Illinois Republican Party

A miserable week for Illinois Dems
3/12/2010

By Greg Hinz - Crain's Chicago Business

I'm not big on assuming that the events of just one week can change the core dynamics of a long political season.

But I'm going to make an exception today, because Illinois Democrats can't stand too many more weeks like this one if they hope to compete in November.

Consider:

First, Gov. Pat Quinn rolls out a doomsday, fire-the-teachers budget that scared absolutely no one in Springfield into backing his latest tax hike plan — this, to boost the personal tax rate to 4% from 3%. As House Speaker Michael Madigan, a Democrat, rather succinctly put it, "The people of Illinois don't want a tax increase."

Then, the party postponed a decision on who should be appointed to replace Scott Lee Cohen, the steroided, hooker-dating pawn shop owner who Democratic voters nominated for lieutenant governor.

The decision now supposedly will occur at a central committee meeting on March 27. Perhaps by then, both Mr. Quinn and Mr. Madigan will have a candidate who actually could help the party in November without totally alienating either African-American voters or anyone who lives south of I-80.

Next is Chapter 14 in the Alexi Giannoulias follies.

If there was anything the embattled Democratic U.S. Senate nominee didn't need, it was for a big campaign contributor and customer of his family's Broadway Bank to be indicted in a check-kiting scheme.

But that's exactly what happened, forcing Mr. Giannoulias to turn over to charity $114,000 in campaign contributions from Boston Blackie's restaurant owner Nick Giannis.

All of that keeps Broadway in the news —and gives Republicans one more opportunity to talk about folks like Michael "Jaws" Giorango and Tony Rezko, who are either Giannoulias donors or have been Broadway customers. And all of that is spurring talk — premature, so far —that Mr. Giannoulias will have to drop off the ticket.

The final piece of this week's Democratic deluge involves retiring Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool.

He coulda had the board chairmanship in a walk, but instead chose to retire. But now insiders say he wants back in the game, spurring talk that he'd like to be lite guv, or, as Michael Sneed reported in the Sun-Times this morning, that he'll run for county assessor this fall as a third-party candidate.

Mr. Claypool hasn't been returning phone calls, but he definitely is talking to big potential funders and the like. And the last thing the Democrats need is for a third-party candidate to pull off Democratic votes in the fall.

I hope Bill Brady and Mark Kirk, the GOP candidates for governor and U.S. senator, respectively, are enjoying the show. Sometimes in politics, you don't have to win. Sometimes you just have to let the other guys lose.

SOURCE: Crain's

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