Roll Call Comment Period
ArchPundit
It’s been a busy week–comment on who you think is up and who is down. Roll call won’t be up until the evening. Use the comments below for both Republicans and Democrats.
February 2004
Welcome to the New ArchPundit!
I’m not even close to being done yet, but here is the new home for ArchPundit thanks to the fine Brian Marston who is giving me the space. There is some synergy here as Brian and Amanda Doyle run the CommonSpace which is a local community gathering place for all sorts of arts, entertainment, education and break dancing.
Permalinks at the right are not done, but there will be a couple different pages of links for you to peruse soon. And some of those at the right will be moved around as well.
I also have to fix the accessibility issues for the site. If anyone has some easy to adapt code for accessibility on MT, drop me a note. Currently, the text size is unchangeable for those with vision impairment.
Finally, let me know what you think. It is easy on my eyes, but I want to hear from you, the reader so I can fix any problems that make the site hard to read.
The Other Side of the Coin
From a reader:
"Orders of Protection" are not at all unusual in a divorce proceeding in Illinois, particularly when a lot of money is at stake. This is a not a "No Fault" divorce state, so divorces can be hotly contested even between amicable parties. This could have been the scenario: Hull’s wife changes the locks on the house, puts his clothes on the sidewalk, and gets an Order barring him from entering the property. Suddenly possession of the house becomes her’s until the matter is settled, and possession is 9/10ths of the law — literally. Hull shouldn’t have to respond because he has children and grandchildren who love him and don’t need to relive a difficult time, just because he hasn’t lived the now-conventional life of the aspiring politician (squeeky-clean, all the right schools, degrees, jobs, etc.). One of the things that attracts me to Blair is that he is a true citizen-politician. He has lived a real life, full of successes and failures (some ugly). I’d rather him than some bubble-born child, scrubed since childhood, whose career choice is a life in government, and wouldn’t know a real-life problem if it smacked them in the face.
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While I disagree with the notion that he shouldn’t have to release the information, I think the above makes a good point about
1) not prejudging the situation
2) understanding that everyone is not perfect
I think the best strategy at this point is to wait for Monday.
Hull Statement
Zorn reports on the Hull Campaign reaction to the Trib’s request to release the forms:
Your request… enters into Blair and Brenda’s most personal and private lives, and affects not only Blair and Brenda, but their children as well. These, and other family members, who are not public figures, need to be advised of your request, and their privacy concerns must be considered. It will take until Monday to give everyone in both families the opportunity to consider their options and be apprised of their rights
Eric reinterprets it as evidence of stalling. Perhaps, perhaps not. Eitehr way, giving Monday as a deadline is actually promising. Instead of drawing it out, they give a statement that effectively kills the story until more information is available. Either they won’t release which keeps the story alive, or they do and the story lasts probably not much more than a cycle with full disclosure.
Now let me give my lecture to people considering entering the political realm at the Congress or above level (and even lower if you are going to face a tough race). Be ready for your life to be public. Don’t like it? Get over it or don’t run. Before you get very far, find a political professional and confess your sins. Tell them everything. Then plan how to release any embarrassing information before it comes out by the press. That way, you can control the story.
The worst thing is to let it hang there for a while or surprise you at the last minute. We are still talking about the President’s military record four years later and on the eve of the election a DUI from 25 years ago came out. Now which was worse? Releasing it in 1994 during his first run for Governor or the public finding out just before the election? I thought so.
New Blogs
Polis–covering the Senate race in good detail
And someone I’ve mentioned before and is going to be on the new blog roll
Dan Johnson-Weinberger
If I was the Prince of Darkness, he was the Happy Warrior.
Novak does probably the best tribute to Neal. One should always be able to laugh when remembering someone who has passed.
Why Kathuria’s Lawsuit Should Have Been Predicted
As I’ve mentioned before, the Kathuria lawsuit against the Trib really turned some modestly positive press into a no press. The press wasn’t upset as much as amused and amusing candidates don’t get a ton of press. Real candidates do.
A campaign manager who understood the game would have stopped him from filing suit. Using the press to rally the troops and raise cash is all well and good, but suing is counterproductive and takes time away from the actual campaign.
So what about Kathuria’s campaign manager? One John Zahm, who used to also work for Chris Lauzen. Those who read the web site regularly will recognize the Lauzen name from merciless ridicule here. Why?
Pantagraph November 15, 1998
GENEVA, Ill. (AP) – The losing candidate for state comptroller says he will push ahead with a libel lawsuit against his Republican primary opponent because he wants to make a point about negative campaigning.State Sen. Chris Lauzen, R-Aurora, beaten by Chicago Democrat Dan Hynes in last week’s general election, is turning his attention to a $1 million libel lawsuit he filed against Elgin businessman Harry Seigle over tactics in the March primary race that Lauzen won.
One of Seigle’s radio commercials accused Lauzen of lying to voters, claimed he "opened the door to more gambling in Illinois" and linked him to a business that failed to pay its taxes. Lauzen claims the statements are false and defamatory.
"If we’re not going to drive all the good people out of politics because they don’t want themselves or their family’s reputations dragged through the gutter, then somebody’s going to have to stand up when it happens to them and say here’s where the line is," Lauzen said Thursday after a status hearing in Kane County Circuit Court.
That was settled for a $2000 donation to the United Way, but Lauzen wasn’t done:
From the Daily Herald, March 29, 2001
If the name fits: Finally, there is state Sen. Chris Lauzen. Chris isn’t up for election this year, but that hasn’t stopped him from providing some dandy comic relief. As readers may remember, Chris went to court to have his name legally changed to "Chris Lauzen, CPA." I guess he had his reasons, but a judge saw it differently, and this week denied the name-change petition. Word is Chris plans to appeal, but I hope he rethinks his position. I believe he should go for a moniker that really catches the essence of what he brings to the political arena. I hear the name Bozo will be available soon.
Zahm, Kathuria’s campaign manager until recently is now threatening lawsuits against people on a message board.
We can lament about how politics is mean and tough, but it is. People who can’t handle that are in the wrong line of work–and the Kathuria campaign is a great example of why.
Leader’s Unbalanced Readers
Are at work on conspiracies behind Steve Neal’s death. Maybe they could just allow the man to rest in peace.
Oberweis On Dobbs
Taking the Pat Buchanan route to the GOP nomination now has Oberweis getting attention on Lou Dobbs. While I’m often critical of Democrats who are protectionist (Mr. Hynes), Republican protectionists always seem to outdo them in stupidity with nativism mixed in with the bad economics. Strangely, for a mouthpiece of business, Dobbs finds an issue that business is generally most correct on (free trade) and deviates from it mixing in his own little bit of nativism.
Lou has a protectionistapalooza on tonight
From the, when I was a kid and walked both ways up hill to school, it wasn’t that long ago I used to have to argue with fellow Democrats about free trade being good and deficits being bad.