Campaign 2010 roundup
Friday, Sep 4, 2009 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Teamsters Joint Council 25 has endorsed Pat Quinn. That’s big. The Joint Council represents 22 Teamsters locals throughout Illinois. Quinn is an honorary member of Local 786. From a press release…
“As an advocate of Illinois labor, Gov. Quinn has the experience of fighting for working families and the support of the Teamsters to continue the fight into a full term,” said John T. Coli, President of Joint Council 25. “Joint Council 25 represents more than 100,000 men and women statewide who deserve the deference and protection our governor has shown he can deliver.”
Other than signing the capital bill, this is the reasoning behind the endorsement…
— [Quinn] Signed an amendment to the Labor Relations Act to expedite contracts for public employees;
— Signed a Teamster initiative requiring responsible bidding on school bus contracts; and
— Signed a recent bill establishing the state’s first Teamster specialty license plate.
* John Patterson notes in a Daily Herald blog post entitled: “Courting the AFSCME vote,” that Dan Hynes’ budget plan doesn’t ask AFSCME for pay reductions, even though the gubernatorial candidate proposes to roll back operating spending to 2005 levels.
* Sneed reports today that state Sens. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston) and state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) have endorsed former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman for US Senate.
* As I’ve already told you, Sneed also reported today that JB Pritzker is being recruited to run for state treasurer on the Democratic ticket…
Word is Pritzker is being considered a Dem boomlet now that Kip Kirkpatrick has dropped out of the race.
• Background: Pritzker, an heir to the Pritzker hotel fortune, was also an early supporter of Hillary Clinton and a major thrust behind the creation of the Illinois Holocaust Museum.
* And Congressman Mark Kirk’s lawyers have convinced Univision Radio to at least temporarily pull an ad by Illinois Immigrant Action slamming the Repbublican US Senate candidate’s immigration positions. You can read the entire letter by clicking here. Progress Illinois has an excerpt…
As reported by today’s Sun-Times, this advertisement falsely claims that Congressman Kirk advocated “condoms” as a solution to illegal immigration. … This is patently false. … There is no record of Kirk ever mentioning “condoms” or “birth control” in connection with immigration or Mexico. … [I]f your station airs this advertisement after gaining knowledge that it contains false and misleading statements, you are subjecting your station to potential liability. […]
We also note that Cong. Kirk is a fluent Spanish speaker who went to school in Mexico. As a Congressman, he worked to improve the lives of Latino constituents by sponsoring a family reunification program (Project Abuelita) and securing a grant to teach English to young Latina mothers to boost their ability to help their kids with schoolwork.
IIA’s response…
At Illinois Immigrant Action, we understand why Congressman Mark Kirk does not want his embarrassing record of ugly remarks scape-goating immigrants, his refusal to meet to discuss actual workable solutions to our broken immigration system, and his mean-spirited voting record on immigrant issues drawn to the attention of Latino voters. But we are shocked that the Congressman would interfere with our free enterprise system to try to block our ad buy on Univision Radio, to use legal intimidation to prevent Illinois Immigrant Action from exercising our right to corporate free speech, and to interfere in the free marketplace of ideas.
Our ads are accurate. We denounce Congressman Kirk’s efforts to suppress knowledge of his statements to the effect that family planning in Mexico means fewer Mexicans, that the American people support helping Mexican women have fewer babies, and that fewer Mexicans mean less illegal immigration, and that this is a long term solution.
- wordslinger - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:01 am:
I doubt if Pritzker would go for a spot that far down the ballot. I suspect he’s still waiting for a call from the White House for some federal position.
- Just wondering - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:08 am:
So Rich, are you going to pull the condom adds off of Capitol Fax too??
- l.w. - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:10 am:
Not that Kirk was in serious jeopardy of losing the GOP primary, but the immigrant rights folks are doing him a big favor with this attack. Their strengthing his credentials with conservatives in a way that should ensure an easy victory in February and make him a stronger candidate in the Fall, which can help him defeat an immigration-friendly Dem.
Maybe they can sway some pro-immigration moderates out of the Kirk camp in the General with this attack campaign — but that effort should be saved for next summer, not now, when all Kirk’s efforts are being directed toward brandishing his conservative street cred.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:15 am:
jw, the radio ads are different than the blog ads, so I decided to leave it up.
However, personally, I do find the ad distasteful. I don’t like it that there’s a picture of a condom near the top of my front page. I’m currently rethinking my longstanding policy of accepting ads sight unseen. In the past, I’ve done that to avoid being put in the position of providing editorial input to advertisers - something I absolutely don’t want to do.
- A Naughty Moose - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:15 am:
Teamsters endorse Quinn because he created a license plate for them. Now I really have heard it all.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:17 am:
===I suspect he’s still waiting for a call from the White House for some federal position. ===
I’m pretty sure he’s making too much money and having too much fun in the private sector to take a mid-level gvt job.
- Just sayin - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:30 am:
That immigrant group should stick to its guns. It is Mark Kirk who is playing fast and loose with the truth.
Here is the orginal Reuters story from 2007:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2247538320070622
The ad is definitely accurate. Whether or not Kirk used the word “condom” himself is immaterial. What Kirk did say was in the context of a foor debate that was SPECIFICALLY about aid going for condoms and other birth control.
Mark Kirk should try being honest with voters for a change instead of just whining to his lawyers.
I thought Republicans were supposed to be against frivolous lawsuits.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:32 am:
The IIA jumped the shark with the condom ads. You don’t incorporate imagery that overwhelms your message. Whatever viewership is gained by using it, is lost when they present their argument. Because half-way through their presentation, you realize that their message isn’t as interesting as their image, so you feel taken.
That’s not a good way to win an argument, is it?
- Hank - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:35 am:
Hey Rich, speaking of Pritzker, what do you hear about the construction of the Pritzker Children’s Museum in Grant Park? If I recall, you were dead against it being located in GP as am I. We are almost through the construction season and I keep waiting for the bulldozers to appear some midnight.The issue seems to have disappeared in public but we know it’s lurking awiting the right moment
- fedup dem - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:49 am:
Hey Hank, if there is going to be any post-midnight bulldozing done, it won’t take place until after October 2 and the IOC vote on the Olympics!
- Abe Froman - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 11:52 am:
IIA is not accurate. Kirk has been a family planning advocate for years. He has said that having family planning more available is a plus for developing countried. These open immigration/amnesty folks twist that into some sort of immigration policy. It is weak and it does highlight that Kirk is not a supporter of amnesty or open immigration. That helps in the GOP primary. Also, IIA is worried that Kirk has made lots of inroads with the Mexican community in his district and could do well among the broader hispanic community so they are taking crazy and untrue shots at him already. Bad strategy, but the IIA have never been accused of understanding public sentiment.
- Hank - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 12:04 pm:
Good point Fed UP, I think you are spot on.
If Daley doesn’t get the Olympics he will probably bulldoze the entire city in his snit fit!
- Greg - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 12:04 pm:
These condom ads are as dumb as the death panel obsession. There may be a nugget of factual basis in both, but the extrapolation is ridiculous.
The reality that any interesting idea will be twisted into a negative campaign spot is a huge impediment to solving real problems. Goes for both sides.
- We marched, we voted - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 1:21 pm:
Everyone knows that Kirk is going to win the primary. The question is: will he win the general? 9.1% of Illinois voters are now Latino, Asian, and Arab. IIA is sending an early, hard message that Kirk’s railing about “illegal immigrants” and health care last week, for example, will carry a political cost.
The ads, tasteless perhaps, but if you listen to Spanish language radio or watch Spanish T.V., or read Spanish language papers, or listen to the “chisme” (gossip) on the street, guess what? Kirk has been NAILED!
- Rob_N - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 1:31 pm:
“There is no record of Kirk ever mentioning “condoms” or “birth control” in connection with immigration or Mexico”
So media can accept ads criticizing death panels in the health care reform even though none of the bills in Congress “mentions” death panels and the conservatives’ constant use of the phrase is mislead and false?
Why is it ok for conservatives to stretch reason and logic beyond all bounds but when a progressive group makes even a benign “slippery slope” argument the right goes nuts and threatens lawsuits?
Cong. Kirk is using misleading info in his own political arguments (even as it’s his “opinion” that it’s valid info — see here and here for just a few examples).
Why would he not at a minimum expect those opposed to him to extrapolate their own opinions based on his own remarks?
- Conservative Veteran - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 1:56 pm:
Rep. Kirk will lose his primary. The majority of republican primary voters won’t vote for a candidate who is pro-choice, pro-gun control, pro-gay marriage, pro-spending increases, pro-tax rate increases, and anti-Iraq surge (Kirk). The best candidate, in that race, is Dr. Eric Wallace. He agrees with most of the republican platform, unlike Kirk. Please read his site, www.wallaceforillinois.com.
- Chicago Cynic - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 4:06 pm:
Funny how Sneed reads it in CapFax and then writes about it like it’s a big scoop. I think I’ve seen that happen a dozen times.
- wordslinger - Friday, Sep 4, 09 @ 8:55 pm:
Greg, you got that right, brother. Shame.