20 Sep 2009

Late Fundraiser Was Loyal to the End

By Rich Miller

Chris KellyA couple of years ago, Rod Blagojevich told me during a private conversation that all the talk about how close he supposedly was to indicted fundraiser Tony Rezko was just that. Talk.

Ah, but Chris Kelly, Blagojevich said, now that's a real friend, a close friend, a confidante. Blagojevich said he genuinely admired Kelly on multiple levels -- his success in business, his family, his people-judgment abilities, and his uncanny knowledge of all things sports. The two men talked almost every day, Blagojevich said, sometimes several times a day. He said it seemed like he was as close to Kelly as he'd once been to his own brother.

13 Sep 2009

Hynes Unveils a Sensible Strategy But Faces Big Challenges

By Rich Miller

Dan HynesThere were no spectacular backdrops in place when Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes officially announced his campaign for governor the other day.

No pretty pictures for the TV cameras. No gathering of his adoring family who could not keep their enraptured eyes off of him. No flowery rhetoric. No huge crowd. No brass band. No rows of oversize American flags. No razzle-dazzle at all, in fact.

Instead, Hynes stood in front of a blue curtain, a single flag, and a campaign poster and calmly laid out a plan to cut the state's budget, raise taxes on annual personal income above the first $200,000, tag certain "luxury" purchases with a new service tax, hike cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack, and expand gaming.

That's not a bad strategy for a Democratic primary.

06 Sep 2009

Blagojevich Blames Everybody but Himself

By Rich Miller

As expected, former Governor Rod Blagojevich's new book paints himself as the hero of Illinois politics and blames everyone but himself for his troubles.

He also tries to settle an old score. Blagojevich's longtime enemies House Speaker Michael Madigan and Attorney General Lisa Madigan are both attacked.

30 Aug 2009

Quinn Needs Primary Race to Test Himself

By Rich Miller

There's been quite a bit of private grumbling by Democratic county-party chairs and other party leaders about Comptroller Dan Hynes' decision to run in the February primary against Governor Pat Quinn.

They worry that Hynes will unnecessarily divide the party yet again and serve as a constant reminder to voters that Quinn was Rod Blagojevich's mostly silent lieutenant governor for six years. Hynes' bid, they fret, will only help the Republican Party.

That may very well be true. If Hynes loses the primary after spending millions of dollars tying Rod Blagojevich around Pat Quinn's neck, then Quinn could be served up on a platter in the general election. The best thing the Republicans have going for them right now in this Democratic state is Rod Blagojevich's ignominious legacy, so any help they can get from the Democratic Party would be eagerly welcomed.

But a tough primary race could also turn out to be a good thing for Quinn.

23 Aug 2009

One Republican Invokes the Good Ol' Days

By Rich Miller

Kirk DillardRepublicans, as a class, tend to pine for the good ol' days -- mainly, the eras when they were in power.

That's been especially true in Illinois as the Republicans, uniformly blown out of power by George Ryan's scandals and George W. Bush's leadership style, have tried repeatedly to use the good ol' days to convince voters that they should be returned to stewardship status. For instance, every chance they get they trot out former Governor Jim Edgar -- one of the few living historical Illinois figures who still represents moderation and good governance in many voters' minds.

But Jim Edgar wasn't even at last week's Republican Day event at the Illinois State Fair. I ran into him earlier in the week, after Wednesday's rain storm. He was walking alone through the fairgrounds, heading for his car. He had a horse in a race, but the race was canceled because of the storm so he was leaving.

02 Aug 2009

Clayborne Could Make Gubernatorial Race Really Interesting

By Rich Miller
James Clayborne

While fellow Democrats Governor Pat Quinn and Comptroller Dan Hynes were hurling insults at each other several days ago about the state budget, I picked up the phone and called Illinois Senate Majority Leader James Clayborne.

"Are the rumors true?" I asked. Was Clayborne really thinking about running for governor in the Democratic primary?

Over the previous several days, quite a few people had said they'd spoken with Clayborne, and all claimed that he sounded like a candidate to them.

But Clayborne would only say that he was still just talking to people, mulling it over, and considering his options. No decision yet.

26 Jul 2009

Many Clamoring for Quinn's Pot of Gold

By Rich Miller

Moments after members of the Illinois State Board of Education voted to cut the board's budget by a net $180 million last week, an activist group called Voices for Illinois Children sent out an urgent e-mail to supporters.

The group sketched out the pain the cuts would cause (the net cut actually disguises a $389-million reduction to individual program lines). A one-third cut to early-childhood programs, for example, could mean the loss of preschool for 30,000 children.

"This budget immediately erases five years of progress in early learning," the group's interim president was quoted as saying in the e-mail. Voices has an interim president because its founding president is now Governor Pat Quinn's chief of staff. The group was ecstatic when Jerry Stermer took Quinn's top job, but the champagne bottles are long empty.

19 Jul 2009

The Balanced Budget with a $10-Billion Hole

By Rich Miller

The budget - if you can call it that - that passed the General Assembly last week has as much as a $5-billion hole in it, borrows more than $7 billion from Wall Street and state vendors, disguises huge cuts to some private social-service agencies with 87-percent funding for others, and sets up the state for a surefire disaster next fiscal year.

Break out the party hats.

There is just no way on Earth that you can call that budget "balanced," or "serious-minded." It is, at best, a punt until next year. Actually, it's more like a blocked punt with a big loss of yardage.

12 Jul 2009

Lisa Madigan's Move Reveals Mike's True Agenda

By Rich Miller

"You guys are going to have to come up with a new conspiracy theory," Attorney General Lisa Madigan told Rockford Register-Star columnist Wally Haas last week about her decision to go for re-election and forgo runs for governor or U.S. Senate.

"I had it from a pretty good source as recently as Friday that she was going to run [for governor]," state Senator Brad Burzynski (R-Clare) told Haas about Ms. Madigan, adding: "It makes me wonder: What's [House Speaker Michael] Madigan's end game?"

So many people have assumed that Mike Madigan had sent this legislative session into overtime to somehow help his daughter become governor that they neglected to remember his long history as the House speaker.

Former House GOP leader Lee Daniels summed it up best to me not long ago: "Mike Madigan is Mike Madigan. He's one of the brightest leaders the state has ever had, but he's Mike Madigan. He's always been the way he is today."

05 Jul 2009

Is Quinn Finally Learning the Game?

By Rich Miller

As with any state legislative overtime session and possible government shutdown, "job one" right now is making sure somebody else gets the blame.

Last week, Governor Pat Quinn dramatically vetoed an appropriations bill and then held a press conference to lay full blame for the overtime deadlock at the General Assembly's feet. The bill, he said, would create too many hardships for social-service agencies, spark never-ending lawsuits, prevent his administration from hiring much-needed contractors, etc.

Quinn also blamed House Speaker Michael Madigan for the impasse over extending the budget by a month or so to help buy more time to cut a deal.

Unbeknownst to many, Madigan was still in Springfield during Quinn's press conference, so it was quite a surprise when he announced his own presser shortly after Quinn finished talking to reporters.

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