1. - Levois - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 12:52 pm:

   Heh, I wonder if the don’t recognize or don’t know is even worse news than the total negative views of the governor?




2. - Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 12:56 pm:

   Well, I gues we can consider the 13% neutral as somewhat of a plus considering…
   Who were the other names?




3. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 12:59 pm:

   You’ll see tomorrow, Bill.

   And I’d probably wager a bet that those neutrals were once positives.




4. - GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:01 pm:

   I don’t understand the poll question about the referendum. Why would people not want a referendum?

   “Oh, sorry, I want people to make the decision without my input.”




5. - GoBearsss - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:02 pm:

   I also like the “as you may know” part of the question.

   I guarantee not one of the respondents actually had heard that Quinn wanted a referendum.




6. - Macbeth - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:13 pm:

   A referendum on gambling seems like a no-brainer — especially for the size of casino they’re talking about for Chicago.




7. - Justice - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:14 pm:

   Please move to amend the pol to include my feeling as “very negative.”




8. - Sacks Romana - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:17 pm:

   I agree with Levois. That 2% that don’t recognize Blagoevich’s name is what’s going to keep him up at night.

   “Who could they be? Haven’t they seen my name on the tollroads?! Unless they’re from downstate and don’t use tollroads. Hmmm, maybe we need to build more tollroads. And then we can sell them to a private company to fund free lollipops for puppies! Ah, another good day working from home.”




9. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:23 pm:

   Fako is the best pollster in the state, period.

   I find it very interesting though that gambling interests in Wisconsin are spending money to fight gambling expansion in Illinois, and that they might somehow be associated with Pat Quinn.

   I guess it makes sense. I think they still run buses from Chicago to the Wisconsin Dells for seniors to blow their money.




10. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:25 pm:

    YDD, they aren’t opposing anything yet from what I could gather. Monitoring the situation so far. We’ll see.




11. - RMW Stanford - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:42 pm:

    One wonder in a State that has been leaning Democrat over the last few years, how much more negative that the publics’ opinion of the Governor can get.




12. - Don't Worry, Be Happy - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:43 pm:

    How the heck did he manage to get up to 20% approval? They must all be senior citizens.




13. - Patriot - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:45 pm:

    I does not matter how the voters feel about Blago. If he is the Democrat candidate for Governor next term, he will win unless a worthy Democrat opposes him and wins the primary election which is unlikely. Remember, Illinois is a blue state and Democrats vote for Democrats no matter how they feel about the candidates.




14. - Macbeth - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:47 pm:

    Actually, that’s a good point. Given the current situation — how *did* he manage 20% approval?

    What are these folks giving their approval to?




15. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:48 pm:

    Rich -

    I assume that they didn’t do a poll because they support expanding gambling in Illinois, and if they hired Fako they did spend money, even if it is “only” intelligence gathering. After all, intelligence gathering is the most important part of winning.

    “He who knows the enemy and himself
    Will never in a hundred battles be at risk;
    He who does not know the enemy but knows himself
    Will sometimes win and sometimes lose;
    He who knows neither the enemy nor himself
    Will be at risk in every battle.”

    - Sun Tzu




16. - Roll them bones - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:50 pm:

    Well, I’d like to know more where the 800-odd people that were sampled lived, if they were spread out over all the counties of Illinois or concentrated in just one or two area codes.

    With that small a sample size it would be easy to tip a poll any way you want just by where you make the calls.

    Still, the 2 percent non-recognition is so low it means that of the people polled, pretty much everybody actually knew Rod when they voiced their opinion. And by those numbers, they know him to be a shmuck.

    As to the referendum question, it might be, again depending on where the polls were taken, some pro-gambling folks would welcome the referendum because they feel it would finally vindicate their efforts, or maybe they assume everyone that counts is already on board. I don’t think I believe that. I think it means something simpler: that enough Illinois people are hinky about expansion of gambling in this questionable fashion that it is far from acceptable to just plow on ahead without the political cover of a referendum giving the public’s blessing, and Mike Madigan and Pat Quinn have always recognized this. To forge ahead on a gambling-fueled capital bill without getting that referendum-permission-slip from the voters first is going to damage or destroy the backers of the legislation and make the opponents all heroic defenders of their constituent’s interests.

    I would have liked to see the tabs on this question before the Chris Kelly indictment, to see if that was a huge influence, but my gut tells me that’s not it.




17. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:52 pm:

    First, it’s not a small sample size. It’s standard.

    Second, the poll was statewide. It wasn’t concentrated.




18. - Macbeth - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:57 pm:

    And then there’s this:

    http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2008/01/blagojevich-to.html

    I don’t know what to make of this. A senior makes a good point and governor insults him/her?

    It can’t get much weirder than this.




19. - Capitol Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 1:58 pm:

    I am not surprised that the Indian casino organization wants to do anything it can to squash casino’s in Illinois. They plan to open another casino in the South Suburbs (to get some of those Indiana dollars).
    Wake up people!! The gaming already exists - Indiana is the only one benefiting from the games being played in Springfield!
    As long as we have gaming everywhere - let our taxpayers benefit




20. - Ghost - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:08 pm:

    Where did the 20% come from? thats easy, the people he has hired or given contracts to in exchange for campaign kickbacks. They are all supporting pay to play.




21. - the Other Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:15 pm:

    I don’t think you get much information from the question “do you want a referendum.” As other commenters point out, both people who support expansion and people who oppose expansion could answer “yes” to that question. It is telling that they did not release the numbers for “do you support expanding gambling?” — I find it hard to believe that such a question wasn’t part of the poll.




22. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:17 pm:

    ===It is telling that they did not release the numbers for “do you support expanding gambling?”===

    As I noted at the top, these are just two results. You’ll have to subscribe for the rest. There were 15 substantive questions in the poll.

    Please, read a little closer before you jump to disdainful conclusions. Thanks.




23. - Huh? - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:39 pm:

    YDD - No fair quoting the Art of War. Unfortunately it is too apt.




24. - Bill - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 2:46 pm:

    YDD has been hanging around Emil too much!




25. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:32 pm:

    This very reputable poll clearly points out that a majority of Illinois voters are still willing to take a gamble. This is very surprising when it is also quite clear that their last gamble, re-electing Rod Blagojevich, has caused them to lose their shirts.

    Talk about desperate people!




26. - Pat collins - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 3:54 pm:

    gambling interests in Wisconsin

    Are the Miamis still trying to get some land in IL declared a reservation?




27. - From the Guv's Office - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 4:36 pm:

    Oh Rich, didn’t you know the poll was taken in the J.R. Thompson Center?




28. - Doug Dobmeyer - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 5:07 pm:

    This poll is not surprising. The Task Force to Oppose Gambling in Chicago has been calling for one in Chicago all along. A statewide one would be fine too.

    But, the time has to change a public policy direction in Illinois. Rod Blagojevich has played the game of chicken and caved in. He threw away his pledge to not sign a tax increase when he agreed to approve the transit bill.

    Think about this: For the month of December, 2007 the Illinois Gaming Board reports casinos reaped $122 in adjusted gross receipts for each of the 1.23 million admissions to Illinois’ nine casino boats.

    According to the Illinois Department of Revenue a quarter point increase in Illinois’ income tax would cost $110 annually per return in Illinois. There are 5.75 million returns filed each year in the state. The bottom line: a tax increase is cheaper than shelling out money to a casino and feeds the state’s needs far better than cutting out a huge chunk for the gambling interests.

    Mayor Daley just got the Chicago City Council to come up with a $293 million tax increase in the city. The state may not want to propose an income tax increase in an election year, but once the transportation bill is passed the revenue pressure will be off.

    Now is the time for political leadership in Illinois to change direction.

    Doug Dobmeyer




29. - Opie - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 9:01 pm:

    Rod Blagojevich will soon be the poster child for corruption.




30. Pingback In Chambers » Sweet justice for Pat Quinn? - Tuesday, Jan 15, 08 @ 11:16 pm:

    […] Well, a recent poll shows that despite Lang’s objections, Quinn wasn’t too far off the mark. Now, as you may know, Illinois Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn has called for a ballot referendum to directly ask Illinois’ voters if the State should allow an expansion of casino-style gambling in Illinois. […]




31. - Reddbyrd - Wednesday, Jan 16, 08 @ 7:05 am:

    Tribes wanted to convert dog tracks near rockford and waukegam to casinos…expansion in waukegan is no good for them….poll is a good way to slow it down.




32. Pingback In Chambers » Another State Looks at Gambling to Solve Budget - Thursday, Apr 17, 08 @ 12:51 pm:

    […] Critics of expanding gambling include the usual suspects: church and gambling addiction groups and Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, who has said the Senate’s plan would make Illinois the “Las Vegas of the Midwest,” and that gambling is akin to a regressive tax on the state’s low-income population. Quinn has called for lawmakers to put the expanded gambling question on the ballot, and a January poll backed up his demand. […]

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