IL-Gov. 2018 Megathread

[Kingpoleon]

If Durbin ran...would he be a guaranteed win?

Essentially, but he already declined.

[Kingpoleon]

That "army of morons" has been in control for quite a while now. They've always been able to pass a budget. Even when there was a Democratic President, Johnson and Carter and Clinton were all able to get a budget passed. That all seems to suggest the problem is not with anyone in the Congress or even with the party of the President, but rather with the individual currently occupying the office. (Obama)

[Kingpoleon]

Illinois AFL-CIO has endorsed J.B. Pritzker

Very concerning when the interests of big business partner with the biggest labor union in America.

[Kingpoleon]

State Rep. Drury announces bid. Of note, Rep Drury is the lone Illinois State House Democrat to vote against Michael Madigan for speaker.

Probably symbolic to burnish his "outsider credentials" and to try to create some lane to run, but still.

Drury's outsider credentials are not symbolic. He's taken many tough stands against his party while in the House, including a "present" vote for Speaker at the start of this year. He will point at everyone else who may claim to be an outsider, but have failed to break from the machine when the pressure was on.

The Chicago machine is very concerning, and that's why I have aligned myself with Durbin and Bustos, although ideologically I'm more aligned with Dan Lipinski and (to a lesser extent) Napoleon Harris.

[Kingpoleon]

Bobby Rush (IL-1) endorses Kennedy. Luis Gutierrez (IL-4) endorses Pritzker.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-illinois-democrats-governor-endorsements-met-0620-20170619-story.html

Rush is a good man. The Corrupt Cook County Democrats are pretty bad - it says something about them that Rahm Emanuel is considered to be more of a reformist than the average Democratic politician from there. Of course, that's mainly because of his ties to Obama more than anything else.

[Kingpoleon]

Well so far things are looking good in the Dem primary, with the 2 frontrunners being J. B. Pritzker, who asked Blago for state Treasurer, and Chris "Anti Charisma" Kennedy.  Both would make it a tossup imo.

Counting potential candidates, my IRV list is:
1. Chris Kennedy
2. Scott Drury
3. Daniel Hynes
4. Kwame Raoul


If it's Pritzker or Bliss vs. Rauner and Chad Grimm(L) doesn't run, then I'll probably support Rauner.

[Kingpoleon]

Well so far things are looking good in the Dem primary, with the 2 frontrunners being J. B. Pritzker, who asked Blago for state Treasurer, and Chris "Anti Charisma" Kennedy.  Both would make it a tossup imo.

Counting potential candidates, my IRV list is:
1. Chris Kennedy
2. Scott Drury
3. Daniel Hynes
4. Kwame Raoul


If it's Pritzker or Bliss vs. Rauner and Chad Grimm(L) doesn't run, then I'll probably support Rauner.

I understand being against Pritzker, but why against Bliss, I think he'd make it lean D.

Bliss isn't even close to being a centrist. Of the announced candidates, I think I would only support Kennedy or Drury.

[Kingpoleon]

kennedy apparently told a bunch of old people "if you don't vote for me you'll die alone"

Link to an article/video, please.

[Kingpoleon]

kennedy apparently told a bunch of old people "if you don't vote for me you'll die alone"

Link to an article/video, please.

friend of a friend was there

Once the goons of Pritzker and Madigan pick up on this, Kennedy might be dead. We better hope at least Drury runs.

[Kingpoleon]

kennedy apparently told a bunch of old people "if you don't vote for me you'll die alone"

Link to an article/video, please.

friend of a friend was there

Once the goons of Pritzker and Madigan pick up on this, Kennedy might be dead. We better hope at least Drury runs.

Drury has no hope in the primary imo, and even if he did he'd have a hell of a time trying to rally the Dem base as Rauner-lite. 

Not trying to be snarky here, but I don't get your affinity for Kennedy.  He isn't a centrist, seems to have missed his relatives charisma gene, and is essentially piggybacking off his last name without a plan for anything else.

I really hate the Cook County machine. Quinn, Madigan, the Daleys, and their gang are all terribly corrupt. Kennedy has the best shot, in my opinion, of taking them down a notch.

[Kingpoleon]

If I was in the legislature, I would go ahead with the 4.95% income tax, but also raise the sales tax to either 7.5% or 10.0%, and then take the resulting revenue to use to cut back at the property taxes.

[Kingpoleon]

If I was in the legislature, I would go ahead with the 4.95% income tax, but also raise the sales tax to either 7.5% or 10.0%, and then take the resulting revenue to use to cut back at the property taxes.

The problem is the voters would just take that hike at face value and not trust that property taxes would actually go down... and rightfully so. You can't trust anything politicians say in this sorry excuse for a state.

... Which is why I would cut property taxes in the same bill. Illinois is getting by on a relatively low sales tax, but certainly too-high property taxes. Balance them out, cut spending back a bit, and it should be fine. The problem in the equation obviously is Madigan.

[Kingpoleon]

If Illinois votes Rauner again I'll stop feeling bad because at this point they're doing it to themselves.

Ah yes lets vote for the people who will keep the machine running for another 12 years, good idea.

You don't really think Kennedy or Drury would keep the Madigan-Emmanuel machine in power, do you?

Ah yes lets vote for the people who will keep the machine running for another 12 years, good idea.

Good point, but still, Rauner sucks. Run someone else. His tactics are not working. Say what you will about Madigan & Co, but Rauner doesn't seem to be the right person for the job imo. And by no means am I saying someone like Pritzker is right for the job either. I don't really have a high opinion of wealthy businessmen with dubious qualifications buying their way into office.

Rauner is an incumbent. Sure, Dillard, Kinzinger, or Rutherford would do better ideologically and at governing, but Rauner's not too incompetent or an extremist. He and Madigan aren't willing to compromise. Sure, it's hurting Illinois, but this is Madigan's machine. He is the one who has to compromise if he really cares about the people of Illinois.

[Kingpoleon]

Bill Daley is the new finance director for Kennedy's campaign. Biss raised more money than Kennedy did in Q2. 

Also, Chicago Tonight just had an interview with a primary challenger to Rauner.

So Kingpoleon, tell me again how Kennedy won't let the establishment stay in power.

You mean like when Chester Arthur, the boss of machine politics, became President and used his insider knowledge to take down the political machines?

Even the Daleys are preferable to Madigan.

If he wants to win he has to come off as less rich, snooty, and elitist than JB Pritzker.

FTFY. I don't think anything Kennedy's done even snifs the level of rich, snooty and elitist of trying to buy a political office from Rod Blagojevich.

That's different because Pritzker is an outsider not born into wealth.

Anyways, I suppose Drury is the best candidate, but Kennedy appears to be the only one with a shot of beating Pritzker.

[Kingpoleon]

Bill Daley is the new finance director for Kennedy's campaign. Biss raised more money than Kennedy did in Q2. 

Also, Chicago Tonight just had an interview with a primary challenger to Rauner.

So Kingpoleon, tell me again how Kennedy won't let the establishment stay in power.

You mean like when Chester Arthur, the boss of machine politics, became President and used his insider knowledge to take down the political machines?

Even the Daleys are preferable to Madigan.

If he wants to win he has to come off as less rich, snooty, and elitist than JB Pritzker.

FTFY. I don't think anything Kennedy's done even snifs the level of rich, snooty and elitist of trying to buy a political office from Rod Blagojevich.

That's different because Pritzker is an outsider not born into wealth.

Anyways, I suppose Drury is the best candidate, but Kennedy appears to be the only one with a shot of beating Pritzker.

Pritzker isn't an outsider. His family has also has wealth for a long time.

That's not what his campaign told me, though!!!

[Kingpoleon]

Schneider is a nobody who can't win in an off-year. Biss is better of without him.

Didn't he run like nine points behind Hillary Clinton last year? What a corncob.

Some might argue Dold was a much, much, much better fit for his district than Trump, but you've never let facts stand in your way before.

[Kingpoleon]

Bliss drops Ramirez-Rosa from his ticket

Nice flip flopping my dude, anyway, Kennedy to announce his running mate next week.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/time-running-out-for-kennedy-to-choose-running-mate-442674383.html

Who might Kennedy pick? Maybe Kwame Raoul?

[Kingpoleon]

For Drury's running mate, would Jonathan Jackson or Kwame Raoul be interested, do you guys think?

[Kingpoleon]

Err...William Z. Foster was a diehard supporter of Stalin.

The addition that the person was Stalinist further underlines my original point.

Looks like the Stalinists were ahead of the kind moderate liberals on civil rights.

Oh, I don't think you or anyone would benefit if the elections before had always been William Z. Foster against people like John W. Davis, Alfalfa Bill, James Eastland, or others. Furthermore, MLK was always under a great deal of opposition. He never endorsed extremism on most issues, and where it appears he did, that was due to the pushing by J. Edgar Hoover to label him a radical.

[Kingpoleon]

Since Drury is no longer in the race, I have decided to support Rauner's re-election.

I'll alert the press.

Wow! Safe R with Wulfric's endorsement. Rich Rauner/Big Bruce does very well.