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Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Carl Nyberg — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:54:23 -0000

How does Illinois stack-up compared to other states on electing multi-millionaires?

My sense is that they don't do well in Illinois. Peter Fitzgerald is the only one who got elected and he didn't last.

But multi-millionaires turned Senate or Governor hopeful mostly flop in other states too.

Tom Golisano, Al Chechi, Michael Huffington, Ciresi in Minnesota.

Dayton finally got elected in Minnesota and had a Senate career that closely paralleled Peter Fitzgerald's.

Corzine made it work in New Jersey. Herb Kohl in Wisconsin.

It seems like the party's largely want to use these millionaire businessmen. On a national level it frees resources for other states without the demoralization of simply conceding.

On the state level it provides jobs of the political consultants. And the money put into GOTV helps the down ballot races in theory.

But largely these deep pockets businessmen get used by the political types.

Anybody who is getting advice to drop $15 million of his (or her) own money running against Durbin ought to seek a second opinion from someone who isn't financially invested in the decision.

If you're gonna drop $15 million bucks to try to become popular, it might make more sense to drop it in the charitable sector. Those people are more loyal in their affection that the political consultants who will probably stab Daddy Warbucks in the back once he stops writing checks. "Warbucks was a weak candidate for reasons X, Y and Z, but don't use my name."

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

North by Northwest — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:50:22 -0000

I think Durbin is unbeatable in a Dem primary but very vulnerable to the right candidate in the general election. Despite his many years in office, voters have no real sense of who he is--largely because he's a politician's politician.

It's unfortunate for the Republicans that they have no one established to run against him, but a deep-pocketed businessman with a history of civic involvement might upset Durbin in 2008, when voters should be more willing to dump elected officials who personify politics as usual.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

paddyrollingstone — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:51:42 -0000

Whenever someone questions the intelligence of a public figure, I always why that person doesn't run for office himself, if he is so smart. Or to quote John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler from "Say Anything":

Lloyd Dobler: I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas 'n' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?
Joe: By choice, man.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Crimefighter — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:30:36 -0000

NW burbs -- all one has to do to determine the intelligence level of Durbin is to listen to him on the Sunday talk shows.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Bluefish — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:03:59 -0000

Ironic that one of the few rising young stars in the GOP, Aaron Schock, is too young to run for the Senate. Maybe next time around.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Bill Baar — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:47:24 -0000

they should run Gidwitz. he should define himself as a Ã¢â‚¬Å“Bloomberg/GiulianiÃ¢â‚¬Â style republican

Not at all a bad idea.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Squideshi — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:46:07 -0000

Rich, the election results of any of the other statewide Green candidates really don't matter, because Rich Whitney was the only one that ran a real campaign. The others were just on the ballot primarily as placeholders--the party by law was required to run a full slate of candidates in order to be able to run someone for Governor. Several of the other statewide candidates didn't even make a single campaign appearance or statement; and in fact, one even moved out of the state!

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

NW burbs — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:28:01 -0000

Crimefighter, Why do I get the impression you don't like Durbin? ;)

Why don't you just tell us how you really feel about our state's Senior Senator (who is, by the way, the #2 guy in the Senate)?

Maybe when you say he's not very bright, he says a lot of stupid things and is wrong about a lot of issues ... well, maybe it takes one to know one, eh?

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Southern Ilinois Democrat — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 11:22:14 -0000

Angry Frank shouldn't worry. The Illiois GOP has 49 other states to draw a Republican candidate from. Unless, they cross out Maryland and then that only leaves 48.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Crimefighter — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 10:47:28 -0000

Dick Durbin is VERY BEATABLE. The problem is the GOP does not get behind their candidates and push them aggressively--they nominated Jim Durkin last time around then just abandoned him. From all I've seen of Durbin, he's not very bright, he says a lot of stupid things and is wrong about a lot of issues. Durbin is beatable, just nominate a strong conservative and make sure his campaign is adequately funded to make it a competitive race.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

corvax — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 09:03:00 -0000

they should run Gidwitz. he should define himself as a "Bloomberg/Giuliani" style republican

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Bill Baar — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 07:26:10 -0000

Don't count out the Greens. Watch how Durbin straddles a surge in Iraq. Things may look very different for a Green candidate in about two weeks.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Angie — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 02:02:40 -0000

Jeff, that is awesome. I'm a non-trad who returned to finish a degree, so I'm not around the big freshman seminars that the incoming 18 and 19 year-olds take while at my university, but I read our campus paper, and there are some nice moderate views coming from the GOPers who are interviewed for various pieces. If everyone works together on the huge # of issues that moderates and more conservative types actually agree on, that would be fantastic.

That's funny, though, that the students have it together as the old guard IL GOP is kaput. Maybe that's best. Out with the old, and in with the new.

Love the idea of a Unity conference, by the way. Sounds good.

Thanks for the optimistic views, Jeff. Made my day.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Jeff — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 23:12:41 -0000

Angie, I can tell you that young/college republicans do exist and exist in mass at colleges all across the state of Illinois. I would even say that the IL CRs and YRs have their act more together than the ILGOP does.

IL CRs and YRs are not fond of corruption (in and out of the ILGOP), they are working towards restoring the future... in fact, a group of students at the University of Illinois at Springfield is currently planning a Unity Conference to try to get the conservative/moderates throughout the state unified with a platform each can stand on proudly.

Yeah, it's going to take a bit of compromising, tossing out some corrupt people, and re-establishing the party as the party of low taxes, anti-terrorism, no corruption, and family values (and not extreme family values).

I see the future of Illinois through IL CRs and YRs, and the future looks bright!

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Hoosier New to Illinois — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:59:32 -0000

To clarify ... the three seats the Hoosier D's won in the U.S. House were all held by the R's, so it was a big part of the swing to the D majority. And to give credit where credit is undoubtedly due, didn't Illinois' Rep. Rahm Emmanuel also have a lot to do with supporting those three victors?

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Hoosier New to Illinois — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:51:33 -0000

I'm brand-new in these parts, so I don't know the in's and out's. But the opposite situation plagued the Indiana Democratic Party in the '06 cycle. Party Chair Dan Parker made a courageous decision to not contest Sen. Richard Lugar (R). Instead, the Hoosier D's threw everything they had into winning three toss-up congressional seats (won all three) and into winning control of the Indiana House of Reps (and did so). I wonder if the Illinois GOP would look to the east and make the same kind of pragmatic decision.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

fedup dem — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 20:36:15 -0000

Rich, which GOP State Senators will be in the middle of their four-year term in 2008? I suspect one of them will be told to draw the short straw and be the Republican's sacrificial lamb... I mean Senate candidate.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Anonymous — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:26:38 -0000

As the suburbs (and northern Illinois, in general) continue to change in the overall demographics, the GOP will have to run moderates from the suburbs who can relate to the voting base in the collar counties, suburban Cook County, Rockford and anything else north of I-88. However, with Mark Kirk turning down the chance and the entire Republican ticket losing the 2006 consitutional slate, our bench is bare. Just give it to Durbin now and save us from all of the baloney.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Drew — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 19:11:36 -0000

Well stated, Rich. I, too, thought the Greens would break the five percent mark well ahead of the November election. I also wouldn't be surprised to see their U.S. Senate nominee on the ballot in 2008. Nonetheless, as you articulated, the conditions will not be the same as they were with Blagojevich and Topinka. We already know that Durbin will be a serious candidate from the Democrats. The G.O.P. may or may not wind up putting up a strong candidate of their own. With that in mind, the Greens will actually have to win votes rather than be the recipient of votes thrown away by disgruntled voters. Very few people would have actually voted Green had they thought they had a legitimate shot at winning.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Angie — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 18:46:26 -0000

Re: "The Dems are probably wishing the Repubs would find a savior too because the alternative is heavy duty fighting among themselves."

That's just fine if the Dems divide up a bit amongst themselves. That still creates a sort of check-and-balance, sad as it sounds, within our state government. I must say that I still think this is somewhat healthy. Much healthier than having the Dems shift really far leftward in ideology and having all of them in total and complete agreement with each other, don't you think?

A little independent thinking within the ranks never hurts, in my opinion.

As for the Illinois GOP? They need fresh blood. Young people, or something. But where does the Illinois GOP go to find 'em? In the liberal colleges? Hah hah hah. Like that's ever going to happen.

They need moderate (read: electable) types to get the younger generation excited about getting involved in politics, and there's really no way to even organize a plan to plot strategy when the party itself is pretty much kaput.

Let's just try and talk some sense into the Dems on some of the issues, or the way to go about implementing needed changes on the issues that affect us all. Try to persuade, I suppose, because that's all there is as an option right now.

I'd like to see Jim Edgar run, though, but I doubt he will.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Holdingontomywallet — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 18:35:23 -0000

The Republican party needs to get back to their core values and stop relying on the upcoming implosion of the Democrats. Blogojevich and his unqualified appointees have their own problems that will soon come home to roost, but the Republicans should stop waiting for that to happen. I believe that most of the people in Illinois and the rest of the country have conservative values. Bill Brady could be a great candidate if he sticks to these values and if he tries to guide the party to the "center". Predictions: Blagojevich and his minions will pay the price for breaking laws and their arrogance and the Democratic Congress will not be able to get along and they will soon display their liberal ideas (more taxes and give-away programs). Republicans need leadership and Brady is a good candidate to fill that void.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Will — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 18:32:48 -0000

The Greens would have a very difficult time convincing liberals to vote against Durbin, if they bother to run a candidate. It would become a national joke, like the Green who ran against Paul Wellstone.

Durbin is popular, in large part because he does represent the political values of most Illinois voters, regardless of how often conservatives claim otherwise.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Outsider — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 18:14:12 -0000

I wasn't for Jack before, but he could win the nomination... again.

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

bored now — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 17:12:49 -0000

i figured they could get on the ballot -- and said so -- given the low requirements needed to do so. i never thought they'd do much better than 5%, but cie la vie. i've seen the "organizing" power of the greens and remain unimpressed. every other state's green party was better organized, better funded, and maintained a clear purpose. the illinois green party could learn a lot from its counterparts elsewhere...

Re: No Durbin opponents stepping up

Shadoobie — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 16:54:21 -0000

What's Jim Durkin doing these days? It was my impression that even when they had him to run against Durbin the last time, he didn't get a whole lot of support of the GOP.