I don’t know if this is happening in Chicago, but downstate the Rauner campaign is running anti-Madigan commercials featuring (Republican) governors from surrounding states thanking Madigan for driving jobs out of Illinois and into their states.
Or perhaps I should say “was running.” The commercials suddenly stopped when Missouri’s governor, Eric Greitens got caught in his own scandal – which IMHO, wouldn’t even register if it were in Illinois.
But here’s my question. If Rauner hasn’t figured out how to handle Madigan over the last four years, how’s he supposed to do it over the next four?
Rauner’s Twitter feed is endlessly trying to link Pritzker to Blago. This seems quite desperate, Blago was a long time ago and it reeks of Trump constantly bringing up Hillary Clinton, which was a much more recent time.
Besides, I don’t think anyone really hates Blago. If people think of him at all it’s, ‘corrupt clown.’ I don’t think anyone hates Blago with the passion of a million suns, such as people on both the left and right do with Hillary Clinton.
If you mean Attorney General Lisa Madigan, she already said that she wouldn’t run this cycle. I doubt she’ll attempt a run before her father retires. Even favorably inclined Democrats would likely balk at the House Speaker and Governor being immediate family.
If you meant House Speaker Michael Madigan, it’d probably be a demotion for him
I agree with this. Blago was a trainwreck of a governor, and roundly disliked (seen as both incompetent and corrupt), but he’s been gone for over nine years now, and sitting in prison where he belongs.
Rauner is also absolutely flooding the TV stations here in Chicago with an ad featuring audio from the FBI’s wiretap of Blago’s phone line, with him discussing placing Lisa Madigan in Obama’s old Senate seat, and kinda-sorta offering Madigan’s AG role to Pritzker (to which Pritzker kinda-sorta shows interest). It’s a long ad, and I am so sick of it at this point.
And I’m wondering, how does this help him get those suburban Chicago voters he will need to win reelection? He was able to use his wife, a Democrat, to help show that he wasn’t a scary Scott Walker type Republican that would be obsessed with abortion and social issues on day one of taking office back in 2014. Plus, Rauner has to consider that a lot of Chicago voters were pretty blah about Quinn in 2014 but are absolutely wanting to cast any anti-Trump vote in 2018. He needs to be talking a lot more about economics and a lot less about a corrupt governor from 9 years ago.
Biss is truly proving himself to be a fool. Not only is he doubling down on an idiotic financial transaction tax, he’s also questioning Chicago’s pursuit of Amazon. I can’t wait to get my ballot and vote for Pritzker and laugh at Biss when he gets his butt kicked in the primary next month!
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I don’t think the Amazon thing is particularly disqualifying. In fact, it’s being found that the tax breaks/candy being offered by states aren’t worth the gains:
I said earlier in this thread that I’d likely work for the Biss campaign for the primary. However the ads that he’s done have turned me off him a bit. I can’t say that the ads Pritzker has run have won my admiration, either.
I saw Kennedy speak last night, and I was impressed. He comes across as pretty much a policy wonk, but I don’t see that as a bad thing. I will say that having seen all 3 of the frontrunners speak, I think any of them would make a much better Guv than Rauner. (OK, that’s a low bar.)
I don’t think it’s been mentioned here that Rauner is being primaried. I haven’t paid much attention to the GOP slate, but it’s my understanding that Jeanne Ives is more conservative than Rauner and is therefore likely to pick up a lot of the more conservative voters, especially since Rauner signed the bill last fall that expanded coverage for abortions. At this point I’d be surprised but not shocked if Rauner loses his primary.
I want the Amazon HQ here in Chicago. This isn’t a warehouse. This is a serious employer with good jobs and talented employees. Campaigning against is wrong. This isn’t a new sports stadium. I like how the City of Chicago has been drawing jobs back into the city rather than dull office parks in the suburbs.
There’s a Democrat from “downstate” that’s running, too. I’ll have to look him up and find out what he has to say. It’s a goddamn shame in this country (and state) that I’ll hear till I’m sick what the billionaires have to say, but I’ll have to do my own digging to find out what the other candidates have to say. Talk about a stacked deck. I hate the job Rauner has done, but if it’s Rauner vs. Pritzker, I may sit this one out. I’m going to have trouble supporting what this system is turning into. (Not that it’s anything new, but it’s getting sickening.)
ETA: Without looking it up: Can anyone tell me the name of the fella from downstate?
You’re thinking of Bab Daiber, who I am leaning towards voting for after reading several troubling interviews with Biss. The candidates are all uniquely flawed and it’s a damn shame that a deep blue state can’t gather a bunch of decent democrats to run for governor.
Biss is proving himself to be way in over his head. Coming out against the Amazon HQ in Chicago is insane. I’m very left-leaning, but progressives need to realize that you need tax revenue from a healthy middle class to fund all these wonderful social programs. An Amazon HQ in Chicago would bring middle class jobs and revitalize neighborhoods, which would further bring in more employment opportunities for people- and more tax revenue from people buying shit and paying property taxes on their bungalows all across the city. His proposed LaSalle street tax, despite not having a chance of passing, shows a bizarre lack of judgement. It would chase away the financial industry out of the state overnight. Once again, you need these yuppies in downtown for that sweet, sweet tax money that you’re getting from all the money they’re already spending and from the property taxes on their ridiculous condos.
Kennedy is coasting on his name like every other Kennedy knock-off. He is against marijuana legalization, which should be disqualifying in the Dem party these days. He race baits and virtue signals like a pro, but I guess he has no concern for how the War on Drugs has destroyed PoC’s lives. Even Rauner would probably sign a marijuana legalization bill, as the state badly needs the extra tax revenue.
Pritzker is a slimy cog in the political machine. He is a Madigan pet, and a billionaire has no business being a candidate for a party that claims to represent the interests of the working class and middle class.
Bob Daiber is the least bad out of all of them. His answers in interviews are refreshingly blunt and honest. He has a 0% chance of winning according to polling, though.
Ultimately, I’ll vote for any of them in the general, besides Pritzker. A Madigan toadie as governor would destroy this state.
I could care less how much money Pritzker has. Except for his stupid anti-gentrification pandering, Pritzker is right on the issues. Just because someone is broke, that doesn’t make them a better candidate.
That’s not what I said. But the flipside of what you said is obviously true too, that just because someone is a billionaire, that dosen’t make them a better candidate. And when the electorate is swamped with ads from the rich guys, and the rest of the candidates have a diminished voice, that’s a game that turns my stomach.
I think it is unfair to call Rauner the “worst Republican governor in America.” It *would *be fair to call him 100% ineffectual, but that comes with caveats. The Democrats have veto-proof majorities in both houses, so you could put Jesus Christ in the governor’s office and he still couldn’t have gotten anything done.
Illinois is doomed to continue in a downward spiral until Madigan goes to his eternal reward and we can start from scratch.
