Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady takes on Accidental Governor Pat Quinn and his new role as Santa Claus giving his staffers raises as we “get the bill.”
Democrats
(Ill. Congresswoman) Bean’s Crime Inc: What Other Say About Third Way Does
A multi-part series from the Palatine Tea Party…
(Palatine, Illinois) – Congresswoman Melissa Bean is one of the Honorary Co-Chairs of the Third Way Foundation, formerly known as the Progressive Foundation.
What Others Say About Third Way
Politico labeled Third Way “the moderate voice of the progressive movement,” and both Newsweek and US News have described our work as influential. New York Times columnist David Brooks described Third Way as “creating the ideas that are giving Progressives control of the center.” Other national columnists, like EJ Dionne and David Broder of The Washington Post, and Joe Klein and Amy Sullivan of Time, have cited Third Way’s impact in shaping the national debate.*
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(Ill. Congresswoman) Bean’s Crime Inc: What Other Say About Third Way Does”
WGIL: Giannoulias Says He’ll Take Lobbyist $$ for Campaign
-By Warner Todd Huston
Despite claims made earlier in his campaign, Democrat candidate for Senate Alexi Giannoulias has said that he’ll be quite happy to take campaign donations from lobbyists as he vies to take Barack Obama’s old Senate seat this year.
WGIL News reports that Giannoulias claimed earlier in the campaign that he wouldn’t take donations from lobbyists. However, Giannoulias limited the scope of that claim to encompass only federal lobbyists and political PACs. He has taken donations from state lobbyists.
The difference between a state lobbyist and a federal lobbyist seems vague with Giannoulias, but he claims there is a difference.
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WGIL: Giannoulias Says He’ll Take Lobbyist $$ for Campaign”
Wow: GOP Shilling Leading Dem. Hare in ILL 17th?
-By Warner Todd Huston
Jim Geraghty Campaign Spot blog post reporting that incumbent Democrat Phil Hare is down in the polls in his race for reelection to his 17th District House seat in Illinois.
It was widely assumed that Congressman Hare would easily win re-election, yet according to this poll he is losing to GOP candidate Bobby Schilling.
His GOP opponent, Bobby Schilling, hired Magellan Strategies to conduct a poll of the district. Magellan conducted an automated survey of 715 likely voters in the 17th congressional district of Illinois: “The interviews were conducted on July 12th of 2010. This [poll has] a margin of error of +/_ 3.6% at the 95% confidence interval. The survey results are weighted to reflect past turnout demographics from the 2008, 2006, 2004 and 2002 general election cycles.”
. . . Phil Hare’s image rating is “upside down,” with 27% of voters having a favorable opinion of him, and 41% having an unfavorable opinion of him.
Among all voters, 27% approve of the job Phil Hare is doing and 43% disapprove..
This is pretty big news if true.
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Wow: GOP Shilling Leading Dem. Hare in ILL 17th?”
Ill Gov Race: GOPs Brady Has Bigger Bang for Fundraising Bucks
-By Warner Todd Huston
Ed McClelland over at NBC Chicago’s Ward Room blog makes a good point about reports of the two gubernatorial candidate’s fundraising. Both seem to be claiming to have $2.3 million on hand going into this leg of the campaign. But, McClelland makes the point that so far Brady’s $2.3 million is “bigger” than Quinn’s.
How is that?
Well, Brady has gotten the benefit of money from the Republican Governors Association for ads and whatnot while Quinn has not benefitted much from the Democrat Governors Association. That means that Brady doesn’t have to spend as much of his $2.3 million to reach voters as Quinn does.
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Ill Gov Race: GOPs Brady Has Bigger Bang for Fundraising Bucks”
After Giving Raises, Now Ill. Gov Cuts Staffer’s Pay
-By Warner Todd Huston
If this isn’t a reed-in-the-wind sort of move, I’m not sure what is? If you’ll recall a few weeks ago Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was left trying to explain why he was giving his staffers big raises even as he was gallivanting about the state saying how we are out of money and that we’d need to cut the budget. Well this week he is cutting staffer’s pay giving them more furlough days.
After giving out raises, now Quinn is trying to save face from that tone deaf move and requiring his staffers to endure 24 furlough days this year instead of the previous 12 day cut.
And Quinn is now putting up a grand show of his seriousness on fiscal issues by hectoring every government office to make such cuts.
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After Giving Raises, Now Ill. Gov Cuts Staffer’s Pay”
Illinois ‘Mob Banker’ Can’t Raise Money?
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Hill is reporting that Democrat Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias is having trouble raising money, which is amusing because as a failed banker he gave away millions to a pair of mobsters that never paid back the “loan”
The Hill reports that Giannoulias “struggled to raise money in the aftermath of his family bank’s collapse in April.”
Giannoulias has raised only some $900,000 since March 31 — the bulk of it in June. His Republican opponent, Mark Kirk, collected close to $1 million that same month. And Kirk was dealing with his own scandal — the fallout from inaccuracies in reporting his Navy service record at the time.
Giannoulias raised less than half of Kirk’s total, and the Republican now has almost a four-to-one cash on hand advantage.
If you’ll recall — and the Hill notes — that VP Biden recently ambled into town to raise finds for the Democrats “mob banker” but apparently even “no body messes with” Joe Biden isn’t able to help Giannoulias.
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Illinois ‘Mob Banker’ Can’t Raise Money?”
(Ill. Congresswoman) Bean’s Crime Inc: What Third Way Believes
A multi-part series from the Palatine Tea Party…
Congresswoman Melissa Bean is one of the Honorary Co-Chairs of the Third Way Foundation, formerly known as the Progressive Foundation.
What Third Way Believes:
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(Ill. Congresswoman) Bean’s Crime Inc: What Third Way Believes”
(Ill. Congresswoman) Bean’s Crime Inc (Third Way)
A multi-part series from the Palatine Tea Party…
Congresswoman Melissa Bean is one of the Honorary Co-Chairs of the Third Way Foundation, formerly known as the Progressive Foundation.
Third Way Foundation is the leading moderate think-tank of the progressive movement.*
Who is Third Way?
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(Ill. Congresswoman) Bean’s Crime Inc (Third Way)”
Ill. Dem. Senate Candidate Raising $$ From Trial Lawyers in Canada
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Illinois Democrat candidate for Senate, Alexi Giannoulias, wasn’t too keen of admitting it but he was in Vancouver, Canada over the weekend at a fund-raiser at a trial lawyer’s convention. Along with a dozen other Democrats, the candidate was in Canada to rake in thousands in donations from trial lawyers who know what side of their bread is buttered, for sure.
Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lynn Sweet has all the details at her Scoop blog. But suffice to say that the Giannoulias campaign did not report the whereabouts of their candidate until the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a press release urging reporters to grill the Giannoulias campaign.
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Ill. Dem. Senate Candidate Raising $$ From Trial Lawyers in Canada”
WATCH: Governor Quinn: ‘But that’s just how it works…’
From Bill Brady for Governor and the Illinois GOP…
Pay hikes for state government executives during a fiscal crisis is outrageous, but Governor Quinn? He defends his executive pay hikes, telling viewers on Chicago Tonight, “… that’s how it works.”
If Pat Quinn is serious about controlling state spending, he should immediately enact a wage freeze on state government payroll, and reverse his pay hikes for his executive staff today.
Gov. Says Ill. is Broke, but His Staffers/State Workers Get Big Raises
-By Warner Todd Huston
Many businesses across Illinois are trying to stave off closing their doors by cutting salaries and hours for employees. Some aren’t so luck and are laying off thousands of workers. Add to that dismal outlook that the state’s budget is billions in the red and politicians are so at loggerheads on how to solve the crisis that no budget can be agreed upon.
Cue accidental Governor Pat Quinn whose job, as he sees it, has been to warn Illinois that we are broke, that we can’t afford the many programs we have, that the poorest of us are at risk and that taxes will have to be raised to “fix” it all.
It’s a very bleak picture, indeed. Bleak, that is, unless you are one of Quinn’s staffers. In that case you are living high off the hog and getting an up to 20 percent raise in salary thanks to the Governor’s generosity… oh, and at the taxpayers expense, of course.
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Gov. Says Ill. is Broke, but His Staffers/State Workers Get Big Raises”
Ill. Dem Senate Candidate Giannoulias a ‘Mob Banker,’ Now ‘Flat Out’ Liar
-By Warner Todd Huston
The sniping between Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias is beginning to get to full steam these days and Democrat Giannoulias isn’t handling it all very well. As a bank executive, he’s gone from dissembling about his efforts to loan mobsters $20 million that his bank then lost, to now as a candidate lying about his desires to raise taxes.
The latest Giannoulias gaffe comes as a result of his announcement of his tax returns. It seems that he declared a personal business loss that negated his entire tax bill and so Giannoulias paid no federal tax in 2009. Yet, as Mark Kirk says, even as Giannoulias wants to raise all our taxes, he skates by himself without paying any at all!
For his part, the Ginnoulias campaign says that the candidate never said he wants to raise our taxes. They say that Kirk is lying about it. This newest claim makes Giannoulias himself to be a “flat out” liar as far as Illinois political watchdog Rich Miller is concerned. After all, Miller has the video to prove that Giannoulias has said that he wants to raise taxes.
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Ill. Dem Senate Candidate Giannoulias a ‘Mob Banker,’ Now ‘Flat Out’ Liar”
Obama Used Union Middle Man For Blago Bribery
-By Warner Todd Huston
The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that union leader Thomas Balanoff of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) was contacted by President Obama to act as a go-between to help Obama friend Valerie Jarrett secure his vacated Illinois Senate Seat when now former Governor Rod Blagojevich was trying to sell the seat to the highest bidder.
Balanoff appeared as a witness at the Blago corruption trial today. He said that Obama called him the day before he was elected president.
“Tom, I want to talk to you with regard to the Senate seat,” Obama told him.
Balanoff said Obama said he had two criteria: someone who was good for the citizens of Illinois and could be elected in 2010.
Obama said he wasn’t publicly coming out in support of anyone but he believed Valerie Jarrett would fit the bill.
“I would much prefer she (remain in the White House) but she does want to be Senator and she does meet those two criteria,” Balanoff said Obama told him. “I said: ‘thank you, I’m going to reach out to Gov. Blagojevich.”
Balanoff testified that Blago broadly hinted that he’d love to be offered the top spot at Health and Human Services, but Balanoff also said he couldn’t deliver that.
Obama appointed Jarret to a position at the White House after the election.
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Obama Used Union Middle Man For Blago Bribery”
Another Journo Turned Politico Turned Journo Again
-By Warner Todd Huston
Well we’ve got a case of another journalist that turned into a political operative that now wants to go back to being a journalist. And would you be surprised that the journo/politico/journo redux is a Democrat? I would hope you wouldn’t because the right leaning journo to politico hardly ever happens (though it has been known to).
This time it’s one Bob Reed former Chicago reporter and editor of Crain’s Chicago Business turned mouthpiece for Illinois Democratic Governor Pat Quinn. Reed quit the journalism trade to head up Pat Quinn’s communications office when he was Lt. Gov. and stayed with him when he became Illinois’ accidental governor upon the elimination of Rod Blagojevich from his lofty, bribe riddle heights. Now Reed wants to go back to being a journalist and has resigned from Quinn’s staff to pursue new opportunities.
Interestingly, Reed termed his employ in the guv’s office as just another journalistic “assignment.”
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Another Journo Turned Politico Turned Journo Again”
Politico: Five Questions for Mark Kirk
-By Warner Todd Huston
Mark Kirk has really made himself look foolish and if he loses this election it will be because of his ridiculous missteps on his biography. Why he felt the need to overstate his bio is anybody’s guess, but he did it. And not just once but at least five times. Politico details the bio inflation Kirk has perpetrated in a new piece headlined “Five questions for Mark Kirk .”
They say that Kirk was “once a favorite,” intimating that his stock has dropped. That is essentially true, but in my estimation Kirk has plenty of time to get past this if he handles it right and I think he’s still the favorite even with this foolishness because Alexi “the Mob Banker” Giannoulias has equally problematic bio problems — not the least of which was the $20 million that he and his bank lent to two known mobsters that never paid back the loan.
Politico presents five questions that they feel that Kirk must answer in a straightforward manner or expect to lose credibility as a candidate.
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Politico: Five Questions for Mark Kirk”
(Ill. Senate Race) Niecestro Says ‘Flake’ Denied Him Petition Signatures
-By Warner Todd Huston
Conservative businessman Mike Niecestro has been making noise about running for the U.S. Senate against GOP candidate Mark Kirk for at least a year. Even just a few weeks ago he amped up his noise machine to say that he had the ballot petition signatures needed to make a run for the office as an independent.
But yesterday the filing time came and no Niecestro papers were to be seen. He told reporters that one of the operatives that promised him thousands of signatures didn’t even get him a single one. ABC’s Charles Thomas reports that Niecestro said the politician in question is “known as a ‘flake’ in GOP circles.”
This quote raises major concerns about the seriousness of a Niecestro campaign. If Niecestro knew the guy he was relying on to put him over the top in petition signatures was a well-known “flake,” then why did Niecestro rely on him in the first place? If Niecestro was putting all his eggs in a “flake’s” basket, this seriously calls into doubt Niecestro’s planning capabilities, doesn’t it?
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(Ill. Senate Race) Niecestro Says ‘Flake’ Denied Him Petition Signatures”
Aide to Alexi ‘Mob Banker’ Giannoulias Manhandles Videographer
-By Warner Todd Huston
OK, OK, this one has been making the rounds all last week. It shows one of Illinois Democratic Senate candidate Alexi “The Mob Banker” Giannoulias’ staffers pushing around a videographer who was trying to get a look at who was attending a private fundraiser.
Yeah its uncomfortable to watch, but I have to come down on this in a way that is a bit out of orthodox from all the other conservative websites railing about this video. In fact, that’s why I hadn’t posted about it until now.
I just don’t think it’s a big deal that Giannoulias’ people wanted to keep a private function… well, private.
It was a reserved section, it was a by-invite event not open to the general public and the cameraman wasn’t on the guest list. As much as I think Giannoulias is a crook, deserves to be beaten in the election, and would make a horrible Senator if he wins, I think Giannoulias should be able to expect to see a private fundraiser remain private without being harassed about it all.
As far as this one incident goes, I don’t see any there, there. But, I’ll post it anyway and you decide.
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Aide to Alexi ‘Mob Banker’ Giannoulias Manhandles Videographer”
Lake County: Another Fake Republican Running in Local Race?
-By Warner Todd Huston
These are the kinds of underhanded games played on voters that really make me despair that the is a single honest Democrat in the world — or maybe even a single honest politician in general. Nancy Thorner writes of the fake candidacy one Mike Clark in the 58th State Rep. District which is mostly in Lake County, Ill.
As it happens Clark’s original filing papers identify him as a Democrat as well as a resident of Cook County, yet he’s running as a Republican/independent. Thorner surmises that Clark is just another one of those dirty tricks, another one of those oh-so-common Democrat fake candidates foisted on voters to confuse them and to get them to split up the vote in order to help a particular candidate.
In this case, the Democrats want the Republicans to split their votes between fake candidate Clark and legitimate Republican candidate Lauren Turelli — who ran unopposed in the GOP Primary — so that incumbent Democrat Karen May will again win in November.
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Lake County: Another Fake Republican Running in Local Race?”
Just One More Freedom Crushed: Feds Destroying Exotic Pet Industry
-By Warner Todd Huston
Congress has suddenly realized something. Animals could be dangerous! Gosh. One wonders what magick faierie dust was sprinkled on these stalwart protectors of the public weal that made them realize that animals are dangerous? Whatever fantastic episode befell Congress they have acted and hence these high mukety-mucks last year introduced an ominous sounding bill called the Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act (H.R. 669).
According to the summary this bill is supposed to, “prevent the introduction and establishment of nonnative wildlife species that negatively impact the economy, environment, or other animal species’ or human health, and for other purposes.” But like most federal laws it has an element of overreach to it.
That overreach is a stipulation that would require all dealers in pets to “prove” that their animals are “safe” and “noninvasive” and to present scientific proof to that end. As specified, the act would require, “sufficient scientific and commercial information to allow the Secretary to evaluate whether the proposed nonnative wildlife species is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to other animal species’ or human health.”
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Just One More Freedom Crushed: Feds Destroying Exotic Pet Industry”
Ill. Congressman Hare: Puffing Military Record and Intimidating Voters
-By Warner Todd Huston
Congressman Phil Hare (IL, 17th District) is the perfect example of the sort of congressman no one should want. He’s arrogant. He’s dismissive. He’s self-important. He’s easy to anger. And worst of all he has disdain for his own voters. The man is simply a creep.
In April we had video of this arrogant cuss saying that he didn’t care about the U.S. Constitution in the Obamacare fight. Apparently that darned old rag of paper is meaningless to this powermad pol.
This time we have Congressman Hare intimidating a voter and demanding that this Vietnam vet supply the congressman with his home address so that he, the congressman, can track the constituent down and further threaten him.
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Ill. Congressman Hare: Puffing Military Record and Intimidating Voters”
We Need Less Partisanship? Bah, We Need MORE of it!
-By Warner Todd Huston
Last weekend I attended a townhall meeting held by my congressman. During the question and answer period one theme came to the fore that is all too common in America today. That theme was that we need less “partisanship” in Washington D.C., there is too much choosing of sides, too much party politics. Blah, blah, blah. Cry me a river.
What tosh. We don’t need less partisanship in our politics, we need more of it. At least the more honest kind, the kind based on real principles.
One thing was clear from those whining about partisanship, too. They were all the left-wingers in the audience guided there by MoveOn.org’s email blasts. Now the reason the lefties were piteously whining like this is because this particular congressman is one of the more conservative members of the House. (I am not naming him because this is not his opinion and I don’t want anyone to associate this op ed with him) So, their ideas were the ones on the losing end of this congressman’s votes, to be sure.
Of course, if this congressman were to be like most Illinois congressmen — a lefty — these lefty audience members would not be whining about partisanship at all. They’d be happy as clams with a left-winger’s votes and would find the whining about partisanship quixotic.
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We Need Less Partisanship? Bah, We Need MORE of it!”
Check out TheBlagoFiles.com
From the Illinois GOP…
The Illinois Republican Party has launched a comprehensive web site to follow the trial of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. “The Blago Files” will be updated regularly with summaries of the court proceedings and links to the vast news coverage expected over the next several weeks.
We are looking forward to helping Illinois voters keep up with all of the testimony. The trial will put the spotlight right where it belongs: on the corruption that’s been allowed to fester far too long under Democratic Party control in Illinois.
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Check out TheBlagoFiles.com”
New NC Union-Based Political Party Fails to Get Enough Petition Signatures
-By Warner Todd Huston
Back in April we reported that unions in North Carolina banded together to try and start their own political party (as if the Democrats weren’t in thrall to them anyway). Well we are happy to report that the new North Carolina Families First Party failed to get the required number of petition signatures to authorize the effort.
This is not stopping the SEIU-based group from trying to punish North Carolina Democrats that aren’t sufficiently left-wing enough to suit them, however.
The Washington Post is reporting that the Service Employees International Union has recruited a candidate to run against first term Democrat Rep. Larry Kissell. Kissell was a “no” vote on Obamacare earlier this year.
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New NC Union-Based Political Party Fails to Get Enough Petition Signatures”
Ill. Gov. Who Says ‘I Always do the Right Thing,’ Said the Same thing About Blago
-By Warner Todd Huston
Sometimes words come back to haunt you, ya know? Ask Illinois Governor Pat Quinn who has just said something that is as bad as when a husband tells his wife she really does look fat in that dress. It’s something that just can’t be forgotten.
Last week Governor Pat “I’m For the Little Guy” Quinn took some guff for his pay-to-play union payoff when he signed an amendatory veto that benefited the Teamsters Union. As soon as Quinn issued the veto that would help the Teamsters his opponents highlighted the fact that Gov. Quinn only last month received $750,000 in political contributions from the union.
Quinn scoffed at the idea that he was handing his union pals a big payoff.
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Ill. Gov. Who Says ‘I Always do the Right Thing,’ Said the Same thing About Blago”
Kirk Bio Wrongly IDs Military Award, is That Worse Than ‘Mob Banker’ Alexi’s Financial Failures?
-By Warner Todd Huston
Representative Mark Kirk (R,IL) has admitted that the bio on his webpage has had to be altered to reflect a change in the identification of a military award it had previously accredited to him.
Kirk’s bio page originally claimed that he had been awarded the U.S. Navy’s Intelligence Officer of the Year award. This, however, was in error. It appears that his unit received this award, he did not individually receive the citation.
Kirk told the press, “upon a recent review of my records, I found that an award listed in my official biography was misidentified.” According to Navy records the Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award was issued to the entirety of the Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing at Aviano.
Kirk’s opponent, Alexi “the mob banker” Giannoulias has played this up as a major transgression, of course. Amusingly, Giannoulias comes from the same leftist wing of the Party that is currently excusing Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal who didn’t just goof up a particular award he was given but completely lied about his service as a Marine in Vietnam… as in he never served in Vietnam.
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Kirk Bio Wrongly IDs Military Award, is That Worse Than ‘Mob Banker’ Alexi’s Financial Failures?”
Connecticut Senate Candidate Blumenthal ‘Just Another Lying Democrat Politician’
From the folks at the National Republican Senatorial Committee…
Democrats Force Captain America to Flee America
-By Warner Todd Huston
California’s Democrats have forced the upcoming Captain America movie to be filmed in England. Why would that be, Buckey? Because it’s just too expensive to film the movie in California because of the Democrat’s punitive taxes.
For Yahoo Movies, Mike Ryan asks a seminal question: Should We Now Call Him ‘Captain England’? In his lament, Ryan worries over the U.S. film industry as movies and TV shows flee America, specifically California, for the cheaper production rates of Canada and England.
And now Democrats are so concerned with propping up union thugs, forcing themselves on the people at every avenue, and stealing as much money from the rest of us that they can that they’ve even chased Captain America away from America!
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Democrats Force Captain America to Flee America”
Rep. Jesse Jackson Endorsing Republican Mark Kirk?
-By Warner Todd Huston
The final answer is, “no,” Chicago-based Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. is not endorsing a Republican to take Barack Obama’s old Illinois U.S. Senate seat. But Jackson is making news by seeming to be toying with the idea of abandoning the troubled Democrat candidate, Alexi Giannoulias.
And, in the end, that’s all this is. It’s Jesse Jackson, Jr. employing the ages old Chicago Democrat game of fishing for payoffs.
The game goes like this: Long-time Democrat strong-man wants a pay off of one kind or another so he pretends he might support someone surprising, someone that isn’t the expected pick. Party bigwigs rush to payoff said strong-man so that he will support the usual suspect. Strong-man gets big rewards and ends up supporting the usual suspect anyway.
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Rep. Jesse Jackson Endorsing Republican Mark Kirk?”
Obama’s Hawaii Home Now Represented by a Republican
-By Warner Todd Huston
For the first time in nearly 20 years, Hawaii’s First Congressional District will be represented by a Republican. Charles Djou has won the special election to take the seat that lies in the same district in which President Obama’s Hawaiian home sits.
Mark this as the second Republican pick up of a highly symbolic Democrat seat; the first being the loss of Teddy Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat. Kennedy was widely touted as the “lion of the Senate” and it was easily imagined that his party had a lock on his seat. Republican Scott Brown disabused them of that silly notion.
As I wrote on May 6, there are three more symbolic seats that as things stand right now Republicans could conceivably take away from the Democrats.
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Obama’s Hawaii Home Now Represented by a Republican”