A poll taken for Rasmussen Reports earlier this month found that Gov. Pat Quinn’s unfavorable rating was 55 percent. That’s pretty darned bad, and perhaps the worst in the nation. But Gov. Quinn ain’t got nothing on Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. A new Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll found Madigan’s unfavorable rating to be an […]
Rich Miller
Posted inOpinion
Madigan and Rauner tool up
Worries about low Democratic turnout in an off-year election for an unpopular governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner’s millions in campaign spending are obviously driving much of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s personal legislative agenda this year. “If you’re an African-American on the South Side, what motivates you to vote for Pat Quinn when […]
Posted inOpinion
Gov. speaks after anti-violence program audit
“There was no money allocated at all before the election of 2010,” Gov. Pat Quinn told Chicago TV reporter Charles Thomas about allegations that the governor had spent millions in state anti-violence grants to boost his flagging election campaign. Quinn used this to defend himself against growing criticism about a devastating state audit of the […]
Posted inOpinion
Rough road for Rutherford
Treasurer Dan Rutherford delivered a forceful, even believable defense of himself last week during a suburban press conference hours after he was hit with a federal lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and coerced campaign work. Rutherford made a strong case that at least some of the accusations are untrue. There were some holes in his argument, […]
Posted inOpinion
Minimum wage woes on campaign trail
If Bruce Rauner manages to successfully back away from his recently unearthed statement from December that he favored reducing the state’s minimum wage by a dollar an hour he will have dodged a very serious political bullet. According to a new Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll, the idea is absolutely hated in Illinois. Asked if […]
Posted inOpinion
Big business and Madigan business
House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman said last week that his boss’ statement opposing further corporate “handouts” basically “speaks for itself.” But does it? Madigan invoked the populist gods last week as he called for an end to the “case-by-case system of introducing and debating legislation whenever a corporation is looking for free money from Illinois […]
Posted inOpinion
Plays for governor
By now, it should be self evident that Bruce Rauner has locked up pretty much all the big money in the Republican primary race for governor. Last week’s pension reform vote provides even more evidence. Rauner has built an impenetrable fortress of high-dollar campaign contributors. Ron Gidwitz, long known in GOP circles for being the […]
Posted inOpinion
Unions mull endorsement options
Illinois union leaders are reportedly mulling several options about what to do in the governor’s race. But the only thing the leaders appear to agree on so far is that anti-union Republican gazillionaire Bruce Rauner cannot be allowed to win. Some union honchos are looking at endorsing a candidate in the Republican primary. State Sen. […]
Posted inOpinion
Recent numbers on governor’s race
Back in mid-August, near the end of his summertime TV advertising blitz, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner scored 14 percent in a Capitol Fax/We Ask America poll of likely GOP primary voters. That was up a tick from the 12 percent he got in a June 20 poll by the same firm. His campaign has […]
Posted inOpinion
The passage of the Illinois gay marriage bill
Perhaps the biggest loser in last Tuesday’s historic passage of a gay marriage bill in Springfield was the National Organization for Marriage. The group, based in Washington, D.C., has been at the forefront of attempts to stop gay marriage in states throughout the country. A Maine investigation uncovered alleged internal NOM documents about the group’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Miller on Madigan
The rich irony of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan denouncing somebody else for attempting to be a “kingmaker” is so obvious and laughable that I can’t help but wonder why a guy who’s been a take no prisoners kingmaker himself for so long in this state would ever think of saying such a thing. You […]
Posted inOpinion
Gunning for legislation
Back when Richard M. Daley was Chicago’s mayor, hizzoner would hold a big, splashy press conference every year with cops and prosecutors and crime victims to unveil his new state gun control legislation. The Chicago media poobahs would shout their huzzahs, the NRA would fume and raise tons of money from angry members and then […]
