Call It A Comeback
I assume this is a headline actually written by the reporters and it’s beautiful.
The teaser on-line is even funnier:
They want more. Illinois voters gave Gov. Blagojevich a second term Tuesday, ending a bitter campaign in which he argued that his big-ticket programs such as preschool for kids and expanding health care trumped the federal investigations plaguing his administration.
It’s not just going to eat up the news cycle, it’s going to create one on Sports Talk radio. The place that makes political talk radio look rational.
Jack Darin has been circulating the following letter to environmental activists. I agree with everything he says in terms of environmental policy, though I have reasons other than the environment for which I’m critical of the Governor
Dear Illinois Environmentalist:
As you know, we will have three choices for Governor
when we go into the voting booth on Tuesday. We all
know, however, that when all is said and done Tuesday
night, either Rod Blagojevich or Judy Barr Topinka
will have been elected Governor of Illinois for the
next four years.I agree with much of the platform of the Illinois
Green Party, and as a fellow environmentalist, I’m
sure you do too. I also believe that our best hope
for enacting these policies and programs is to vote
for Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday.As environmentalists, we have to ask ourselves, who
would we rather have leading our state, as we face
continuing assaults on our environmental laws in
Washington, and as we face major decisions of our own
about energy policy, clean air, clean water, and
natural areas protection?Rod Blagojevich is the first Illinois Governor ever to
stand up to the owners of Illinois’ coal plants, some
of the heaviest hitters in Illinois politics, and
force them to clean up their act. Cleaning up old,
dirty coal plants has been at the top of the agenda
for the Illinois environmental community for decades,
but Blagojevich was the first Governor to act on these
concerns. On November 2nd, the Illinois Pollution
Control Board approved his proposal to cut 90% of coal
plant mercury by 2009 – much deeper and faster cuts
than proposed by President Bush. Blagojevich stood
up to another powerful lobby, hospital owners, and
ordered them to shut down the 11 hospital waste
incinerators in the state spewing dioxin, mercury, and
other toxins into our air. Eight of them are now
closed, and the remaining three are expected to close
soon.Blagojevich is the first Illinois Governor to
aggressively promote wind power. His energy plan
calls for 10% of our electricity to come from wind by
2015. He has committed to powering the state’s
buildings in Springfield entirely by wind energy.
His energy plan also includes $100 million to promote
“cellulosic” ethanol development, and new programs to
conserve energy.Our rivers and streams are cleaner today than four
years ago, thanks to Blagojevich’s requirement that
all new wastewater plants include phosphorus controls.
Clean water advocates have sought action on nutrient
pollution for many years from Illinois EPA, but
Blagojevich was the first Governor to act on the clear
evidence that nutrient overload is choking many of our
state’s waters. Blagojevich continues efforts to
reform the Facility Planning Area process to protect
high quality streams from poorly planned development.
He is moving to address Illinois’ longstanding lack
of any program to regulate water withdrawals, to make
sure we have enough clean water for drinking and for
wildlife.If it were not for Rod Blagojevich’s vetoes of bills
to let dirtbikes and four-wheelers into our state
parks, they undoubtedly would be roaring through some
of our parks today. When the Bush Administration
proposed logging and selling off parts of our Shawnee
National Forest, Blagojevich objected, and those
threats never materialized. Blagojevich supported
efforts to pass the Illinois Wetland Protection Act,
and is committed to working to fill the wetland
protection gap left by recent U.S. Supreme Court
decisions.Finally, Blagojevich is the first Illinois Governor,
and first Midwest Governor, to commit to serious
action to confront global warming. He has signed a
binding commitment to reduce state government’s
emissions of greenhouse gases by 6% by 2010, and
launched an effort to develop a greenhouse gas
regulatory program for the state. The cap and trade
program recently adopted by California is being
studied closely as a possible model for Illinois.To be sure, environmentalists have had their
differences with the Blagojevich administration. We
have opposed new pulverized coal plants that the
administration has supported, and we will continue to
do so. Blagojevich is not the first Illinois
Governor to champion the Illinois coal industry, and
he will not be the last. We are encouraged that the
Governor’s energy plan does not include any plans for
further pulverized coal plants, but instead focuses
coal development resources on promoting gasified coal
plants, which are far cleaner than pulverized plants,
and at least have the potential to capture their
carbon emissions. The Green Party platform
promotes the same policies.There is no question that the state’s budget problems
have had an impact on the Illinois Department of
Natural Resources ability to carry out its mission.
It is important to note, however, that these problems
began with significant losses during the Ryan
administration due to early retirement, and while they
did worsen during the beginning of the Blagojevich
administration, they have also begun to improve,
thanks to increasing appropriations and staffing
levels in recent budgets. We are confident that this
trend will continue, and that the IDNR will continue
to build strength as the state’s fiscal health
improves.Blagojevich is the only Illinois Governor ever
endorsed by the Sierra Club. I certainly agree with
the majority of the Green Party platform, but it is
also clear that of the three candidates in this race,
none has come close the record of environmental
achievement of Governor Blagojevich.Historically in Illinois, state government’s goal in
protecting the environment has too often been to do
the minimum to comply with the law. While
bureaucratic cultures do not change overnight, more
and more Illinois is asking “What’s the best we can
do?” instead of “What’s the least we can do?” This
is the beginning of a remarkable change for Illinois,
particularly set against the backdrop of what is
happening to the environmental protection framework of
our federal government.As Illinois environmentalists, and as citizens of the
planet, we need that trend to continue. We need to
reward innovation and initiative when it comes to the
major energy and environmental policy questions of our
time. We cannot afford to revert to an era where we
did the minimum Washington asked of us, especially
now.Rod Blagojevich’s environmental accomplishments have
earned him the support of this green voter. I urge
you to consider the record, be proud of the fact that
your state is becoming a national leader on the
environment, and reward this initiative with your vote
on Tuesday.Jack Darin
Apparently the geniuses over at the Green Party campaign want to attack Jack Darin and the Sierra Club for endorsing Blagojevich. In their words:
Rich Whitney, the Green Party candidate for Illinois Governor, and Julie Samuels, the Green Party candidate for Lt. Governor, today responded to an open letter, written by Illinois Sierra Club Director Jack Darin, in which Darin praises and urges voters to support the same candidate that recently appointed Darin to serve on two taskforces, both designed to “assist in implementation” of that candidate’s very own energy plan.
The Governor’s office issued a press release on September 8, 2006, indicating that Darin had been appointed by the Governor for membership in the “Coal Gasification & Carbon Sequestration Working Group” and the “Clean Car and Energy Efficiency Working Group” along with representatives of organizations including the Office of Coal Development, ConocoPhillips, Eastman Chemical, Ford Motor Company, Z Frank Chevrolet, and various others.
So essentially because Jack and the Sierra Club are actually showing up to meetings that have the chance to actually improve things, they have a conflict of interest. These aren’t paid positions, these are positions on an adisory council. The implication of conflict of interest clearly suggests differently and it’s a load of crap.
The biggest failure of the Blagojevich administration if one reads the Illinois Environmental Council’s Midterm Report on him is the funding of programs and given it covered his first two years, even I’d give him a break on this. That said, he still hasn’t delivered adequate funding. Looking at his record, however, I’d say I completely understand the endorsement. He has a strong record on regulations and alternative energy comparatively and probably is the strongest Governor environmentally Illinois has had.
“That’s the old stereotype: tree-hugging, spotted-owl-loving Green Party. It doesn’t apply. We’re not that easy to pigeonhole,” Whitney told me in a lengthy and cordial phone interview.
As I’ve pointed out before, anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Spotted Owl understand that it’s importance isn’t that of one species, but being an indicator species that tells you how well the ecosystem is surviving. So to make fun of that being a big issue is a big slap in the face to environmentalists. It’s something that should be relatively well understood by hunters as well so it’s not a hard point to get across–if you want game left in an area, the indicator species needs to be thriving.
When we read the Whitney web site, light pollution gets greater coverage than feedlots or preserving ecosystems in parks. That’s telling. It’s also telling that they’d attack Jack for participating in a process to actually do something about environmental problems instead of just taking his ball and going home.
H/T Rich again.
Virtually identical to the Survey USA. So natural tightening, but not a lot of movement. Third party candidates almost always lose support from their polling, but that’s also when they are down low around 3-5 %. I’m expect Whitney will lose some probably hitting around 10 with the difference splitting between Topinka and Blagojevich.
Yeah, I’m not a happy camper today.
The kerfluffle over Kerry’s flubbing of a line is predictable and annoying, but the way non-stories get the center of attention. In this case, that’s not terribly bad since everyone keeps hearing over and over again the phrase stuck in Iraq. I’m not sure of the wisdom of that move by the national GOP given the polling on the way, but hey, have at it.
But what do I find this morning? Blagojevich attacking Topinka for running down those who honor our veterans. Rich has two commercials up about it. Topinka was saying that Quinn needs to do more and ensure the administration honors the veterans hiring preference that there is some deal of evidence suggesting it’s not been honored in many cases.
Topinka’s son is in the military. He’s serving right now. She doesn’t disrespect those who honor veterans or the troops. She may be wrong on policy–that’s a fair criticism, but to suggest she doesn’t care about veterans or the troops is bullshit. Pure bullshit.
She phrased what she said badly–and an advisor might suggest to her that every time she says, “I don’t want this to sound bad…,” to just stop. It does sound bad. You are giving sound bites to the other guy. Again. Using the rolling pin on yourself.
The point is valid and we all know what she meant in context.
It’s the samd damn play. If you are mad at Kerry and not Topinka, there’s something wrong with you. If you are mad at Topinka and not Kerry, there’s something wrong with you. If you are not mad at either, you get the consistency award and should be mad at Bush and Blagojevich. I am.
As Rich has pointed out, this is the “Say anything” campaign and I’ve had enough.
If you are going to attack someone for energy deregulation votes–then cite the damn vote and not a non-existent story. That’s called lying.
Now, there’s a whole slew of reasons why the dereg bill isn’t at fault for the current proposed increase, but that’s not a partisan problem, it’s a bi-partisan problem of appointing the fox to guard the chicken coop. One can criticize the dereg bill, but frankly the bill was modest and properly implemented could help consumers and spur green energy through consumer choice.
But I digress. Liberal and moderate blogs have talked about being the reality based community. It’s too bad the Democratic Party in Illinois has two people on the statewide ballot who don’t care to be a part of that community. It’s a shame given the other four have long been a part of the community and are committed to staying that way.
How can I be losing to this guy:
57% negative rating for Blagojevich, 47% of the vote. Topinka has 58% approval and 38% of the vote. Whitney only runs 10-12 points behind in popularity even with a 59% rating of no opinion.
Rezko indictment: 52% say it has no impact on their vote
YDD has the comment of the day over at Capitol Fax:
Southern Illinois Boy – Let me help you out. Those indicted and implicated are all friends, appointees, employees, major campaign contributors, or political allies of Governor Blagojevich.
In scientific terms, that’s a correlation of roughly 100%.
Generally there is a rule in stats–if you find a correlation near 100% you are essentially using proxy measures of the same phenomenon.
Clear now?
Rich picked out about the only new piece.
I’d say that pretty much puts the lights out on the Topinka campaign unless she has some magic tactic she hasn’t used yet.
Her campaign released a poll yesterday showing it 44-43
Pollster has the 5 poll average at 44.8% Duckworth to 43.2% Roskam. It’s going to come down to turnout so take the day off–I’d be up there if I had any vacation.
ArchPundit