77 Comments - Scooby - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:17 pm: Did Edgar just begin the “please beg me to run so that I can take a very, very late pass” 2014 campaign? He’s jumping on his stationary bandwagon early this time. - circularfiringsquad - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:23 pm: Edgar should blame Brady Unkie Ron for failing to force RGA to force Kirk to do an ad….nice plan Fire aim ready - Mighty M. Mouse - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:23 pm: Edgar says “Brady ran a better, more disciplined campaign than Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn,” so I guess that means Edgar thinks Brady lost ONLY because he was too conservative for Illinois. I, on the other hand, might agree that Brady’s campaign MIGHT have been more disciplined than Quinn’s campaign, but I can’t see how he ran a “better” campaign than Quinn. I would say he lost because he’s too conservative for Illinois AND because he ran an inferior campaign to Quinn. I think the Brady team made a number of errors which were cumulatively fatal, and so I would say on balance that Quinn ran the “better” of the two campaigns. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:28 pm: AFP is helping to spread misinformation to advance its political agenda, the facts be damned. What is really interesting is that following this story reveals the various blogs and “news organizations” that operate in coordination to further this agenda. The right wingers are attempting to create their own reality and it works. For them at least. My guess is that a lot of people are buying it. If this story was true, if the Democrats were intentionally slow-walking the Kirk seating so they could pass lots of lame duck legislation, it would be outrageous. But that’s not what is happening and the truly sickening thing is that AFP knows this isn’t happening. The truth either matters or it doesn’t. - train111 - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:30 pm: Lets see: Creating false crises = lots of bucks being donated by our rabid partisan supporters. Gotta keep that money rolling in somehow now that the election is over? Why let a big load of hyperventilating mullarkey stand in the way of big bucks? train111 - A.B. - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:35 pm: I am not quite sure I can agree with Brady running a better campaign when he was apparently banking on downstate voters to carry him past the collar county moderate voters. As this population continues to become more and more urban, it seems that common sense says you embrace your independent voters in large population areas. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:38 pm: I especially like the way Edgar waded into the Chicago Mayoral election with both feet. I’m sure Chico and Del Valle appreciate his advice that one of them get out. - Louis Howe - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:46 pm: Perhaps Edgar didn’t become more involved in the election because he likes collecting his $152,000+ state pension while the U of I pays him an additional $183,000 for teaching students how to get appointed Sec. of State. - Unions Won It For Quinn - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:47 pm: Edgar did as little as he could possibly do for Brady without outright refusing to endorse. Same with Kirk. Had Brady been classless enough to similarly let Kirk hang downstate, Alexi would be getting ready to head to DC. Perhaps Brady’s unwillingness to stab fellow-Republicans in the back was ultimately his downfall. And anyone who thinks Quinn’s campaign was well-run knows absolutely nothing about campaigns. Did he win? Yes. Was it because his campaign was well-run? You can’t be serious. He was bailed out by unions and other special interests that couldn’t stand the thought of Brady making the cuts that need to be made to the budget. The only campaign Quinn had was on the airwaves, and that was mediocre at best. He was crushed in the field - evidenced by his poor showing downstate and in the suburbs. Without the unions and Personal PAC doing their own thing, Quinn loses big. Makes his “mandate” quote even more hilarious. Maybe some of the delusional thinking his predecessor possessed was left in the office? He’s sounding more and more like him. Scary. - lawyerlady - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:50 pm: I highly, highly doubt Edgar would’ve stumped for Brady even if he had been asked. He was against the Brady candidacy from the get-go and endorsed Dillard in the primary. Even when the primary was over, he continued to express doubts about Brady, and didn’t endorse Brady until the final weeks of the campaign. I have as much respect for Edgar as the next gal - he was a great Governor - but one of my thoughts immediately upon realizing that Brady was going to lose this thing was that Edgar was going to have a field day talking about how a conservative could never win in IL. - What the. . . - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:51 pm: Rich, why are you even wasting time on the Kirk issue. Anything that the Dems attempt to do in the lame duck session will require 60 votes to break the (Republican) filibuster. Whether Kirk is there or not is irrelevant (i.e. Burris won’t be there to help get to 60). - Wally - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:53 pm: Governor Edgar was obviously very disappointed Dillard lost. Then, IIRC, Edgar said he would not endorse Brady. Then, just recently he did endorse him. Can someone in the state GOP get everybody united and working towards the goal? Edgar could have really helped the party. Andy McKenna runs against the very people he was supposed to be helping. Edgar should have been extremely upset with McKenna, running all of those negative ads against Dillard. Probably cost Dillard the primary. The GOP needs to unite and quickly! - Moving to Oklahoma - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:54 pm: Jim Edgar must really have it out for Bill Brady. It is really a shame that Edgar would not work to help get Brady elected. He said 10 months ago he was going to “sit this one out.” Edgar did, and now the price has been paid. - Lee - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:55 pm: Edgar is always spouting off after the fact. You are right,if it was so immportant why didn’t he campaign. Edgar just loves being an armchair quarterback, who sits on a large campaign account and hands out little checks from time to time. - shore - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:59 pm: to me this more of AFP trying to get more names for their mailing lists. - lawyerlady - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:03 pm: - Wally - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 12:53 pm: ************************ Just my opinion, from what I’ve seen…this new generation of GOPers (Schock, Kinzinger, and the younger Republican County Chairmen, etc.) aren’t so hell-bent on cleansing the party of the “other” Republicans - whether that’s conservatives or moderates - and seem to play together nicely. Thank God, because if this party’s ever going to gain traction in IL, we need to truly embrace the ‘big tent’ philosophy and focus on the things that unite us. - VoterUSA - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:06 pm: What the??? (i.e. Burris won’t be there to help get to 60) Burris is still the Senator until Kirk is sworn in… - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:16 pm: ===Rich, why are you even wasting time on the Kirk issue. === Because the board of elections is my beat. And because I hate rank stupidity. And because bashing the dunderheads is kinda fun. Any more questions? - Ghost of John Brown - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:20 pm: Dillard had a similar interview the other day with the Daily Herald. Similarly, he said that HE could have won. Also, similarly, Dillard did nothing to help Brady. Similarly, he is a member of the high irony society with Edgar. - soccermom - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:20 pm: Has Kirk come out and denounced this? If not, why not? - Downstate GOP Faithless - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:23 pm: My question is very simple & basic…when the SBE finally certifies the results, will anyone be able to find them on their terrible & backwards website? - Elmhurst - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:26 pm: train and shore hit AFP’s angle pretty dead on. Ride the latest outrage to some donations and a bigger mailing list with a side of reminding people they exist and “care” and the usual joy of saying nasty things about people they don’t like. It never ceases to amaze me how deep the outrage well is. Groups keep going back over and over, you’d think fatigue would kick in and people would stop responding, but apparently no. - Cal Tech - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:26 pm: Edgar did a bunch of TV ads for Topinka in the suburbs four years ago. She did much worse than Brady, even losing a couple of collar counties. So much for the “soccer mom” theory. - Whatever - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:27 pm: When will be Edgar’s 15 minutes finally be up? I’m so tired of his sanctimonious, know-it-all attitude. Let’s face it — both he and Dillard are sore losers, who believe in their own sense of superiority. Dillard ran a terrible primary campaign; no reason to think he would have been any stronger in the general. - VoterUSA - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:32 pm: dunderheads LMAO - zatoichi - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:41 pm: Two fine examples of “let me make my own facts” and ‘woulda, shoulda, coulda, but did’t’ until after the event is done. - Larry Mullholland - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:43 pm: I have come to believe the Right wingers of the state party would rather lose with a conservative (Brady/J. Ryan) than win with a moderate. Moderates such as Thompson Edgar Dillard Topinka and Rutherford. - Old Milwaukee - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:59 pm: The winner of this election was Jim Edgar, because now he is still relevant as the most recongizable Republican in Illinois. Brady, as Governor, could have pushed him back into the shadows. But there Edgar stands in the sunshine today. - VoterUSA - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:00 pm: “I have come to believe the Right wingers of the state party would rather lose with a conservative (Brady/J. Ryan) than win with a moderate. Moderates such as Thompson Edgar Dillard Topinka and Rutherford” I really don’t think they have much control over it.. Right wingers come out in droves for the Primaries. All the GOP can do, is watch. - blogman - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:02 pm: When Edgar endorsed Brady, Brady was “too busy” to attend! I thought that was very odd. - Barkmark - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:04 pm: Rich, I kinda agree with your points on the AFP but I do have issue with your #3. If an election is not won until all votes are counted, why release the count before all are counted; and why force a concede before all votes are counted? Doesn’t that make the late votes from the service men moot? Why should they vote when they can see that their vote wasn’t really part of the picture. And, yes, I know that the margin of victory may be more than the ballots outstanding but why should the servicemen feel that they don’t really count? So why vote when the election is decided before the ballot is even opened? - lawyerlady - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:11 pm: - blogman - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:02 pm: ******************************* It was a few weeks before the election and Brady was spending all his time up north. He even canceled his trip to Champaign for U of I Homecoming in favor of an event in the suburbs. - John Galt - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:12 pm: Perhaps Edgar wouldn’t have helped Brady all that much if asked. But I don’t think he wasn’t, so it’s a idle speculation. From what I hear, the Brady camp did have a chip on their shoulder about being from downstate and conservative–even when the stragglers finally wanted to jump on the bandwaggon. But after the primary is over, this created a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Brady camp could have afforded to be magnanimous. It’s tough for somebody to swallow some pride and switch horses, especially after such a tight race between Dillard & Brady. So why not make it easy on them and ask for their input and welcome them with open arms? Not change your policies per se, but get surrogates to give warm intros to northern and/or more moderate communities. My understanding is that instead it was mostly either radio-silence or “what took you so long?”/”yeah, but you’re a johnny-come-lately.” Yes, that’s true, that’s what they are. But you freakin’ WON the primary. You ARE the bandwaggon. Make it easy for folks to climb onto it…. - lawyerlady - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:12 pm: - Larry Mullholland - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 1:43 pm: ****************************** Well, they sure held their noses and voted for Mark Kirk this time around. I say good on them. - Jim - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:33 pm: I wish Edgar was governor at a time when there was a little more investigative journalism, wasn’t there a problem right at the end of his governorship? - just sayin' - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:40 pm: Kirk is selfish and shameless. And Edgar should just go away. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:40 pm: AFP, Ralph Reed, Dick Armey and the like are going to have to adjust to being in the clear majority in the House of Representatives. That comes with responsibilities and expectations. They didn’t do so good when they had Knewt running the show. And it’s definitely not as profitable, on an individual basis. - D.P. Gumby - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:55 pm: Americans for Prosperity are a lie…no surprise in them continuing to further lies…that’s all they did during the campaigns anyway. - justsickofit - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:14 pm: @ Jim - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 2:33 pm: Yep, it’s why he didn’t run again. - Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:20 pm: Bottom line is that Illinois comes off as inept because they are not able to seat an elected official as quickly as the other states have seated their like elected members. Seems to me that the ‘dunderheading’ is related to who put the schedule together. Citizens lose again. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:26 pm: ===Illinois comes off as inept because=== Because people like you cannot read or accept facts known since the court’s ruling in July. That’s actual ineptness, not simply coming off as inept. It’s willful ignorance of the facts Plutocrat, and you’re as guilty as AFP for continuing to spread it. Illinois only comes off as inept by partisan ditto heads who can’t think for themselves. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:29 pm: Pluto, bottom line is that Illinois is just following procedure established by statute and court order. The citizens lost, how? Kirk won. He’s going to be Senator for six years. Is he complaining? Are the complaints about Walsh and Kirk’s seatings the last lame bachelor party for some who realize they might have to govern now? - Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:43 pm: The citizens elected someone to fill the remaining portion of a term. Unlike other states, the Illinois representative will be delayed for 30 days. The citizens lost because an unelected individual continues to serve, despite uncontested results. If the two other states can seat their representatives, why can’t Illinois? I know it is a statue and court order, but it is dumb to be last in certifying an election result. Will it make a difference whether Kirk is seated now or later? Not likely. But the bad impression of ineptness in Illinois lives on. - 47th Ward - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:46 pm: Again Pluto, consider the facts. Burris is currently representing Illinois in the Senate. The court’s remedy was a special election to complete that term. Mark Kirk won, and according to the court’s order, will be seated on November 23rd, just as Giannoulias or Jones or Labno would be had the won the special election. The other states did not have special elections. You can’t compare them to Illinois. Would you and your partisan friends find this so outrageous if Giannoulias wasn’t seated until 11/23? - just sayin' - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:50 pm: I mentioned this before. Now we see why Brady conceded before he wanted to. Kirk didn’t want that loose end out there before he started the whine fest. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:51 pm: =– But the bad impression of ineptness in Illinois lives on.– How is it inept when they appear to be following the rules to the letter? Why is it an “emotional” issue at all, worthy of hysterical comments by great statesmen and future imaginary presidents like Newt? - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 3:59 pm: Plutocrat03, can you not read at all? - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 4:02 pm: ===despite uncontested results.=== They are not legal results. ===If the two other states can seat their representatives, why can’t Illinois?=== There is no vacancy here. Again, please read. ===But the bad impression of ineptness in Illinois lives on. === In your mind, perhaps. Again, if you’d just accept actual facts instead of fairy tales, perhaps there would be no “bad impression.” Your misunderstanding of the facts is not anyone else’s fault or responsibility. It’s yours. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 4:32 pm: To the person I just deleted, Foster was seated because there was a vacancy. There is no vacancy here. Learn to read. - Will Watcher - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 4:34 pm: Jim Edgar seems to appear every now and then just long enough to stir the pot, criticize another republican, and then retreats back into the shadows. Has he done anything in the last decade that meaningfully contributed to the Republican cause or provided real assistance to a candidate? He’s become the cranky uncle at Thanksgiving that everyone avoids. - Retired Non-Union Guy - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 4:36 pm: The simple undisputed fact is that Kirk will have less seniority (by 2 weeks or so) than the two Senators filling empty seats but he will have more seniority (by about 6 weeks or so) than other newly elected first term Senators in the incoming class of January 2011. Does it matter? Probably not. It means Kirk might, repeat, might lose out on a committee appointment to the two people who are preceding him if they want to be on the same committee Kirk wants to be on. As far as being able to “stop” any Dem action in the Senate passed by having the Burris vote, wasn’t going to happen anyway. If you’re mad about the timing, you can be mad at any or all of the following: 1) The nation’s voters for electing Obama and emptying the seat 2) Rod for appointing Burris 3) Burris for accepting 4) The Illinois legislature & SOS for going along with the appointment 5) The US Senate for seating Burris 6) The whole US court system for taking forever to decide a special election should have been held and then defining the rules that are being followed now. Note: I’m not arguing the legality or legitimacy of anyone’s actions, just listing the steps that got us here. - CU Down - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 4:42 pm: LOL. I can read. yes, Foster was seated for a vacancy. But the fact remains that the Senate has the option of seating someone prior to certification. By the way, I have no gripe with SBE on this. Just with the Senate. - downstate and feed up - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 4:44 pm: This rush to get Kirk seated. What happen to the Republican cry to count every vote including late arriving military ballots? I guess they really do not care about those military ballots after all. Using military personnel and their votes for political means shme on all of you prior to Veteran’s Day. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:01 pm: ===But the fact remains that the Senate has the option of seating someone prior to certification. === Not if Burris is still occupying the seat, they don’t. There is no vacancy. - GA Watcher - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:14 pm: I’m amazed sometimes by the high regard in which Governor Edgar is held. The lionizing increases as time passes. As I recall, he was an average Governor. He was unable to work with Democrat leaders and his own Party’s leaders tolerated him. There were some happy campers in Springfield when he decided not to run for a third term. - Retired Non-Union Guy - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:17 pm: And the likelihood of Burris resigning that seat is the same odds as the Cubs winning the World Series this month … - Will Watcher - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:21 pm: As the most recent past governor who was not indicted, it’s easy to see why he’s the “emminence gris” (sp?)of the state GOP. - Retired Non-Union Guy - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:27 pm: I too am surprised by the esteem Edgar is held in. I never held him in that much esteem when I was working for the State (but then I was a Thompson appointee and the Edgar people are a different branch of the GOP). There were a number of scandals during his administration; some were highly publicized (MSI) and others were swept partially or fully under the rug. Guess the Teflon coating is still working … - Yellow Dog Democrat - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:29 pm: == The winner of this election was Jim Edgar, because now he is still relevant as the most recongizable Republican in Illinois == I would argue that Topinka, the top Republican vote-getter statewide, now outranks Jim Edgar. - Will Watcher - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:44 pm: Would have been Joe Birkett, if only he had run for governor. - Will Watcher - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:47 pm: My recollection is that Edgar was fiscally responsible and the state was in better shape financially when he left office than it was when he succeeded Jim Thompson. - just sayin' - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 5:47 pm: “I would argue that Topinka, the top Republican vote-getter statewide, now outranks Jim Edgar.” And the Democrats love it. - siriusly - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 6:07 pm: Whoever said Dillard didn’t do anything to help Brady is just wrong. I believe he did everything they asked him to. - 4 percent - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 7:47 pm: @John brown. Dillard did everything that Brady asked including endorsing, stand at various pressers, raising funds, etc. The Brady people never fully embraced the Dillard folks who wanted to help. There was clearly a schism and chip on the shoulder. Quite frankly, the Brady camp was too focused handing out jobs to even put together gotv effort. - waitress practicing politics... - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 8:04 pm: I worked for the state right after Edgar became Gov and he placed all his staff that worked for his campaign in State Agency jobs. They promptly put all their buddies in and acted like kids in the candy store to each other. (Salary levels were higher under the Gov than SOS.) These were not the types with the education and style of managers hired under Gov Thompson. I can only speak of those that I worked with, but they were all very conservative and sometimes VERY bigoted and small minded men. So why so holier than thou now? - CU Down - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 8:12 pm: Rich, what does the following mean which you wrote above? I don’t get the distinction you are placing between Delaware and West Virginia and Illinois. The red herring of West Virginia and Delaware does not apply here. There is no vacancy here. - Emily Booth - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 8:13 pm: From where I sit in Chicago, I really had no impression of Brady except as someone who sat in the legislature for 17 years and didn’t make much of a contribution and when he finally articulated his views, he came across as completely and totally anti-government. So my question is why are you in government? To skim off the top as most businessmen do? Up until the day before the election, however, I thought he was going to win because of Quinn’s big foot. Edgar was the last time we had a balanced budget. Quite a heady accomplishment in these times of lackluster leadership. - Ghost of John Brown - Wednesday, Nov 10, 10 @ 11:09 pm: @ 4 Percent I know this may not be the most scientific approach, but I just did a google search on all of the news articles that listed Brady and Dillard from the beginning of April to election day. Not a single article about “Kirk Dillard did X to help Bill Brady”. It certainly does not appear that Dillard did much, if anything. You may be right that Brady’s GOTV effort was not what it needed to be. However, for Dillard to take pot shots is just uncalled for. - wordslinger - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 8:16 am: SRC, by all means, seat Kirk now. That way, Illinois would have three senators. This thread has just been weirdness. Did any of those clamoring to seat Kirk immediately read the post — at all? The parts about couunting votes, certification, laws, court orders and the fact that there is no vacancy? The Microwave Generation run amok. - Park - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 9:08 am: Jim Edgar? The guy who strongly opposed a constitutional convention, and the chance for actual reform of this cesspool? They guy who’s been drawing a public paycheck for, more or less, his entire working life? Oh yeah, him. Thanks for your input Jim. - Cincinnatus - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 9:42 am: RE: Seating Kirk The rules for seating Kirk suck, but they are the rules and need to be followed. If you don’t like the rules, change ‘em. I hope the legislature takes a minute of time reviewing this whole situation and clears up any problems. Certainly, they should not spend any scheduled time set aside for gay marriage nor gambling, which are obviously much higher priorities than the mere elections of public officials… - Joe from Joliet - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 9:56 am: … The Brady people never fully embraced the Dillard folks who wanted to help … After the primary, I contacted three people affiliated with the Brady campaign and offered to help. I did not receive the courtesy of a response from any of them. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 10:35 am: CU Down, there is no vacancy here because Burris is still seated. Read more carefully. - CU Down - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 4:51 pm: the two guys in West Virginia and Delaware are still seated too. What are you talking about? What should I be reading? - Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 4:52 pm: Because there were vacancies in those two states. A vacancy does not exist here. - CU Down - Thursday, Nov 11, 10 @ 6:14 pm: Obama left to be president. vacancy created, temporarily filled til election Biden left to be vice. vacancy created, temporarily filled til election. byrd died. vacancy created, temporarily filled til next election. what exactly is the difference between the three situations? - CU Down - Friday, Nov 12, 10 @ 9:52 am: Rich, rereading your item, I’m wondering if you’re under the false impression that there are not temporary appointments to the Biden and Byrd seats. Just like Burris, Carte Goodwin and Ted Kaufman are just waiting for the results of the November special election to fill the vacancy. There is no difference between the three situations other than how the respective states are dealing with them. (the merits of which can be argued) Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.