question of who his constituency is might be more concerning than creating an ad in hopes people like Pritzker less to close the gap.

It’s a C, gentleman’s C… and they better hope Trump doesn’t commute Rod’s sentence.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:27 am
I would bet the Rauner camp has many more damning tapes of JB and Blago. Combine that, the offshore $, the Gold Coast property fiasco and other “deals”, could make more a rather interesting campaign.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:42 am
Another Pritzker ad where Pritzker doesn’t appear in his own ad. The guy is genuinely charming and charismatic, he could build a relationship with voters. When the kitchen sink attacks come, and they will come (see above), he could insulate himself by having a personal relationship with voters. Instead they’re continuing a trend their media team used throughout the primary, using almost exclusively third party validators at the expense of the candidate. He’s still an unknown, I don’t understand why they’re shelving his best asset, his personal charm, it would be an effective shield against attacks. You’d think at a minimum a guy who’s dropped $100 million of his own money could land a speaking role in his own ads but I guess not.

Comment by The Captain Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:48 am
If Rauner’s Crew is focus grouping ads and doing polling on blame and Madigan and so forth, what are Rauner’s own approval/disapproval?

If Rauner is still under water, maybe by 15-20 points under water… and people only blame Rauner by a 16% clip and an overwhelming majority already blame Madigan…

… ya may not be treating the the cold, the symptoms or the disease in any way, but go ahead, keep this line of attack going. You may be ignoring the greater truths of the numbers.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:51 am
Both ads are pretty good lead-off efforts — they frame each campaign’s theme well. Pritzker is unknown, risky and maybe corrupt. Rauner was given a chance and he failed, driving the state’s economy into the ditch.

Comment by Roman Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:52 am
Does BTIA™ think copying and pasting an ad from the primary - which Pritzker won by 19 points to Rauner’s 3 points - is going to work this time around?

As far as the Pritzker ad goes, they already have a dozen people on that site, and they’re not going to run out of people that can tell them how Rauner failed over and over again.

Comment by Delicate Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:55 am
Even though many people think Blago’s sentence was too harsh, many others don’t. In either case everyone recognizes that Rod was an embarrassment to Illinois, a laughingstock, and was a caricature of how many voters
and outsiders view Illinois politics and crony access. I doubt that Blago’s sentence will be commuted but getting this ad out there now timingwise–an ad involving Pritaker which could have been run any time during the primaries or general election ad window–is probably a reminder in case it is commuted. Grade C.

Pritzker ad is obviously part of the vaunted (and popular here} “Rauner failed” narrative. Its value as a starter ad can only be assessed as part of a continuum of the theme. For now, it’s meh. Grade C.

Comment by Responsa Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 8:59 am
What positives is Rauner bringing to this race? Signing a budget this year after years of refusing to do so, and planning to use that damage that did to further his own personal agenda- a positive??? The Quincy VA issues??? Education decimation??? Black and white years old possibly illegally obtained tapes between Blago and Pritzker will not be enough, imho, to pull him out of the ditch he deliberately drove the state into.

Pritzker’s approach my seem milquetoast, but with today’s state and national focuses on who can be the biggest bully on the block, the human side of crisis-chaos politics strikes z chord. Put enough of these chords together, and Pritzker’s tune is much more hopeful than another four years of “you have to pay” by Rauner.

Comment by Anon221 Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:02 am
The camps are fairly set, with a narrow middle. Few Dems will vote for Rauner, few Rs will vote for Pritzker. Some might stay home due to hurt feelings in the primary, and that may affect Rauner more than JB.

You might want to energize your base to boost turnout (Rauner’s current need) or fight for the narrow middle (JB). Both are OK at this point in the campaign and the choice depends on the needs of the campaign, but neither appeals to almost 50% of the public.

Comment by Jibba Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:07 am
==Only 16% of people in the state blame Bruce Rauner solely for our problems. An overwhelming majority blame Mike Madigan — to whom Pritzker has solidly hitched his wagon.==

So you’re leading off with…Not Madigan?

Right now- right. now.- I’d take JB’s message over Rauner’s in a heartbeat. He connect’s Rauner’s political failures to people’s personal miseries, and all the details- the orange sweater, the two drinks in the lunch box, the way Brent talks- are pitched perfect for the voters JB’s trying to reach.

But.

If Blago is released and goes on a media blitz and people have a visceral negative reaction to it, Rauner might be very happy he started with these ads.

That’s a lot of ifs, I know. It’s a strategy that relies on outside forces, but that’s where Rauner’s at now. He’s too deep in the hole to control his destiny anymore.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:10 am
BVR ad is A+. The issue will be do the voters of Illinois trust the guy on FBI tape condemning America and tied to the democratic machine or BVR who is trying to cut taxes and create jobs.

Comment by Rocky Rosi Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:16 am
==not what the relatively small number of people who are actually paying attention right now really want (which is what the Rauner ad most definitely is - a vicious assault).==

Are the people paying attention right now actually winnable? It seems to me that anyone who is following this race in early June already has a good idea who they will vote for.

Comment by supplied_demand Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:16 am
- Jibba -

With respect,

You say Rauner needs to boost turnout of his base, who is the Rauner constituency?

I’d have to believe Rauner has the “because Madigan” group, but conservatives and pro-lifers are turning their back on Rauner, and at 26% approval, the boost need to be in his approval probably more than trying to gin up turnout for this narrow base Rauner now seems to have?

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:17 am
==Blago is so yesterday==

Have you turned on the news lately? Unless you meant literally yesterday

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:23 am
you only need to look back four years to see how one side can be so giddy with the wealth of negative material it has on its opponent, only to find that it becomes white noise to voters and fails to move numbers. Quinn came up with ad after ad about what a bad person rauner was, how he threatened to ruin people’s lives and their families lives, and how he was a vulture capitalist. The Quinnsters were convinced that this overwhelming amount of negative material would swing the election. But the ads blurred together and quinn lost because he failed to lead. Its that simple. Rauner can spend his entire fortune on rolling out tape after tape of blade and jb talking on the phone. With each ad, there are diminishing returns. meanwhile, JB will build the narrative of Bruce’s failed leadership, and the case for this is even more compelling than the case of Quinn’s failed leadership. I realize i come off as biased, so you wont be surprised that i give Rauner’s ad a D. I appreciate what JB is doing here, but i agree with the commenter who said that road workers conjure up images of construction and traffic jams. I appreciate the slow start, and agree with the commenter who said that people arent ready for threat level midnight types of ads. I give JB’s ad a B- (would be a solid B if he used a union carpenter or some other trade).

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:27 am
Make no mistake, Rauner’s plan is to make JB radioactive to depress dem/independent turnout as a whole.

This was never about making Bruce look like a successful governeor; it’s about making JB look even worse.

Comment by Dee Lay Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:34 am
Rauner’s ad works. It’s solid. It reminds. It lets the other two do the talking and reminds people that Rod went to jail. That has some impact on the Dem Brand. We’ll see how much. The connection though is there in excess. The laughing makes it icky/worse.

These guys know how to make a commercial. It’s his strongest asset and has been for a long time.

The Pritzker ad is kinda blah. It’s important, but the story isn’t emotionally tugging with this particular guy. Have no doubt he’s a real guy with a real life issue, but he’s not connecting immediately- which an “emotion” ad really needs to do.

It’s a pass, but not a strong one.

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:37 am
D.

If this is the weakest element of a planned series, then the series could be good. But this isn’t a promising start.

Apologies for my shameless attitude here: someone needs to be crying in a future ad. A man who lost a parent in the Quincy veterans home….a mom wondering how she is going to feed her children thanks to Rauner’s policies.

Comment by Robert the Bruce Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:38 am
Rauner’s ad was just rehashing the same ads he ran before the Primary. Pritzger still won his Primary by a significant margin.
Pritzger’s ad wasn’t great but good. It shows a real person whose life was changed for the worse as a direct result of decisions made by Rauner. They need to continue to run these real life ads, whether it be a construction worker or a social service provider who went out of business because of the crisis created by the Governor.

Comment by The Dude Abides Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:44 am
===These guys know how to make a commercial.===

Which guys, Rod and JB? Lol, it’s not like the guys who made this ad had to do much but edit the tapes. It ain’t Scorsese or Cecil B. Demille caliber work here.

The hardest part of making this was getting the 30 second timing down. You’re giving your pals way too much credit for this. The entire ad was handed to them by one of the attorneys involved.

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:47 am
Morning, OW. I’m not in any way saying that Rauner has a constituency, having lied to well, everyone. Just thinking that the only path left to him is to depress JB’s turnout and try to energize conservative voters, both of which are partly accomplished by this ad. I suspect the group(s) he has turned off is larger than the potential swing voters that might move to him if he tried happy talk, which is why he came out negative. Just my 2 cents.

Comment by Jibba Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:48 am
The guv needs to get voters who voted for Biss and Kennedy to vote for him.

The guv also needs to get voters who voted for Ives to vote for him.

I’m not sure what the Venn diagram for that looks like.

I think the Guv’s only possible path to victory is if he can convince folks that life as we know it in Illinois will end if JB is elected.

Comment by Henry Francis Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:51 am
JMO but whenever the cut off date is for replacing someone on the ticket, is when the real fun Add’s will start. Rauner isnt tossing any bombs from tapes or whatever until that time.

Comment by Board Watcher Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:53 am
“I’ve been warning for months that Pritzker may not be tough enough to win this thing, and his inaugural ad, in my opinion, only bolsters that prediction.”

And I didn’t understand what you meant. Until now.

The political cliché of our moment may be “If your not p~~~ed-off, you’re not paying attention.”

And “not paying attention” is simply a synonym for “out of touch” — a label that a billionaire candidate cannot afford to flirt with.

Ever.

Voters need to be assured that JB is PO’d ASAP.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 9:56 am
OW why will Jeannie Ives supporters, Independents and a few reform Democrats vote for JB?

Because they don’t think Mike Madigan has enough power in Illinois?

Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:01 am
==but whenever the cut off date is for replacing someone on the ticket, is when the real fun Add’s will start. Rauner isnt tossing any bombs from tapes or whatever until that time.==

Man, that’s the thing with Rauner, the real good stuff is always gonna happen tomorrow.

But he’s been running against JB pretty much exclusively since Day 1, and here he is, 15 points down. Day light’s going in.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:03 am
Morning - Jibba -

It’s all good, I’m just trying to get clarity, I may be missing something others see, so anytime I can get clarity, it helps me.

To just the conservatives or social conservatives… Rauner signing HB40 won’t be forgotten with Pritzker-Blago ads, unless you’re Mr. Breen.

You’re spot on, as it’s been discussed, Rauner needs depressed turnout, and to this Rauner ad, if they can show the Pritzker-Blago connection will deflate Dem turnout in the times of Trump, then that would be a real trick.

Hope you’re well.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:03 am
Rauner kickoff, shocking profane language. JB, play the full wright quote, framing the wiretap as mocking not praising

Comment by Rabid Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:18 am
===why will Jeannie Ives supporters, Independents and a few reform Democrats vote for JB?===

Bruce Rauner failed.

Ask candidate Rauner how effective it is pointing out an incumbent governor is a failure.

===Because they don’t think Mike Madigan has enough power in Illinois?===

Rauner signed a budget that required every penny of the 32% tax increase.

You may need to come to terms that Bruce Rauner certified and validated the 32% tax increase, lol

Did I miss your rating of the Ads?

I haven’t released any ads, so you can take that up with - Norseman -

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:21 am
==why will Jeannie Ives supporters, Independents and a few reform Democrats vote for JB?==

Ives voters won’t. They’ll vote for the Republican nominee. Or maybe stay home.

Dem reformers will because they’re Dems. As is JB.

If we could predict who Indies would vote for they wouldn’t be Indies. But they could be convinced to vote for JB because Rauner Failed.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:31 am
The Blago recordings didn’t harm Pritzker with Democrats in the primary, as voter turnout was up substantially. So it didn’t work the first time, to hurt Pritzker. We just had the worst budget crisis in our history—worst in the nation—manufactured by Rauner. I think that matters a whole lot more than Blago.

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:37 am
JB ad - D
I’m sorry but keeping 20,000 workers off the roads when we are broke, is a positive.

BR ad - B
I think if Blago gets out, he is going to do and say things that only help Rauner so he needs to keep him in the forefront so reporters get even more Blago sound bites.

However, I do no think either ad is too meaningful at this point. No one in the know can vote for Rauner and people not in the know are not going to care too much about either of these ads … yet.

My advice to BR, show you are more likeable because no one likes Rauner. Getting someone to like an unemployed road construction worker? Meh.

Comment by I Miss Bentohs Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:38 am
JB’s add is clearly aimed at the 40% of union households that voted Rauner in 2014. Lotta of Local 150 members-LIUNA workers that lost work due to the budget.

Comment by Memo From Turner Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:39 am
Agree with Anon. Blago-Madigan-Blago-Madigan over and over and over, all scary music & black and white photos turns into white noise quickly. It’s all he’s got, and it’ll get stale fast. Pritzker could have come out with something more vicious now, but why? Voters are less likely to tune out ads over a long summer if they feature actual people than they would be hearing one politician talk about how bad the other politician is. Pritzker is planning to spend $2 for every $1 Rauner spends, he could run hundreds of these. Different people all describing how Rauner failed them. Construction workers, nurses, school teachers, maybe even angry conservatives, disabled folks, single parents, parents of autistic kids, college students….list goes on and on. Mix in the ads with news anchors describing all of the scandals.

Save the “Rauner killed Quincy vets” stuff for early fall, closer to time you really need voters to get angry and motivated. Not much use filling voters with righteous fury in June when even early voting is a long way off.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:39 am
===So it didn’t work the first time, to hurt Pritzker===

To Democratic voters, yes. The general electorate should not be expected to behave the same.

Comment by People Over Parties Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:39 am
===JB’s add is clearly aimed at the 40% of union households that voted Rauner===

Fine. How many of them are home in June watching TV? They’re all out working right now.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:43 am
Oops … I obviously meant JB and not BR when I said

My advice to BR, show you are more likeable because no one likes Rauner.

Comment by I Miss Bentohs Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:52 am
Is Rauner protesting Trump’s possible release of Blago? If Blago gets sprung and Rauner is silent, Pritzker can use that against him, that he once again is silent and won’t stand up to Trump.

Comment by Grandson of Man Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 10:54 am
==I’m sorry but keeping 20,000 workers off the roads when we are broke, is a positive.==

I get it, but I don’t think many people are going to agree with you.

==Fine. How many of them are home in June watching TV? They’re all out working right now.==

By that logic, you don’t need ads at all right now.

And, well. You don’t. But here we are.

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 11:00 am
Grandson, the race is one on one now. Now diluted primary.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 11:05 am
If nobody knew about the tapes before, Rauner’s ad would be meaningful. But they’ve been out there for months, and it’s June. These are feeling-out moves that won’t have any effect on anything.

Comment by LXB Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 11:18 am
JB’s add is clearly aimed at the 40% of union households that voted Rauner

==Fine. How many of them are home in June watching TV?==

Fair point, but the ones that vote generally watch the local news (they get off at 3:30 or 4:30 in the summer, perhaps earlier with the heat) and those ads will be targeted for such programming. Also, there is still such a thing as union households and if a breadwinner misses a check it does not go unnoticed.

Comment by Memo From Turner Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 11:27 am
Bruce Rauner has been an utter failure. Good luck to his team as they try to distract us from that, but almost every single Illinoisan knows things have not improved under Rauner. The man let horrible state finances spin further out of control while he dug himself into the hole that was his turnaround agenda. He got absolutely nothing accomplished so of course he’s going to go negative by trying to placate a base that doesn’t even like him. His ad is boring because he tried this already and it didn’t work.

JB’s team is building a narrative that people across this state will see and nod their head in agreement. People who didn’t even follow government knew we didn’t have a budget and they knew people were hurting because of it. This is just the start of calling out Rauner’s failures and when the personal attacks are drowned out people will remember Bruce Rauner is a failure above all else. That’s a winnin’ message.

Comment by LAWLZ Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 11:32 am
JB does a TV ad about road construction during construction season when everyone gets annoyed about traffic? #confused

Comment by LOL Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 11:32 am
Team Rauner is tronc’s mouthpiece, JB use tronc’s jeanne quotes to keep the GOP divided

Comment by Rabid Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 11:50 am
Still don’t understand why Democrats think the budget impasse in all on the Governor.

The Democrats left town after passing two different unbalanced budgets, with zero reforms of state government or our business environment that were as much as 7 billion dollars out of balance.

Does “Brent” give them an “atta boy” for that?

Does “Brent” root for a team that punts on first down or actually tries to run some plays and move the ball forward with a playbook not written in the 1970’s?

Why JB doesn’t come out and acknowledge how corrupt Illinois politics has been for decades defies logic.

He has the nomination and does not need any of their money

What he needs is votes from Illinois residents who despise our political establishment

Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 12:20 pm
===The Democrats left town after passing two different unbalanced budgets, with zero reforms of state government or our business environment that were as much as 7 billion dollars out of balance.===

Gov. Rauner just signed a budget, with zero reforms and validating and certifying the 32% tax increase with his own signature.

LOL

Rauner even thanked Speaker Madigan.

You shouldn’t be supporting Rauner, he’s now the status quo, signing budgets with no reforms and using the 32% tax increase to pretend to balance.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 12:39 pm
I wonder how many Republicans also laugh at the idea of appointing Rev. Wright? These ads offend me because they are keyhole peeping on private conversations. Since there are no criminal acts involved the FBI should never have made these tapes public. And if they didn’t, someone is liable for invasion of privacy and disregarding a court order sealing the Grand Jury testimony.

Pritzker should focus on a dead Quincy veteran instead of a construction worker. A series like Rauner’s Blago ads. Each ad focusing on a particular veteran and what he did and how he suffered and died under Rauner. JB, you weren’t born on Racine Avenue like me. Trust me, hit him in the balls, if he has any.

Comment by Streamwood Retiree Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 12:41 pm
Rauner’s “drive a wedge” until it get what I want tactic is the cause of budget impasses and downgrades for his administration

Comment by Rabid Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:02 pm
==Which guys, Rod and JB? Lol, it’s not like the guys who made this ad had to do much but edit the tapes. It ain’t Scorsese or Cecil B. Demille caliber work here.

The hardest part of making this was getting the 30 second timing down. You’re giving your pals way too much credit for this. The entire ad was handed to them by one of the attorneys involved.==

Actually 47, they chose the pieces to use, chose the order, dropped in the background graphics and musical bed and concepted the way to use the text. And they paced it into the time frame of the ad.

You’re right, they had the content already. But having groceries is only one step to putting a meal on the table.

Regardless of how you feel about BR, this crew has been steadily outstanding from the get go. It’s likely the only group he truly could not afford to fire along the way.

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:07 pm
==Fine. How many of them are home in June watching TV? They’re all out working right now.==

And spending their weekends at their summer homes in WI…

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:09 pm
And MI….southsiders!

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:09 pm
Whoever figures out who that 6-7% of persuadables is and gets in their ear with a whisper, then a conversation, and up to a raised voice by November is going to win. Early commercials just help you find them a little quicker. It’s a very expensive way to run a railroad.

Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:13 pm
Rauner’s only shot is to go super negative and not let off the gas. Negative ads work, people say they don’t like the negativity but people say a lot of things that aren’t true. They also don’t have to like it for it to be effective. Rauner has no record to run on. His only hope is Pritzker = blago = Madigan. Anything that reinforces that is the right way to go.

Jb’s ad is weaker than weak, its wizzeak. Rauner won on pq failed, just stick with Rauner failed.

Let’s get this race to the bottom revved up already!

Comment by Rumblin bumblin stumblin Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:47 pm
Rauner has no record to run on and has to go negative. Anything that reinforces Pritzker = blago = Madigan is the right move.

JB’s ad is weaker thanweak, its wizzeak. He should stick to Rauner failed.

People also hate on negative ads but they work. People say a lot of stuff that isn’t true. Also, even if someone doesn’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not effective.

Let’s get the race to the bottom revved up

Comment by Rumblin bumblin stumblin Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:50 pm
Posted at 1:47 and 1:50, did not mean to post twice

Comment by Sorry for two posts Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:56 pm
I wish they would have gone with the Thank you Madigan mash up to start the cycle. That would have been more fun.

Comment by DuPage Bard Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 1:58 pm
==Does “Brent” give them an “atta boy” for that?==

What’s with the scare quotes around the guy’s name, LP? Are you joining Rauner in getting a little unhinged?

Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, Jun 5, 18 @ 3:58 pm