Dogs and Turtles Old Testament Style
ArchPundit
The guest crew at Eschaton are having fun and I think I’ve finally stopped crying after seeing this.
2004
Most Interesting Is the Buzz from Jeff Berkowitz
While much of what is going around is speculation, I think Jeff makes an interesting point about what George Allen is doing (Allen is the head of the National Republican Senate Campaign-NRSC). Jeff says he is hearing that Allen has told Jack! not to file the paperwork until he sees the replacement.
Sweet! Dueling Drafts! Draft Ditka vs the Bring Back Jack Draft that I won’t link to unless they reign in the damn spammer in my comments.
It truly can get weirder.
My guess is Allen would easily go with Ditka, but Ditka might not go with Ditka.
But Will He Do It?
Just in case anyone is wondering, no, I wouldn’t support Ditka for Senate. I just like a good story.
But will Mike take the spot? While I’m not going to predict anything too strongly, for good reason, I tend to think not. While the initial flattery of the idea has to be appealling to anyone, the reality of running for the United States Senate means your life is an open book and you are on all of the time. Being Mike Ditka in Chicago doesn’t mean a whole lot of privacy, but it doesn’t involve people looking at every aspect of your life and for little in return.
From the Trib:
His membership in the men-only Bob O’Link Golf Club in Highland Park could create some concerns among women voters, some Republicans said privately.
On top of that he doesn’t seem to have voted since at least 2000. He’d have to give up his announcer gigs for the season and we all can remember our favorite hysterical Ditka moment which is funny in relation to a legendary football coach, but not so conducive to being a candidate for the US Senate. While I’d never say that Ditka wasn’t up to the challenge, he has a nice life right now and giving that up at age 64 would be a lot to do. He couldn’t stand the sports press attacking his play calling, I don’t think he’ll want to answer indepth questions about his past.
But damn would that be a funny campaign.
Ditka Probably Has the Central Committee Votes
This does not mean Ditka has decided, but the push to get him over the process hurdle of a majority of the Central Committeeman seems to be a done deal to me. This is not a prediction that he will take it, and certainly a powerful member of the Republican Party could step in and pressure some folks to back down, but here are the numbers I have and those announced in support of Ditka.
CD. Name Number of Votes
16. Syverson 68,827
15. Jerry Clarke. 59,768
8. Dr. William Dam 55,485
19. Bob Winchester 43,402
12. Steve McGlynn 23,229
3. George Preski 22152
9. Dorgan 22,122
5. Skip Saviano 13,502
Total votes 308,487
Needed 351,329
Difference 42,842
I hear that there may be as many as 100,000 votes that are safe bets, but not declared. Ditka hasn’t even tried for committments yet either.
So unless there is push from on high to dump the idea, this is probably Ditka’s choice. That still leaves a lot of questions though.
(I was able to do this because of Nathaniel Zimmer’s article on the Central Committee vote totals).
UPDATE: According to Draft Ditka Perez and Meyer have signed off giving them another 14,078 and a total of 322,565
UPDATE 2: From comments, sixth district committeeman Ron Smith jumps on board with 57,348. It’s Ditka’s for the taking. If he is crazy enough to run for Senate, it looks like he’s got the GOP nomination waiting for him.
Ditka!
To be clear, I am not suggesting Ditka will accept, but there is mutual interest from party officials and Da Coach. It’s looking like the Central Committee would be interested. Draft Ditka reports 6 endorsements.
Co Chairman Steve McGlynn
Dr. William Dam
Bob Winchester
George Preski
I think Syverson is one, and I’m not sure who number six is, but Syverson also has the most votes giving the weighted system–later I’ll add up the totals to see if they have enough of the votes to do it.
All this assumes Ditka is interested. While he is expressing interest his family and the realization of what a Senate run may mean could lead to him saying thanks, but no thanks. I’d predict which way he’d go, but at this point I have no idea.
An interesting note from an interview with Channel 5–Ditka is anti-gun.
I’m not sure what exactly that means, but it won’t sit well with 2nd Amendment advocates.
The Speaker Calls DA Coach
This appears to be the real deal, Speaker Hastert is trying to connect with Mike Ditka. Furthermore, look for a presser on Wednesday at Navy Pier. The Republican State Party is looking to announce with big Republican names coming out in support of a Ditka candidacy. If they can’t announce definitively, look for a show of support the way I understand it.
School Funding Reform-or as Mike Lawrences says–Not!
Mike Lawrence explains the basic problem with Illinois education funding and why it is unlikely to be solved soon.
Up to this point, Illinois’ leadership has lacked the political will to overhaul a terribly flawed funding scheme. Unlike tribunals in other states, the Illinois Supreme Court has steadfastly refused to intervene, and there is no assurance of an expeditious resolution if it did. Yet, we sorely need comprehensive reform to a system that allows a homeowner in one school district to pay $874 in property taxes to support $5,137 in per pupil spending and the owner of a comparable home in another district to pay $454 to support $18,189 per student.
Some proponents believe the reform, which would command hefty state tax increases, could happen this fall in the post-election legislative session. About 75 percent of the school districts are running deficits, and one in four has been doing so for at least three years. Springfield must respond, the bold prognosticators say.
But his idea is interesting as to how to solve the problem
A more realistic strategy would focus on pushing the legislature to place before voters in November 2006 a proposed constitutional amendment to shift the burden of school finance to the state, reduce property taxes and guarantee adequate funding everywhere. The governor has no formal role in this process; lawmakers could send the matter directly to the ballot. Moreover, they essentially would be supporting a referendum instead of imposing tax increases. If approved by voters, the governor and the General Assembly would have a mandate and the political cover to implement sweeping changes.
In 1992, voters nearly approved a proposed amendment that was so vague its proponents could not agree on its ramifications. In 1996, when a more defined measure was stymied in the General Assembly, Democratic lawmakers criticized the Republican majorities for not permitting a roll call. Now Democrats control both the House and the Senate, and they should seize the opportunity to prove they were not merely pandering to education interests. Likewise, downstate Republicans who repeatedly have promised to support the reform if it ever came to a vote should be delighted to hop aboard.
Cegelis Top Ten
While the race is extremely tough, I have to say Christine Cegelis is running a spunky campaign against Henry Hyde (ed. would you use spunky for a mail challenger_–absolutely).
Top Ten Reasons to Donate to Cegelis
And if Hyde is busy taking on a challenger who will make him actually campaign, he’s going to be too busy being a sock puppet for Tom DeLay.
Danny Davis–Useful Idiot
Why not facing serious opposition is a bad thing:
Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) who is an influential member when it comes to postal service issues, is being feted by Deutsche Post, the company with a controlling interest in DHL International, which competes with the U.S. Postal Service.
Davis said “there was not really anything” he had to vote on that was directly Deutsche Post-related and he agreed to front the function because the company wanted “to make sure” it had a presence at the convention.
“to make sure” it had a presence at the convention?
Most reasonable people call this getting access through disproportionate use of money. If you have serious competition you actually have to think about how stupid you sound.
And isn’t continuing the Post Office’s monopoly under the purview of your subcommittee Congressman?
And Chris thinks that Habitat’s build-up isn’t a big deal–I tend to agree except if you look at the list of partners, most are looking for access to politicians:
in an event sponsored by Dow Chemical Company, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac especially have tight ties to Congress, though in this case at least one source besides the for profit sector is represented.