2003

Rich Miller Notes the Illinois Circular Firing Squad is back

ArchPundit June 12, 2003 No Comments

Just in case anyone was wondering whether the Illinois Republican Party had gotten its act together, never fear, the Party has circled up and is ready fire aim,

THERE THEY GO AGAIN (excerpt) Last year, conservative Republicans seized on the opportunity to install one of their own as state party chairman when the incumbent chairman, Lee Daniels, was hobbled by a major corruption scandal and when the party’s gubernatorial candidate was too weak to convince the conservatives to allow him to appoint a replacement who was more acceptable to the dominant moderates.

Well, the Right is at it again. Parts of it, anyway. Failed congressional candidate John Cox has called on current Republican Party Chairperson Judy Baar Topinka to step aside while the federal investigation of her state treasurer’s office is completed. Failed gubernatorial candidate Patrick O’Malley chimed in that the party needs to clean its act up.

In the past, the party post has mostly been a fundraising job, but a conservative element wants to use the position to promote its ideology and create more opportunities for conservative candidates in Illinois. Many hard right activists were disappointed with Topinka’s elevation to the party job. Topinka strongly favors gay rights and is mostly pro-choice. So those conservatives want to replace her with someone more to their liking.

It’s a sound idea, if you take their point of view. But Illinois trends toward more moderate, even liberal Republicanism, and that predominant faction will fight to the death to keep the Right out of the potentially high-profile chairman’s position. A hard rightward turn is viewed as disastrous, particularly in the wake of last year’s overwhelmingly Democratic election results. . . .

Jeff Trigg points us to a Trib article where David Keene points out the obvious about the Illinois Republican Party

"There really is no Republican Party in Illinois," Keene said. "It’s all collapsed around [former Gov.] George Ryan."

Jeff Trigg also points out the problem with blind party loyalty. I agree and I posted on Rita being a scum bag back in the day . I believe Ross at the Bloviator joined me, but I don’t have a permalink

Quinn Eyeing the Senate Race

ArchPundit June 12, 2003 No Comments

Up at Political State Report

Quinn has been playing a game of being too cute by half and just got caught.

Governor Blagojevich and his people are furious at the Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn. Sunday, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reported a rumor that Quinn was eyeing the US Senate race,

Is Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who is acting very gubernatorial, eyeing a bid for the U.S. Senate?

Rumors about who has been interested in joining the race have been fast and furious. Former Sourthern Illinois Congressman and 1998 Gubernatorial Candidate Glenn Poshard was mentioned by Steve Neal and then had to deny the rumors. Mike Kelleher, 2002 Lt. Governor Candidate and 15 CD Candidate had to deny rumors he was interested in the race.

So a rumor is just a rumor and the Governor wouldn’t have been too concerned until some campaign research has made its way to the Governor’s people showing Quinn would jump to the front of the pack if he got in the race with strategies and numbers in the research.

Quinn is reportedly denying any ties or knowledge of the research and claiming to Blagojevich’s people that he has no intention of running. This is a particularly sticky situation for Quinn since the Governor received an immense amount of help from Blair Hull during the 2002 Gubernatorial race. The Governor’s people are said to be very concerned about the effect of a Quinn candidacy on Hull’s campaign.

In the Dance with the One that Brung You category, a Quinn race would hit Hull the hardest according to reports of what is in the campaign research. Hull provided Quinn nearly $100,000 for the Lt. Governor’s race in 2002. That’s just bad manners on Quinn’s part.

Quinn has reportedly called Hull to deny the rumors after the column broke.

Below the surface of the story are ties to another rumor in the Senate race that was officially put to rest on Political State Report. Mike Kelleher was being touted as a potential candidate in the Senate race by a former Quinn campaign worker from the 2002 Lt. Governor Democratic Primary campaign. While having no basis in fact the rumor had gotten Kelleher’s name on Politics 1 as a candidate despite Kelleher having no interest in the race and started the state rumor mill in action. The wonders of the internet.

Why would such a rumor benefit Quinn? Quinn’s base is in the City of Chicago and the inner-ring suburbs. Adding Kelleher to the potentials mix would make many opinion leaders wary to endorse early and further split the downstate vote. The more the vote could be divided, the better the chances for Quinn.

Quinn’s greatest advantage was to run a stealth candidacy where he announced at the last minute. By being active in Democratic politics over the last 25 years Quinn has built up a strong advantage in name recognition. By keeping a campaign below the radar of most in the state, Quinn would be able avoid drawing attacks from others in a crowded field and hopefully ride his name recognition to a plurality.

Quinn has a poor reputation amongst party regulars for several reasons. On the positive side of why people do not like him he is a strong crusader for consumer rights often bucking party leadership on such issues as the SBC rate hike. His activism on such issues dates back many years and has earned him the dislike of those in the Party who would like to be as cozy as they can with business.

On the negative side he is an opportunistic pain in the butt with few equals. A recent example is that during the 2002 election cycle he is reported to have petitions circulating for five different elected positions including Treasurer, the 5th Congressional District eventually won by Rahm Emmanuel, and the office he eventually won, Lt. Governor. While ambition and opportunism are often separated by a fine line in politics, Quinn has long been running for the end zone of opportunism.

Be Back Wednesday

ArchPundit June 11, 2003 No Comments

Today, depending on what state you are in–I’m travelling, tired, and drinking a lot, why? Ask Tom Spencer last week. Of course, 1200 exams in a weeks is wimps work. Heh. Indeed. That’s about right.

I’m punch drunk and tired, but an important story is below the Illinois Democratic Nomination Senate Race surface and I promise to get to it tomorrow.

RTA Approves the STAR Line

ArchPundit June 5, 2003 No Comments

Metra will run a line from O’Hare west to Elgin and then south to Joliet.

While the South Suburbs need some sort of access to such a line, this line concentrates on the areas with the most godawful traffic known to mankind outside of Southern California or Manhattan. Having driven Route 59 for years, that area is just a friggen nightmare–train access won’t solve that problem, but it should alleviate some traffic–especially to O’Hare.

Not That I Care About Martha Stewart

ArchPundit June 5, 2003 No Comments

but claiming she was manipulating her stock by denying she engaged in insider trading…

What the hell is that?

Is this going to lead to another charge?

On Thursday, the home-style guru made an appeal to public opinion, taking out a full-page ad in USA Today and launching a Web site to pronounce herself innocent.

Virginia Postrel has more on the problems with the indictment.

She also makes a good point about Naomi Wolf.

Ah hell, she is on fire, just go read her today. While not defending Raines she is capturing the right tone about his critics.

McKenna Profile

ArchPundit June 5, 2003 No Comments

Is up at Political State Report

Check out the two other Illinois stories just below it as well.

Don’t tell the SLPS Board about this

ArchPundit June 5, 2003 No Comments

A rather fascinating story out of Fairview Heights about the importance of seating arrangements. I have to admit it is a nice change of pace from the usual St. Clair County Hijinks. The beginning reminds me of Peter Gabriel’s Games Without Frontiers

FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS — Lydia won’t sit next to Pat. Pat won’t move. And Harvey doesn’t want to talk about it.

What started with one city alderman’s desire to change seats last month evolved into a public spat that has been the talk of the City Council as much as any item on its agenda.

"You read things about this in other areas and think it doesn’t happen, but apparently it does," said Ward 5 Alderman Bonnie Crosley, a City Council newcomer. "I think that there are a lot more pressing issues to address."

Ward 3 Alderman Pat Baeske made the seat-switch to a vacated spot next to fellow Ward 3 Alderman Lydia Cruez before the City Council meeting on May 6.

"It should not be a big deal," Baeske said. "I could never see when someone gave a presentation. After four years, I decided I wanted another seat."

The action provoked City Clerk Harvey Noubarian to try to switch the seats back — a move that resulted in a public debate with Baeske over the issue before the meeting started. The exchange caught the attention of the public in attendance.

"Some business developers and chamber members were sitting in the public area laughing at these proceedings," said Charles Kassly, who attended the meeting and wrote to Mayor Gail Mitchell about it. "The council meeting that followed was tense and strained at best."

Cruez, who has sat in the same seat for 22 years, moved to the other side of the room during the seating arrangement drama. "It was not a big deal to me," Cruez said. "I moved because I don’t think two aldermen from the same ward should sit side-by-side."

The confusion continued May 19 when no name placards were present and again on Tuesday when all the placards were set out in one place, allowing aldermen to place them where they wanted. Baeske returned to the seat she took last month.

When asked about the city’s rules on seating arrangements, Noubarian said, "There is no rule." He declined further comment about the affair.

"I just think it blew out of proportion and I don’t think there’s any controversy anymore," Ward 1 Alderman Gil Klein said. "I think it’s going to blow over and there’s a lot more bigger issues that we need to discuss."

Topinka Subpeona Verified

ArchPundit June 5, 2003 No Comments

The Trib reports Jeff Trigg’s scoop from yesterday that Judy Baar Topinka is being investigated for having staff do political work.

This leaves the question to be who hasn’t been subpeonaed and the answer would by Hynes, Lisa Madigan, Blagojevich and White with only White and Hynes having been in office long enough. If someone isn’t doing political work in the Secretary of State’s office, that would be a miracle and the first time since the creation of the office. While I won’t go out on a limb on Hynes, my understanding is that he is relatively careful about such things because he is ambitious. I’d be shocked to not see a subpeona for White by the time this is all over. The only office that isn’t suspect is Jim Ryan’s AG office before Madigan took over. He may not have been very aggressive in taking on corruption, but I’ve never heard of issues out of that office.

The particular investigation doesn’t look good for Topinka because there is a whistle blower,

In an interview Wednesday, Santos said she responded to her subpoena by supplying a two-page "testimonial affidavit" to federal authorities she prepared in November. It detailed instances when Santos alleged she and others in the treasurer’s office were pressured by supervisors on state time to do work for Topinka’s successful 2002 re-election effort.

Santos said she witnessed treasurer’s office employees during work hours setting up fundraiser events for Topinka, as well as doing advance work for political events and holding strategy meetings in the treasurer’s 4th-floor offices at the Thompson Center in the Loop.

"I just thought it was so reckless and I was told everybody does it," Santos said.

The accusations mirror claims made by former state Rep. Tom Dart, Topinka’s Democratic opponent last fall, who during the campaign alleged that employees of the treasurer’s office were campaigning for her while they were supposed to be working for the state.

Of course, the story just underscores the point that the political culture is one that accepts illegal activity as normal. After having several whistleblowers for Lee Daniels the GOP hasn’t pressured him to resign his seat which is remarkable.

Chick Finishes the Bible Tract Series

ArchPundit June 5, 2003 No Comments

Yo Scoobie! You’ve been falling down on Chick patrol…

Number 25: Here He Comes is posted. What is the final episode? Unabashed Catholic Bashing! Woooohoooooo…you have the feeling Chick’s type were burning the crosses when Al Smith campaigned in the South don’t you?

Howard Dean on Charlie Rose

ArchPundit June 4, 2003 No Comments

Dean’s campaign has a link to a Quicktime version of Dean’s interview with Rose. As with all Charlie Rose interviews it was interesting and dealt with issues in far more detail than most venues.

What continues to impress me about Dean is that he knows why he is running and clearly explains it. Beyond that he clearly knows who he is which is a fiscal moderate and social liberal. After spending the early 1990s beating my head on the wall talking to Iowa political activists about the importance of fiscal discipline, I couldn’t think of a better standard bearer.

Is that an endorsement–well pretty damn close. No candidate is perfect, but after my previous disasters of Kerrey and Bradley, I’m finally find a fighter who isn’t going to sit back for the Gore/Clinton hardball that John Kerry seems to be adopting.