Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, April 15,2010

Media go overboard to hammer Democrats

It seems like everywhere you look these days, the Illinois Democrats are getting hammered. Most of the Democratic carnage is self-inflicted, like the Scott Lee Cohen debacle, or the brutal gubernatori

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, April 8,2010

U.S. Senate candidates give each other gifts of gaffes

By Rich Miller

For a couple of otherwise pretty smart fellas, the two major party candidates for U.S. Senate seem to be playing right into the other’s hands these days.It seems to me at times that Republican S

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, April 1,2010

Pension reform will cost Quinn campaign cash

By Rich Miller

In roughly ten and a half hours last week, the House and Senate introduced, debated and passed sweeping pension reform legislation by overwhelming majorities in both chambers. The breadth of the legis

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, March 25,2010

Quinn can’t blame feds for education hole

By Rich Miller

I’m going to tell you right up front that this is a column about the state budget and involves a little math. Wait! Don’t move on to the next story. I know this can get a bit tedious. But

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, March 18,2010

Why Quinn’s budget is dead on arrival

By Rich Miller

Like all of the budgets proposed by governors in the past few years, Gov. Pat Quinn’s spending outline last week was an almost complete fantasy. It has pretty much zero chance of surviving

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, March 11,2010

Why the latest gambling push has a chance

By Rich Miller

The Statehouse is buzzing yet again with talk of a new gaming expansion plan. This time, the players say, they have their acts together. Really.I’m always pretty skeptical of these big legislati

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, March 4,2010

When a candidate for governor tries to help out a puppy gas chamber

By Rich Miller

Jerry Clarke is not easily ruffled. Not only has he seen it all in his years running campaigns in Illinois, but he’s served several tours of duty in Iraq as a combat helicopter pilot. But I thou

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, February 25,2010

Can Illinois beat New Jersey in battle over red ink?

By Rich Miller

Decisions made by a governor in a faraway, but strikingly similar state might actually influence our election right here in Illinois.Just a week or so after Gov. Pat Quinn lays out his state budget bl

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, February 18,2010

Brady needs to learn a new language

By Rich Miller

One of the biggest doubts about state Sen. Bill Brady’s gubernatorial campaign — assuming he survives a potential recount of the Republican primary — is whether he can transform hims

Politics - Rich Miller | Thursday, February 11,2010

Pat Quinn’s amazing comeback

By Rich Miller

Every night before an election day, I spend four or five hours on the phone with people I trust asking what they think will happen. There are always a couple of races that will have them stumped, but