The Fair

As was pointed out to me, you have to remember the Fair on Governor’s Day and Republican Day is essentially a Christmas Party. You hang out, you drink beer, and you may talk politics, but it’s ultimately a Christmas Party so don’t intrude on that.

Of the things to note, there is no appetite for an internal challenge to Blagojevich. If I’d gone to a similar gathering of Missouri Democrats in 2003, there would have been active work to talk about a better candidate than Bob Holden. Not at the Fair. The common themes were in two categories. First was, he’s our guy with the T-shirt listing his accomplishments. Second was, sure, he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s our pain in the ass.

As critical as I’ve been of Blagojevich, and will continue to be when he deserves it, he’s the Democratic nominee for Governor.

Next, whomever wrote up the talking points of Democrats being family for the speeches at the Fair, couldn’t have gotten their point across any better to the speech givers–Aaron Chambers pointed out the meme quite well. It was enough to drive one to drink more beer. Not that one needed such a drive. The beer ran out with the last speaker so the Beer Lobby gets kudos for getting the amount right.

I got to the fair later than I had hoped so I missed the DFI meeting and got to the Illinois Democratic Network’s meetup a bit late, but caught it and then headed over to the Democratic Rally. After chatting on e-mail with several members, it was great to actually meet many in the group and hey, Vic Roberts made it and gave a quick speech. Then I headed over to the Budweiser Tent which was the early preferred destination from the rally. I met quite a few folks and saw some folks I already knew. If this seems vague, I figure most people don’t go to a Christmas Party looking to have their name highlighted.

Most importantly, I did meet John Pavich who is running for the IL-11 against Weller. I’d heard lots of good things about John and he matches up well to the hype. He’s got his fundraising in line and seems to understand how to win a Congressional race. It’ll be a tough race, but this is one to pay attention to over the next year.

Other than that, the Fair was fantastic. It’s been a few years, but it was great to go again. Good people, good fun, good events, and good beer. I couldn’t be happier.

While I was going to spend Thursday at the Fair, I was a bit under the weather (errr–that’s a polite way of saying the beer was too good) so I can’t give any context to the Uberweis rain on the parade.

More later in the day, but let me just say, I still don’t think Edgar is going to run–largely because of the united front put on by the Democrats. Running against Blagojevich would be a tough race given the current demographics. Running against The Blagorgeous, Madigan, Jones, Hynes, Madigan2, and White is just a nightmare.

And finally, the biggest question present at the Fair was wtf is Dan Rutherford thinking? I am generally more sympathetic towards Dan than the typical Democrat, though no one dislikes him. Running against a popular institution like Jesse White is strange to say the least. Rutherford is a well liked guy in general on both sides of the aisle. If he ran for Treasurer, I might even endorse him. Running against a better liked guy on both sides of the aisle with a strong organization and no scandals under his tenure makes no sense. Add to that, he was the most energetic speaker and has an ability to speak like few other public officials, it’s a suicide run by Rutherford. SoS is better operating than in the past and the only area of weakness is the City of Chicago and the driver’s license offices still being somewhat slow–but that’s due to a long history of neglect–and it’s in the middle of White’s base where Rutherford isn’t going to get any traction. I don’t see the numbers.