Carol Marin thinks something foul is afoot.
If you’d like to play the political equivalent of “Where’s Waldo,” click on the Web site of the Democratic Party of Illinois. Up will pop the photos and names of the 2006 slate of candidates for statewide office.
Rod Blagojevich for governor. Pat Quinn for lt. governor. Lisa Madigan for attorney general. Jesse White for secretary of state. Dan Hynes for comptroller.
But wait. Where’s Waldo? Where’s Alexi Giannoulias for state treasurer?
Nowhere.
Giannoulias, 30, is the guy the party didn’t endorse but who won the March 21 primary anyway. And unless Illinois Dems are just awfully slow in updating their Web site, his absence suggests the continuing antagonism that arose from his candidacy. The chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, House Speaker Michael Madigan, backed Knox County State’s Attorney Paul Mangieri instead. […]
Madigan, never a good loser, is reportedly not ready to do so again in this race. Though no one will speak on the record, a number of pols say privately that Madigan and Bill Lipinski, scions of the Southwest Side, are quietly planning to throw their weight behind Radogno the Republican, not Giannoulias the Democrat.
Though Giannoulias has strong support from black leaders like Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and state Sen. James Meeks, it’s not clear whether Barack Obama will go out on another limb for him this time around.
And some, like Paul Green, head of Roosevelt University’s Center For Politics, believes “the suburbs will decide this race.” More than that, he says, “Though [GOP gubernatorial nominee Judy Baar] Topinka has a shot in the governor’s race, Radogno right now is the Republicans’ greatest hope” in November.
I do know that Madigan hasn’t returned any of Alexi’s calls. I think they believe that the kid will be forced out of the race, so it’s best not to get too close. Time will tell.
Also, if you check the state party’s miserable excuse for a website, you’ll see that they don’t appear to have any non-incumbents listed.