CapitolFax.com - Latest Comments in Question of the day

Re: Question of the day

Anonymous ZZZ — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 10:06:17 -0000

HoosierDaddy - you are talking about one election, which was more of a backlash against Republicans in general (based on dissatisfaction with Bush and our current Congress), rather than individual candidates. The trend of conservative Republicans not being able to win statewide races in Illinois has been going on for a decade. I forgot to mention in my previous post the additional examples of Jim Durkin losing to Dick Durbin in 2002 and Chris Lauzen losing to Dan Hynes in 1998.

I agree that lack of leadership and corruption are problems, too, but you can't ignore the fact that Illinois has been rejecting the conservative ideals of the Republican party for quite awhile.

Re: Question of the day

Jechislo — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 08:21:26 -0000

An election? Yes.

A mandate? No.

eastcentral - Monday, Nov 13, 06 @ 10:56 am said it all:

"all this election did was prove to the moderate republicans they can not spit in the face of the conservative republicans and win. only a unified party behind traditional republican value can have a chance of winning."

I'm again supporting Bill Brady in 2010.

Re: Question of the day

T.J. — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 06:15:20 -0000

A mandate is a lot of nonsense. You win, and you do what you can.

Re: Question of the day

Lovie's Leather — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 23:33:02 -0000

Yeah, Truman, Jim McGreevey has been ringing his phone off the hook!!!

Re: Question of the day

HoosierDaddy — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:35:37 -0000

Anon. ZZZ--

Ryan had the last name "Ryan" and Al Salvi was... well... Al Salvi. In case you didn't notice, the GOP candidates who got the floor mopped with themselves were moderate/liberals. I don't think the libs in the GOP need to be pointing to the conservatives as the root of their problem. The problem is lack of leadership and corruption.

It's time to throw all of the bustards (fat birds) out and start again.

As for a mandate for Rod, no. 49 percent is no mandate, especially when half of the votes came from the City of Chicago, and he got his arse handed to him in most of the state.

My next project-- secession. You guys in Cook can have your own state and elect whatever crook you want.

VOTE WHIG. Win in '10!

Re: Question of the day

Citizen A — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:55:18 -0000

Also, with this cloud of corruption swirling about him the existence of no political capital is very important. He is a bankrupt and severely damaged goods. Mandate ? I hardly think so.

Re: Question of the day

Marie — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:53:07 -0000

With a veto-proof majority, do we even need a governor? Better question, does that mean he's free to roam the countryside preparing for a U.S. Senate run. (snort!)

From the SJR tonight: "A longtime television news reporter started Monday as senior adviser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Bob Arya, 38, will research issues and brief the Democrat - who won election to a second term last week - on policy and legislative topics and prepare remarks for his speeches.

Arya will make $115,000 and report to Deputy Gov. Bradley Tusk, Blagojevich spokeswoman Abby Ottenhoff said."

Re: Question of the day

Citizen A — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:49:32 -0000

The term mandate does not matter in this case. What does matter is how long it takes to clear or confirm the cloud of suspected corruption around this guy. Until then he should be kept at arms length by any ethical and honest lawmaker. The election may be over but not the investigations, questions, and serious uncertainty. Fitzgerald will proceed at his usual deliberate speed but let's hope it resolves soon. Until then I would expect a degree of gridlock between the governor and Madagin and Jones.

Re: Question of the day

steve schnorf — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 19:49:11 -0000

Dog,

How are many Illinoisans disenfranchised?

And, I don't have to infer anything from the fact that 75% of registered Illinois voters didn't ask for a change in governance last Tuesday. It speaks for itself.

Re: Question of the day

Yellow Dog Democrat — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:13:32 -0000

Steve - Capitulation to the status quo is not the same as an endorsement. That's like arguing that those who didn't vote in the last election endorse the current Congress.

Many Americans are disenfranchised, and as much as you and I believe in democracy and the power of one person, one vote, many people have come to experience/believe that their vote won't change a thing. That's why I consider the poll which shows 60% of Illinois voters believe Gov. Blagojevich is leading in the wrong direction to be a more accurate measure. You don't have to infer anything.

Re: Question of the day

Anonymous ZZZ — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:02:53 -0000

Eastcentral...in case you haven't noticed, conservative Republicans have not been able to get elected in a statewide general election for some time now. Think Al Salvi (lost to Dick Durbin for US Senate in '96), Jim Ryan (lost to Blagojevich in '02), Alan Keyes (lost to Barack Obama in '04), etc. Illinois is becoming more and more Democratic, thanks in no small part to the number of conservative right-wing candidates who are out of touch with Illinois voters. I'm not saying this to be partisan, either; I'm actually a Republican.

Re: Question of the day

The Horse — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 17:43:13 -0000

Of course he did, but Emil's and Rahm's was bigger. Me, I voted for Pedro

Re: Question of the day

Richard T — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 17:25:56 -0000

I am a Dem but I think one party control is not conducive to good government. I hate Bush, worked for Seals but I also voted for Peraica and did not vote for Blagojevich.
It is scary this much power in the hands of so few petty people.

Re: Question of the day

napoleon dynamite — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:49:13 -0000

I don't think he got a man date. I don't think the dude likes man dates. He said on comedy central he wasn't the gay governor.

Me and pedro voted for that nieukirk dude. he gave us a t-shirt.

Re: Question of the day

Mr . Ethics — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 16:48:53 -0000

A mandate to hire a new senior advisor. Is the hiring freeze over?

Re: Question of the day

Little Egypt — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:27:31 -0000

Justice, of all the numbers here, yours makes the most sense. Factoring in the people who don't even bother to register to vote makes Blago's percentage of approval extremely low.
What I take comfort in is that this governor is not smart enough to do business any other way. His butt is in a sling and he is pretty clueless about how it got there but I'm betting he now knows how it's going to get out (via Federal indictment, trial, guilty verdict and sentencing).

I am absolutely astounded that this election went the way it did. We can certainly blame the press for not holding Blago's feet to the fire? The public has NO access to him in order to ask questions and even less chance of getting honest answers. But the press let him get by with official comments from his press corps and Press Releases Of The Day, placing his name on each piece of material that is mailed out from every State department, running TV ads for Allkids, signs on the tollways, and any other "innovative" way he could/can find of getting his name before the public. The radio debate was a sham and any other debates would have been useless if there were not hard and fast rules. No wonder there were no further debates, even though it was Blago himself who back in May proposed two debates per month and then backed out because nothing concrete could be arranged. HELLO, try to arrange the debates by actually picking up the phone and having your people talk to her people and vice versa instead of doing business by e-mail.

This state needs revamped in a big way and in a big hurry or else we will see more of this in 4 years (possibly 2). Negativity has worked for him. Others will use it next time. He will not stop raising campaign money and staying on the offensive. He and his campaign staff are so good at offensive strategy, he should have been a football coach instead of governor.

The only comfort I take in all of this is that I'm absolutely postive we will end up with Pat Quinn as our governor just as sure as Sam Shapiro took over when Otto Kerner got in hot water.

Re: Question of the day

Lovie's Leather — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:11:38 -0000

Nope, not a mandate... atleast for anything positive. But I have to agree that this was Rove style politics at its best. The governor ran a great advertising campaign. Next year we are going to get the same thing we got when many independents voted for Bush... and that is... "Why did I vote for this guy?" You voted for Bush and Blago because they ran great campaigns. As long as the electorate remains ignorant to why they like and dislike candidates, this will be the norm. Maybe in a couple years JBT will come out and say something totally ridiculous to make you feel better (much like John Kerry did), but you still have to regret reelecting that as our governor.

Re: Question of the day

Squideshi — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:05:03 -0000

Blagojevich has no mandate. He wasn't even able to achieve a simple majority of the total vote. The guy has completely alienated a good deal of progressives; and if he wants to win them back, one of the best things tha the could do would be to push for Instant Runoff Voting. The fact that he's not talking about this, even after this election, is just another example of why people don't like him very much.

"That in & of itself is amazing how a guy who didnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t manage to meet the minimum signature requirements, got on the ballot & barely raised enough money to bother counting or much less reporting managed to win that many votes...talk about using earned press."

Excuse me? Rich Whitney significantly EXCEEDED the signature requirements, which were already five times more stringent than those for the Democrats and Republicans. In fact, Blagojevich wasted a lot of taxpayer money in an unsuccessful attempt to kick Whitney off the ballot! They only needed 5,000, but Whitney needed 25,000; and Whitney collected more than 39,000.

Re: Question of the day

Bridget Dooley — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 15:03:07 -0000

No, I would not characterize Blago's win as a mandate.

Re: Question of the day

Bob o Link — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:53:36 -0000

Senate Democrats - mandate
Rod B. - not so much

Re: Question of the day

zatoichi — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:47:00 -0000

Hardly a mandate when as leader of the party you come in at 800,000 votes behind LM, 500,000 behind DH and JW, and (ouch) 100,000 behind AG. At $10 a vote, expensive way to buy a job. Still he won. If this has to be spun into a mandate then be the Gov, live in Springfield, balance the budget with real money, spot looking at national office, and stop blaming GRyan. The last four years were yours.

Re: Question of the day

Gus Frerotte's Clipboard — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:20:26 -0000

YDD and I have argued before about the wisdom of HB 750, and while we've disagreed before, I agree with him to a point here. While it's quite clear that the vast majority of "working families" (or whatever you want to call them) would see an aggregate tax increase, there are particular constituencies (most notably seniors, Cook County businesses, and people who bought a bigger house than they can afford) who would do fine under HB 750. It is an aggregate tax increase, and somebody's paying, but it's not going to be a 67% increase for everybody.

And, whatever the impact of the bill, I tend to agree with YDD that the time is probably now. Much of the Governor's base in fact supports the increase, and voted for him despite his position. (Some people presumably did vote for him because of it, but probably not most of the union members who came out in force for him.) There may well be enough votes in both chambers for a veto-proof majority on a tax increase, if the Senate President and Speaker get together to jam one through over the Governor's veto.

How the Speaker comes out on the issue of an income tax increase is probably the biggest variable in the session; if he sides with the Governor, it's dead, and if he doesn't, the Governor's ability to drive the budget process will be severely compromised, at best. If the Speaker agrees to a bill, it'll probably diverge from the current draft of HB 750 in several particulars (most notably making the property tax relief harder and faster than the current bill), but he could end up seeing that as the best way to resolve a variety of issues.

Re: Question of the day

doubtful — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:14:19 -0000

No mandate. Should be a wake-up call. Corruption was important to voters and it obviously had an effect on the election, otherwise he would've had a much higher margin.

Re: Question of the day

steve schnorf — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:12:18 -0000

David, about 52% of those registered didn't bother to vote, thereby tacitly accepting the status quo, and 50% of those who did vote affirmatively selected the Governor. In addition, of course, are the ones eligible to register but choosing not to, also tacitly accepting whatever happens next.

Not many voters bother to understand the issues regarding the budget that you raise (shame on them) and the media, attempting to be " fair or neutral" report the budget as "he said, she said" rather then reporting the facts, which as you know, may be subject to spin but not to debate.

Re: Question of the day

kimsch — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 14:03:22 -0000

more 'business as usual' which, I believe, is what he campaigned against the first time around.