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Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Senate President Emil Jones,
and House Speaker Michael Madigan apparently can’t get along enough
yet to help Illinois’ favorite son win the Democratic presidential
nomination.
Last month, Madigan said he would push for
legislation to move the 2008 primary to Feb. 5 from March 18. Madigan said
the idea would help U.S. Sen. Barack Obama win the nomination, although
others pointed out that winning Illinois wouldn’t be much of a boost
for the hometown candidate. Shortly before Obama announced his presidential run
in Springfield a couple of Saturdays ago, Blagojevich issued a statement
calling on the General Assembly to send him a bill to move the ’08
primary to Feb. 5. The change, according to the governor’s statement,
would “give Illinois voters an opportunity to send an early message
in support of Sen. Obama and send him to victory.” Notice,
however, that Blagojevich didn’t specifically endorse Madigan’s
legislation. (Also notice that Blagojevich used government stationery to
promote a political candidate, but that’s another story.) By Saturday afternoon a Jones spokesperson said that
the Senate president still hadn’t signed off on Madigan’s bill.
Jones agrees with the concept, the spokesperson said, but many details
still need to be worked out. Numerous sources say that Jones and Blagojevich
intend, at least at this point, to craft their own legislative agenda on
schools, health care, and other big-ticket items this spring, zoom the
bills through the Senate, and then make Madigan a “take it or leave
it” proposition. In other words, they want to put Madigan on the spot
and try to force him to accept their agenda. If history is any guide,
Madigan, who has been at the top of the political heap for over 20 years,
won’t take kindly to this. So you’d think Blagojevich and Jones would both
want to set the tone early by accepting Madigan’s primary bill. That
would allow them to seize the high ground, and then down the road they
could point the finger of blame at Madigan for being the obstructionist. Old habits die hard, however, and the
long-anticipated legislative war is getting in the way of making a show of
unity. And because this particular piece of legislation affects a national
issue, it could be thrust into the glare of the national media spotlight.
Needless to say, that national glare won’t make anyone look all that
great.
Meanwhile, Madigan said after Obama’s Saturday
announcement that he and the presidential hopeful had put their differences
behind them. Madigan claimed that the two men had spoken twice in the past
several months and that they were now working together. Madigan had snubbed Obama last year, along with
Obama’s handpicked candidate for state treasurer, Alexi Giannoulias,
after Giannoulias defeated Madigan’s handpicked candidate for the
treasurer’s office during the spring primary. Madigan refused to meet
with Giannoulias or return his calls, and the state-party Web site that
Madigan controls (he is also the party chairman) didn’t even list
Giannoulias as a candidate. Then, around the time of the Illinois State Fair,
Madigan derisively referred to Obama as “the Messiah” when
speaking with Kristen McQueary of the Daily
Southtown. Publicly, Obama brushed off the
remark, but he reportedly wasn’t happy with Madigan. It took a long
time to heal those wounds. Madigan has also lately made peace with
Giannoulias. I asked Madigan after Obama’s speech whether he
thought that using the “Messiah” term (which has spread like
wildfire) was a mistake. “It’s complicated,” he said,
repeating that the two men had worked out their differences. I asked again. Same response. Again. Same response. Madigan may not know how to apologize in public, and
he completely misread Obama’s popularity and potential power in this
state, but he sure knows how to stay on message.
Rich Miller publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political
newsletter, and thecapitolfaxblog.com
This article appears in Feb 15-21, 2007.
