Democratic shots at Rauner seem lame for $2 million

Democratic shots at Rauner seem lame for $2 million

Bruce Rauner, the independently wealthy Republican businessman has everyone in a tizzy. His campaign came out of nowhere, made some smart decisions and is moving forward to headlock the Republican Party nomination on March 18.

The Democrats have invested some $2 million through PACs to target Rauner and dirty him up for the final stretch, assuming he does win the GOP Primary defeating better known rivals: Bill Brady, the Republican State Senator who is making his 3rd bid for the office after losing in 2010 to then Acting Gov. Pat Quinn; Sen. Kirk Dillard, whom most "Reagan Democrats" would have supported in 2010 had Brady not nosed Dillard out in that primary race; and the congenial Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford who has been dragged down by ugly attacks raising questions about his sexuality and allegations of sexual harassment.

The GOP primary mess only reinforces Rauner's certainty of winning. None of this rivals have the cash to beat him. It will be a gubernatorial version of the 2011 Chicago Mayoral election in which Rahm Emanuel moved back in to Chicago with a $14 million campaign war chest to blow away a field of veteran Chicago Democrats, former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun, City Clerk Miguel Del Valle, and legal powerhouse Gery Chico, all of whom barely had $3 million in campaign funds together.

A lot of Democrats don't like Quinn. I recall Quinn as being a great outsider when I covered Chicago City Hall but when I moved to community radio, Quinn never thought I was worth spending any time on. No problem. Unfortunately, Quinn does that to a lot of people he once leaned on for support when he was the outside crusader battling the old Chicago Democratic Machine. Now, he's the insider. It comes with its privileges, of course, but Quinn brings in a lot of not-forgotten battles with his new suitors.

English: Gov. Pat Quinn making a point at Green Expo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

While Rauner has dominated the field with more TV commercials than Personal Injury Attorney Glenn Lerner, he's focused almost entirely on attacking Quinn. His Republican challengers have been left trying to dent Rauner's image. But Rauner was smart. His first move was to lock in key Republican support. His move to win over the support and endorsement of key mainstream Republican Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth "Liz" Doody Gorman locked in his prominence with Republicans in the Democratic heavy Chicagoland region.

Rauner's strategy has to be very simple. Get through the Republican Primary without bashing his Republican Rivals, leaving the door open to their possibly rallying around him afterwards. And then do what every Republican easily does, win the downstate Republican vote by a large margin. It won't be enough to win the gubernatorial election. But Rauner needs to also win soft Democratic support in the Democratic havens in Chicagoland. If Rauner can win some of those Democrats who have long memories, or have felt burned by Quinn's attitudes over the past few years, he has a formula to take the state and be the next Governor of Illinois.

In 2010, Quinn only beat Brady by about 30,000 votes. That's not too much to expect from disgruntled conservative "Reagan Democrats" who live in the Chicagoland area who just might turn to Rauner.

Additionally, the Democrats, who have less money to spend than Rauner, are not spending it wisely. The attack ads they've funded with their last ditch burst of funds are lame, attacking Rauner for allegedly being friendly with Stuart Levine, the convicted felon who was part of the corrupt circle around former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

English: Mug shot of Rod Blagojevich. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But throwing Blagojevich at Rauner is so ineffective. Voters are tired of the "use Blagojevich to dirty up an opponent" by arguing someone was close to Blagojevich. The fact is Quinn was Blagojevich's running mate, after all. Quinn was his Lt. Governor, though he quickly distanced himself from Blagojevich when the governor's federal troubles exploded in newspaper driven investigations.

If they are going to beat Rauner, the Democrats need to come up with a better attack than simply throwing Blagojevich at him.

In the end, the truth is the Democratic controlled House and Senate can just as easily work with a Republican Governor as they work with a former liberal who has joined the Democratic Party parade.

Quinn has years of experience spinning the media and can easily handle himself in a debate. But what's the real issue that voters care about? So far, no one has defined that, making it easy for Rauner to bludgeon his way into office with his bottomless financial pockets.

Of course, having a guy who knows how to make money, instead of wastefully spending it, is probably what appeals to voters the most. It's something Rauner is hammering away, unimpeded by the Democratic Pacs and consultants. And unless they can stop it with another issue, the certainty of what's going to happen in the Nov. 4 General Election is clear.

-- RAY HANANIA

Related articles

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• Dillard responds to Rauner accusation of alliance with Quinn
• Moderate jumps out to a commanding lead in next month's #ILGov primary
• Rauner Calls on Rivals to Denounce Union Attacks
• Poll: Rauner Leads In GOP Race For Illinois Governor

Video of Windsor Drive, Orland Park from 1986 -- Ray Hanania family archives

I thought people who live on Windsor Drive in Orland Park off 151st Street would enjoy this video of what the homes and street looked like in 1985. It's part of a family video I took when one of my cousins, Simon Canahuati, was visiting from Venezuela. (His family is Palestinian and they immigrated there after Israel took over much of Palestine in 1948.)

Many of the homes on the West Side of Windsor Drive, along Kingston Street, were not yet built when this video was taken. The homes here int he video are about one to three years old.

Enjoy
Ray Hanania


Orland Park, Chicago Loop, Chicago Sun-Times video taken in 1986 from Ray Hanania on Vimeo.

The tragedy of Illinois' statewide elections -- the poor voters!

Broadway Bank, the clout-heavy insider institution smothered in controversy that financed the Giannoulias family, shut down this week. But while it's doors may have closed in one respect -- to be opened and managed by the Federal Government -- it's closing opens a huge and ugly door on the truth about the elections this November.

The poor voters. We get screwed by the Republicans. We get screwed by the Democrats. We get screwed by the Health Insurance robber barons. And we get screwed by the Banks and their credit card rip-off schemes. And now we get screwed again by being denied a decent choice among the disarray of pathetic and poorly qualified candidates running for statewide office this November.

No politically motivated Tea Party Movement pandering to the egos of some maniacal Conservative Republican nut jobs like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin can save us.

We should be screaming about the poor quality of many of the candidates we're being force-fed, but voters are so pathetic themselves they won't even bother to vote. So whose fault is it?

Look at the election "field of screams."

For the race for U.S. Senate, our choice is Alexi Giannoulias, a candidate who made no mark of any significance in the office of Illinois Treasurer, his first real elective office. He did nothing there, except defend the banks and the credit card companies. Now, he wants to be our U.S. Senator, in the seat once held by President Barack Obama and now held by lame duck U.S. Senator Roland Burris.

What is Giannoulias's credentials? He is a basketball pal of President Obama. Not one great idea to helpt he taxpayers. Not one principled stand against the bankers -- obviously because he comes from a banking family that has a history of high profile controversial insider deals. How much money did the Giannoulias family take from Broadway Bank before it shut down? I read someplace they took more than $70 million. Paid themselves first.

And now Giannoulias wants to be our Senator.

No way. No how. And I am a Democrat.

On the other hand, who is our alternative choice. Self-serving PR-savvy double-talking flipflopper Congressman Mark Kirk who built his career exploiting the Iraq War where he served as a celebrity pilot in a reserve unit in the conflict. Not a hero. He just served. For us regular people who served in the military, we barely get a thank you. For Mark Kirk the politician with the mouth that never stops bragging, he wants to use his routine performance in the military -- he did what he was supposed to do and nothing more (which is sadly more than most of the people screaming for war over the past eight years have done), and now he expects to be rewarded with the high-paying powerful job of U.S. Senator.

No way. No how.

Then look at the equally pathetic race for Governor, filling the vacancy left by the scandal-plagued blow-hard and arrogant former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Although he was unfairly treated by the U.S. Justice Department and the Illinois Legislature, the fact is Blow-hard Blagojevich made it all possible with his stupid public comments and his selfish political style.

We're supposed to believe that his successor -- and his former running mate -- Pat Quinn is going to set the boat straight and get this state back on its feet from the deep hole the state's political leaders have dug for the taxpayers over the years by caring for themselves and not caring for the interests of the state's economically deprived citizens.

Quinn is pathetic. A hypocrite. It's all about him. His career. he has been trying so hard to get to the top he has forgotten how to be a reformer. He's arrogant just like everyone of his predecessors and who knows what controversies he will step in when given the reigns of power.

His tax increase is the WORST idea. Instead of tightening his belt and cutting the fat from HIS administration, he's already stripping funds from communities across the state, crippling the budgets of many of the programs the people of Illinois need to survive, and placing the burden of the economic catastrophe we have in Illinois created by Pat Quinn, Alexi Giannoulias, Mark Kirk and all of the statewide elected officials on the shoulders of the taxpayers who never had a chance to begin with.

The elections and the government on the state level are rigged.

No way. No how.

And then there is Bill Brady, the downstate Senator. Such a sad missed opportunity when he was elected instead of State Senator Kirk Dillard, the one person who offered this state hope. Dillard could easily defeat Quinn. Brady cannot. In fact, every time Brady opens his mouth, he "steps in it" and you know what the "it" is. Here is a guy who is so rich that he refuses to release his income taxes. Why? He says because he wants to protect his business partners.

Well, if you really wanted to protect your business partners, you NEVER would have run for public office to benefit yourself. What have you EVER done as a State Senator besides moo with the rest of the herded legislative cows?

Brady is playing a cheap game of deception when he says he will releases his income taxes for three hours only for the viewing of reporters, at his Springfield offices. Not release them to the public. He doesn't want to public to know what he has done and how rich he is and how much he has profited. God forbid we might discover something shady about his business conduct and the only way to know if a politician is "clean" is to see their full tax returns.

The legislature should make it mandatory that candidates for public office should be REQUIRED to release their income tax forms as a part of their filing and all of their subsequent income tax forms MUST be filed ON TIME and in every year they hold public office OR are running for public office. To do anything less is a slap int he face of the voters.

No way. No how.

So who do we vote for? The pathetic third parties who want to tell that one of their candidates "won" 10 percent of a vote in some past election. That's not winning. That's losing by a landslide and it's a reflection on their inability to convince voters of their programs.

We're screwed.

Our only hope is this:

1 -- The Democrats force Giannoulais to step down and replace him with someone else. If they don't Illinois will be stuck with Kirk for six years of misery and suffering and poor leadership. Kirk is a conservative fanatic trying to appease voters with his phony "I'm a moderate Republican" BS.

The sad irony here is that Burris has proven to be the BEST US Senator this state has had in a long time. He has voted his conscience and on what's best for the citizens. All that BS about him being tainted because he was appointed by Blow-hard Blagojevich is Balgojevich Baloney.

2 -- Pat Quinn needs to get his act together and do some serious rethinking of everything he holds dear. Otherwise, we will get stuck with Brady, another Republican insider who will destroy this state through inept leadership and partisan political agendas. Blagojevich was right about Quinn, but not in a caring way for the taxpayers, rather, because it made him feel good about the mess he helped create for himself.

As for the rest of the candidates running for public office. None of them mean a hill of beans if they don't have th guts to stand up and tell the voters what needs to be said. They are so afraid of creating enemies they just want to slink past and win office. They don't want to rock the boat at all. They just want to get back in office, because the only place safe in today's economy is in an elected office where health and pension benefits come almost free picked from the low-hanging taxpayer funded broken state branches.

At least this year, voters who don't waste their time caring about the miserable state of our government and politics will have a legitimate excuse to stay home and let the insiders take everything and destroy everything all at the same time.

We'll be talking about this topic on my radio show this week beginning Monday morning at 8 am. Call in, if you care. Snooze if you're happy with the garbage we call statewide government.

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

State Rep. Renee Kosel outed in scholarship-politics controversy

State Rep. Renee Kosel is one of five legislators who requires applicants for state scholarships to register to vote first, something that some people believe may end up being pressured by virtue of the circumstances to vote for the legislator.

Click here to read the story?

-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

SCOOP: Drive to ban video gaming in Cook County has ties to casino industry

Check out my SCOOP on the donations commissioners on the Cook County Board received from the casino industry only three weeks before introducing a bill to ban the video gaming machines from Cook and DuPage counties. 


Click here to read the story or go to www.SuburbanChicagoland.com.


Video Gaming Machines would compete for dollars with the casinos and some casino owners and lobbyists do not want it. The subject will be the topic of this morning's radio show on WJJG 1530 AM (8-9:30 am). You can also listen online at www.RadioChicagoland.com. 


Here's the link to the story on donations Commissioner Bridget Gainer, the chief sponsor of the video gaming machine ban in Cook County, received.


I'll be posting updates on the story as I receive them. Not all of the commissioners commented (I've been trying to get comment since Thursday from some).


-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com

Full text of the Charges and press release on Rod Blagojevich

Click HERE to open the press release issued by US Attorney Patrick Fiztgerald on the corruption charges against Gov. Rod Blagojevich (Bla-Bleep-ovich).

Click HERE to read the actual charges and full "Complaint" filed by the US Attorney's Office.

-- Ray Hanania
http://www.radiochicagoland.com/