IL-Gov. 2018 Megathread

[BundouYMB]

It's downright bizarre how Biss is pretending to be a Bernie-ite or something given he's a braindead Madigan stooge who voted to gut the pension system. Very surreal.

[BundouYMB]

How the hell is Biss not walking away with this? Can a Prtizker or Kennedy supporter please tell me why the hell they think these idiots would be better candidates than Daniel Biss? This is how you lose! As weird as this sounds... I expect better from my Illinoisan Democrat friends.  

I don't know if they're better candidates, but I can certainly explain why Biss has few supporters and won't win the nomination.

Biss was actually one of the most moderate members of the state senate, was part of the Madigan machine in Chicago, and even ran a Super PAC with Mike Madigan (he only quit the Super PAC months before launching his campaign.)

During his tenure in the state senate he was one of the architects of a bill that gutted pensions for public employees. This effort was extremely controversial, and viciously opposed by unions.

Now he's running as the polar opposite. He's saying he's a progressive and he's saying he's against Madigan, but most people who know about him see him as slimy. Downstate there are plenty of people who just don't know about him period and probably never will (Pritzker will probably sweep most downstate counties simply because all of the candidates are from Chicago, and Pritzker will probably be the only one who can afford ads + a ground game throughout the state.)

So right off the bat Biss is basically fighting a three-way fight for Chicago votes right now, and most of the black politicians in the city are backing Kennedy because Kennedy has made gun control his #1 issue.

Because of his past with the pension bill no major union will ever support Biss, and it's impossible to understate how much public sector union members hate him. They DESPISE him.

It also means Biss hasn't been able to get the backing of the Bernie people in the state, despite the fact that Biss has basically been begging the Bernie people to support him.

Also, one final point. I don't know who the strongest candidate is (they all seem very flawed to me) but here's something to stop and think about for a second: why is Rauner is attacking Pritzker BEFORE the primary? Personally, I have no doubt they have something even worse on Biss from his time as a Madigan stooge.

[BundouYMB]

Pritzker launches attack ad on Biss https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=15&v=k6BVCIHc3Yk

And a second one hitting Biss for supporting charter schools: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBUlcW2q-k0

[BundouYMB]

I really like Pritzker, I don't see everyone's problem with him. He is a really close second to Chris Kennedy, and I would gladly vote for him against Rauner if I could, and I think he would make a great governor.

He's a billionaire who's too closely connected to the corruption of Blagojevich and will not provide the change Illinois desperately needs.

What's too like?

Some people care about policies, not just "which candidate has less money/I would want to have a beer with."

[BundouYMB]

I really like Pritzker, I don't see everyone's problem with him. He is a really close second to Chris Kennedy, and I would gladly vote for him against Rauner if I could, and I think he would make a great governor.

He's a billionaire who's too closely connected to the corruption of Blagojevich and will not provide the change Illinois desperately needs.

What's too like?

Some people care about policies, not just "which candidate has less money/I would want to have a beer with."

Pritzker has no policies tho

He's campaigning on implementing a progressive income tax, raising the minimum wage to $15, a state public option, and legalizing marijuana. I would call those policies, and so would the dictionary, but maybe you have a different definition.

Biss meanwhile is campaigning on "MUH NOT RICH" and "don't believe what I said six months ago, believe what I'm saying now!" which is why he's going to get thrashed next month.

[BundouYMB]

I'm sure that it's been remarked upon elsewhere, but this is something that bears repeating. For a party leadership that's concerned about turnout among younger voters, they're absolutely deaf when it comes to those same voters' priorities.

J.B.'s comically high levels of corruption and self-financing represent the exact opposite of what the youngest voters look for in a candidate: integrity.

Nominate someone who doesn't represent some of your voters' values and don't be surprised if those voters don't show up.

Biss, your candidate, might well be the most untrustworthy candidate in America. He can't go 5 minutes without lying through his teeth.

He co-ran a Super PAC with Mike Madigan and was one of Madigan's closest supporters in the legislature before starting his campaign for Governor attacking Madigan only three months after he quit the PAC. In the state Senate he was one of the most conservative Democrats before turning around and running for Governor as a progressive. He took oodles of corporate money before being against corporate money. Literally DURING HIS CURRENT CAMPAIGN FOR GOVERNOR he cashed a $300K check from a drug company CEO and then, when his blatant hypocrisy was pointed out, said "it makes sense that they would give money to the Governor who controls the outcome of their industry in Illinois." He literally wrote the bill that gutted public employees pensions before running for Governor and saying "a pension is a promise."

So maybe you shouldn't talk about integrity, mmm 'kay?

[BundouYMB]

And by the way Pritzker will win young voters, just like he'll win every other demographic when he wins this primary by 30 points.

/mic drop

[BundouYMB]

My lord, if Illinois democrats pick Pritzker I will lose all hope in them.

At least they could be sane and pick someone that isn't a rich, corrupt, douchebag.

At least they could pick someone like Daniel Biss or Chris Kennedy, people who actually could win against Bruce Rauner.

If they pick Pritzker, its just another reason why we republicans will once again sweep the governors seat here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_gubernatorial_election,_2018#Polling_3

[BundouYMB]

Dillard was supported by the teacher's unions and opposed pension reform. That was what the primary was centered around. The teacher's unions spent huge to support Dillard (who raised very little money of his own) and ran a big GOTV operation for him too.

[BundouYMB]

I wonder if Pritzker has actually a chance to beat Rauner i mean Rauner is a moderate so...


Also who is Sam McCann
 

Sam McCann is a Republican State Senator who hates Rauner and is running for Governor as an independent. Rauner has a 0% chance of winning, his approval rating is like 25~%.

[BundouYMB]

yeah, the notion that Madigan is this all-powerful god of Illinois politics is just kinda ludicrous -- there are a lot of people (Pritzker among them) who have mutually beneficial alliances of convenience with MM, but there are very few outside the State House who actually take orders from him.

Lets be realistic: no one besides Mike Madigan knows exactly who's taking orders from him. It could theoretically be quite a few people outside of the State House.

[BundouYMB]

Bruce Rauner only became so unpopular after Mike Madigan lost his veto-proof majority in the 2016 elections.

Correlation doesn't equal causation. Rauner became so unpopular after he ruined budget negotiations with crazy demands and had to be overridden by a bi-partisan coalition in the state legislature (bi-partisan in both House and Senate.) If he had behaved like a rational and responsible adult during those negotiations he would probably have retained his mediocre-but-not-terrible ratings from before that.

[BundouYMB]

Finally, for once, dirty Republican tactics are met with swift karma. Exposed after just one day!

I'm sure Rauner himself had his hands in this lawsuit though, so here's to hoping that's exposed before election day too.