He brings up some interesting ideas. Emil Jones being one–and it doesn’t risk mixing up the state ticket and might have some personal appeal to Jones.
My one concern is the President Jones has done a hell of a lot better job than I think anyone thought he would when he became minority leader–perhaps better than Jones himself. He’s a real asset down there, though I do think the Senate bench is deep enough to find a reasonable replacement.
The other choice is the one I keep hearing and that being Jesse White. I think Democrats need to think through this pretty hard–Jesse will beat Rutherford, but putting a less beloved candidate in there could be a problem–Dan is a very good candidate. I like him generally, though Fritchey’s idea of Dan Hynes stepping into that race would be something that I could easily get behind.
I also like the idea of Clayborne stepping in for Hynes—downstate, non-white guy hits some key demographics and Pankau isn’t a strong candidate so someone stepping in wouldn’t face having to gear up extremely fast.
I think the Speaker is correct about needing a downstater on the ticket, but clearly Mangieri wasn’t the particular downstater needed.
Larry Suffredin endorsed Bobbie Steele — should a successor be necessary — on Chicago Tonight.