Posted on 11/07/2014 7:20:10 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
With Bruce Rauner’s election in Illinois, the Republican Governor’s Association has checked this bluer-than-blue state off its Democrat tick list. It must feel good—but I’m less than sanguine.
For the better part of a year, powerful Chicago Democrats have been whispering in my ear, extolling Rauner’s virtues. I heard similar insider political “chatter” about Barack Obama from these same Democrats long before he ran for U.S. Senate. Even the left-leaning Chicago Sun-Times suddenly changed its no-endorsement policy to back Rauner — and only Rauner — without even the basic formality of a candidate questionnaire or interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
IL is in dire condition precisely because of the corruption that goes well beyond a nobody like Quinn. There was no one on the general election ballot that would’ve changed that equation.
Unless Kirk does something to cross them, my guess is he’ll face a very weak Democratic candidate.
The fix is in and with the right connections, you can buy a safe seat in IL. And its very hard to defeat an incumbent.
Yup. That’s what happens when one city runs an entire state.
Things are not gonna improve in the future.
I don’t blame you or anyone else here on FR who lives in IL. You are in a no win situation. Hate to sound so negative.
As for the rest of us outside of IL, we’ll see if this election will see any real changes and hope or if it too is all Kabuki Theatre.
Bill Kelly is not a reliable source since he has an ax to grind. He is something of a political gadfly.
I do have doubts about Rauner, but given the alternative (Quinn) it was important to elect someone else.
Some folks forget that with the GOP majority in DC at the time, the Combine’s designated Republican for the Senate back in 1996 was Bob Kustra, the bored Lt Governor (when Paul Simon, another Combiner, stepped down). Kustra, of course, got upended by anti-Combiner Al Salvi. The Combine then designated Dick Durbin, who was supposed to be the sacrificial lamb to Kustra, and we all know how that’s gone ever since.
Hell, remember even in 1998, the Combine was fine if Carol Moseley-Braun went down to the liberal RINO Combiner Loleta Didrickson, but the latter got upended by anti-Combiner Fitzgerald, and they pulled out all the stops to help ole Carol. If Fitzgerald hadn’t been independently wealthy, he’d not have been able to fight the Combine. He was the LAST honest and unbought statewide elected official.
Cleaning up entrenched political corruption will take generations.
There are powerful people who are simply untouchable.
The ones who do go to jail were particularly dirty but the dirt is spread wider and deeper than people can see.
IL is the Haiti of America.
But it is merely the equivalent of dumping Zero for Hillary.
He will do nothing to eliminate corruption. Rauner knows he’s been bought.
And if he has ideas about getting out of line, he’ll be gone in four years.
“we’ll see if this election will see any real changes and hope or if it too is all Kabuki Theatre.”
This election meaning this mid term election for the whole Country. Put up time.
“I don’t expect much from Hogan.”
And our option is to roll over and die.
As a senior member of our state’s National Guard, I will say that when Ehrlich became governor, he replaced the MD National Guard Adjutant General, and that made a world of difference to use who were deployed.
If I have an Ehrlich or Hogan in office, I have someone I have a chance of working with. If I have an O’Malley (or the Illinois equivalent), I have no chance at all.
“He was the LAST honest and unbought statewide elected official.”
my Dad had some minor exposure to him. He spoke well of Peter. He was smart enough not to run again. If that doesn’t say something about Illinois AND the US Senate. Not too many incumbents decide to hang up the spikes after a single term - family money or not.
>> I’ll give you that - Maryland’s GOP is flat on it’s ass with NOTHING <<
Exactly. And that's the difference between Illinois and Maryland. The corrupt Republicans in this state who sell their soul to the Combine get rewarded with cushy political jobs for it.
For example, the Democrats have dominated ALL three branches of government since 2002 in Illinois, but "Republican" Judy Baar Topinka (a liberal Republican and loyal Combiner who does whatever her Democrat masters tell her to) has been rewarded by continually holding major state offices in that time. She was elected State Treasurer for three terms (1994, 1998, 2002) because the Dems deliberately put up weak opposition, then she took the fall as the sacrificial lamb GOP candidate for Governor in 2006, then she was rewarded by the Democrats with a cushy appointed government job on the Chicago Transit Authority board from 2007-2010, then she was AGAIN elected to statewide office as State Comptroller twice (2010, 2014), again, against token Dem opposition since she does their bidding. She's been sucking at the government teat since becoming a state legislator in 1980, AND collected pensions from statewide office for the last 20 years.
No such arrangement would exist in Maryland. Some RINO hack who tried to suck up to the Democrats in power in exchange for a statewide office would be laughed away by the party leaders and buried in the general election by a powerful Democrat opponent.
Worse, as Fieldmarshaldj notes, there are numerous self-proclaimed "CONSERVATIVE" Republicans who are bought and paid for by the Chicago machine. They campaign as strong "pro-life", "pro-gun" "pro-family", "limited government", etc. and vote conservatively when the bill will lose anyway and it won't do anything, but cut deals behind the scenes to help the Democrats control Illinois government, and will sell us out at a moment's notice when needed by the Chicago machine. Three prominent examples are former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, former Congressman Ray LaHood, and outgoing Illinois State Senator Kirk Dillard.
There are conservative Republican combiners, there are liberal Republican combiners, there are liberal Democrat combiners, there are conservative Republican ANTI-combiners, there are liberal Republican ANTI-combiners, there are even liberal Democrat ANTI-combiners (Quinn was one until he sold his soul to become Governor). It's quite complex behind the scenes here.
He was too exhausted to fight them.
Even if you’re independently wealthy, fighting the Combine is a near impossible job.
Too much for one man.
Like I said, its like Haiti.
Whoever you vote for is guaranteed to be corrupt and nothing will change.
People who are expecting Rauner to buck the system will end up being disappointed.
He didn’t run again because the Combine made it plain to him they were going to obliterate him for 2004 (with the message sent via GOP officials, with one in particular, RINO Congressman Ray LaHood, who made things so unpleasant that his reward for paving the way for Zero to take Fitz’s seat was a Cabinet job). When you have your own so-called “party” out to make you and your life miserable, it doesn’t leave you with many options.
sad. You have a guy not in love with power (rare as albino alligators)and he gets frozen out.
hey Gold and field, what has John Kass said about the election results for Gov? Has he been critical and pointing out that he is not to be trusted?
Ray LaHood and Obama both belong to the Combine. You see in Chicago, there is no real difference between Democrats and Republicans.
Its like an incestuous family. No one has integrity, principles and values.
Our President is a Combine President and he knows full well whoever launched his career is also in a position to blackmail him.
Why are people still surprised about the nature of IL pols?
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