Call It A Comeback
And just as everyone is panicing that John McCain had a bounce out of his convention, there is no reason to panic–the Cubs still have the best record in the National League, right up there in the entire league, and Milwaukee is still 4 games back.
Other than Cross, I can pretty much come up with a strategy off the top of my head to defeat each one of them.
Potential GOP candidates include House Minority Leader Tom Cross, state Sen. Christine Radogno of Lemont, DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett and businessman Ron Gidwitz.
State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, has made noises about another statewide run and is not ruling out the top spot.
Doug Whitley, president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, also is surfacing as a potential candidate.
Whitley, a Kane County resident, is no stranger to Springfield. He served in former Gov. Jim Edgar’s cabinet, was a top telecommunications executive and served as a legislative aide in the Illinois House.
Some could even lose to Blagojevich. Brady cannot raise money well, Rutherford is not a good statewide campaigner, Whitley is who?, Gidwitz had demonstrated what a doofus he is and Radogno doesn’t have the killer instinct.
Whitley opens up whomever the Dem nominee to run as a populist. Having beaten Blagojevichin the primary will also help to provide distance from the basic problem. Birkett would be wiser to run for AG if Lisa runs for Governor. He’s got decent name recognition, but he’s more conservative than the state as a whole. AG might allow him to face a lesser known Democrat and possibly pull off a win.
It’s hard to imagine Rutherford getting out of a primary for the Republicans–he doesn’t hate gay people and that’s a central tenet of the party’s base.
My understanding is Cross wants the AG office–maybe pushing Birkett into the top race. Cross would make a tough AG candidate if he isn’t primaried by a social conservative. He’d have good money support as well. Birkett could beat Rod, but Rod isn’t getting out of the primary in 2010.
Other than Cross and Birkett, the others would be a replay of what Rod did to Topinka in 2006 with him defining the candidate in the spring and killing off their chances early if he were to emerge by miracle.
ICFST–Illinois Circurlar Firing Squad Team
After losing the last two gubernatorial races and every statewide race two years ago, when divisive primaries produced relatively weak candidates, the party’s leading donors are trying to find viable, business-oriented contenders for governor and other top posts in 2010.
“We want to put together a meaningful ticket of fresh faces, without baggage,” says Mayer Brown LLP partner Ty Fahner, chairman of the Illinois GOP’s finance committee. “That’s where we’ll put the money.”
Some members of the finance committee have been meeting privately with potential candidates over the past year.
Mr. Fahner won’t say who’s involved besides state party Chairman Andrew McKenna Jr., president of Schwarz Paper Co. in Morton Grove. But insiders say the finance committee includes top donors Michael Keiser, CEO of Recycled Paper Products Inc., Edgar “Ned” Janotta, chairman of William Blair & Co., Oak Brook investor Peter Huizenga, Goldman Sachs & Co. Managing Director Muneer Satter and Bruce Rauner, chairman of Chicago private-equity firm GTCR Golder Rauner LLC.
Why not invite Thurston Howell as well.
We were at the club and discussing the horrible state of the Illinois GOP and we thought if we threw some money at the problem, all would be solved. Well then we are all decided.
I almost feel sympathy for Illinois Review. More to the point though is that they are sadly mistaken about the base of their party. It isn’t main street Republicans and big business in Illinois–it’s social conservatives. And that’s your problem in a nutshell–the demographics in Illinois aren’t the demographics of the south. Social conservatives are no where near a majority here and where the moderate GOP was able to hold on to the Governor’s office, they did it through reducing tensions over social issues. Any such effort is likely to be met with disdain from the base of the party.
But hey, I know plenty of Republican consultants who could use the work so you got that going for you.
Is on a very bad track
There’s a lot of chatter about the Edwards thing behind the scenes, but the John Edwards story is far from over.
While no one knows for sure the entire deal, he cancelled all of his public events between now and November including a speech at the University of Illinois.
Turns out the guy just wanted privacy:
Well, since Richter’s September 3 motion, a copy of which you’ll find below, was denied yesterday, his divorce filings remain open to the public. And a TSG review of the 98-page file shows that the Palins are only mentioned in Richter’s sealing request. According to the filing, Richter wanted the documents deemed confidential in a bid to cloak details about his home, workplace, and phone numbers because “reporters and news agencies” were using that information to contact him. Richter, a 39-year-old contractor, noted that he is “friends and land owners in a remote cabin” with the Palins and, as a result, journalists were intruding on the “cabin life and private life” of him and his 11-year-old son. The petition to dissolve the marriage was filed jointly last July by Richter and his ex-wife, who were not represented by lawyers. A judge granted the dissolution less than two months after the couple filed to end their marriage. (2 pages)
The thing is–property records and the sort are also public records (I have all of the above except the phone number for Obama from the Rezko stuff) and could provide the same information. The only real thing you can do is change your phone number, but otherwise the information is public record.
We will be hearing more about the Richters with Todd Palin’s role in the administration.
Here’s screenshot of the docket. Richter was a partner of Todd Palin in a Polaris Dealership (snowmobile). The motion was made on the 3rd and denied yesterday.
Yeah, I know the spelling is wrong.
Via Ezra Klein
First, let me be very clear, we don’t know why the business partner is trying to close them. Certainly the rumors from the National Enquirer are pointing one way, but it could as well be business dealings or something of that sort.
Second, let’s not go overboard in comments making claims that aren’t public.
Third–isn’t comparing it to Jack! sort of putting it out there? Yeah. I admit that, but at the same time I am fully aware that it could be nothing and want to make that clear. However, the timing is certainly worth discussing and any discussion would have to include the Ryan situation.
So don’t go too far in comments and the such.
I’m not going into a full recap, but the following are links to the story on this blog
Only Because It Couldn’t Get More Bizarre
Every Day This Story Keeps Going
There’s a lot more if you want to search, but these are a good sample.
ArchPundit