The interesting bit here is that Family Taxpayer Network founder and money guy Jack Roeser seemed to be leaning towards Rauschenberger early on–which was news at the time since Roeser was a supporter of Patrick O’Malley in 2002. In an article he referred to the smart money being on Rauschenberger I believe.
While Weigand joining up with Oberweis doesn’t necessarily mean Roeser is going with him, it’s an interesting tea leave to read. The Leader tracks down other personnel moves in the GOP Governor’s race.
The move by Oberweis to separate himself from Rauschenberger would be to run hard on vouchers, which Rauschenberger has strongly opposed in the past, but Roeser is a strong supporter.
Much of Rauschenberger’s role in attracting Alan Keyes to Illinois appears to have been done in consultation with Roeser, in an apparent bid to secure support for a run for Governor.
And Dan Curry has made appearances in comments on behalf of Joe Birkett.
Wiegand was a big Oberweis guy in the senate primary as I recall, so there’s a prior relationship. If O’Malley passes on creeping us out at the sight of him this primary Oberweis would be where the Roeser money lands. It’s actually pretty predictable how the circular firing squad is lining up- if anyone actually would care about predicting it.
Curious secondary note about Wiegand, his state rep campaign cmte remains active and his website, now under construction, had a post-election recap that hinted at another run- and good luck finding people in DeKalb who, up to this point, didn’t think Joe was loading up for another run. It seems possible that this could head off another run by Joe.
Joe seems like a true believer, which at some level is endearing, even if his views are way out of the mainstream in a Keyesian way and a lot of “regular Republicans” don’t seem to trust him.
From what I understand Roeser is taking a pass on O’Malley. He thinks he can’t win. What Roeser wants is the best bet to beat LaHood and Topinka. Heh. The two with a decent shot at Blagojevich.
How many campaigns has Joe Wiegand run in the past? How many contacts does he have around the state?
This is simply a payoff to Jack Roeser.
as far as I know about Joe- he’s basically been a regional guy for several candidates, including der Oberfuhrer and Keyes. From what I understand he’s been getting around speaking a good deal (and that guy loves to talk) at various conservative conferences, seminars etc through his role with the FTN. Activists of a certain stripe know who he is- or his name is at least familiar.
For someone running hard right like Obie, Joe isn’t a bad choice.
On the other hand…there’s this mention in the Sun Times.
So we have Weigand to thank for Chris Lauzen’s presence in the Senate?