Bad blogger

I've been trying to update my template to provide a link to the Red Cross, but for whatever reason, it's not working. I'm on vacation and don't want to deal with this, so here is the link.

Update: Working now.

mmmmm... Taffy

Duquoin State Fair time... More fun

Keep digging

The Daily Egyptian hoax story just gets worse by the minute. I've been in and out of southern Illinois for the past several days and have watched the story develop behind the scenes.

Craziness.

The Southern's Meta Minton has the best take so far.

Up until now, the reporters covering this story have seemed almost sympathetic to the DE reporter, Michael Brenner, who was allegedly duped into believing the story of a little girl and her soldier father.

But Minton caught something that my brother Devin also noticed the other day.

In the spring of 2003, Brenner wrote a story for the Daily Egyptian detailing an emotional separation between Kodee and the man he said he believed was her father, "Dan Kennings."

The story the Daily Egyptian published reads as if Brenner was on the scene of the emotional parting between father and daughter at Fort Campbell, Ky.

Following is an excerpt from Brenner's Daily Egyptian story:

"In an attempt to delay his departure, Kodee swiped his helmet and refused to let go, saying he could not leave without his helmet.

"Still in tears, Kennings took his helmet back from his 8-year-old daughter, but he still could not convince her he had to go. She refused to let go of his arms, and pleaded with her father.

"'Please don't leave,'­ Kodee begged. 'I'­ll be good if you stay. I won't get in trouble.'"

During the Friday interview, Brenner defended the style of writing he had used in the story.

"It was the style going around the newsroom at the time," Brenner said.

Brenner is just a kid, but somebody who admitted to deliberately filing a phony story and then had the gall to defend his lie shouldn't be getting a free pass - and probably shouldn't be a reporter, either.

Too much fun.

Having a wonderful time in Memphis. .. Glad I'm here.......

Breaking news...

Sen. Rick Winkel has announced he's leaving the Senate for personal reaons.

Rep. Bill Black just told me he's interested in the spot.

This is a Tier One district and will be heavily targeted.

Maybe I should hire Giangreco

I go on vacation and a guest column gets more press than my own stuff. LOL.

Under the headline "Bring It On," Democratic consultant Pete Giangreco wrote a guest column that appeared Monday in the political newsletter Capitol Fax, arguing that Gov. Blagojevich has done a better job on taxes, crime, education and a host of other issues than Edgar, who was governor from 1991 to 1999. [...]

Giangreco is on Blagojevich's political payroll, but wrote that he was acting as "a political observer and a Democrat, not as a campaign spokesman."

In an interview, Giangreco insisted the column was not an official campaign salvo.

An Edgar spokesman declined to address Giangreco's charges, but said supporters plan to respond in their own guest column in Capitol Fax next week.

"It is clear that the Blagojevich campaign is doing anything and everything in their power to keep Jim Edgar out of the governor's race," said Edgar spokesman Eric Robinson.

I figured Pete's very aggressive column would attract attention. But maybe I should make him a regular contributor.

Just kidding.

Back to vacation I go. Seriously, I am trying to relax. Actually, I've been at home. Impossible to completely relax here. Leaving this afternoon.

We interrupt this vacation for a special announcement

Today's Capitol Fax guest column by Blagojevich campaign spokesman Pete Giangreco will be rebutted next week by Jim Edgar's folks.

OK, back to the relaxation for me.

Vacation time

I'll be back in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, comments are turned off, but the news feeds are all active and will update automatically while I'm away.

Adios.

Friday White Sox blogging

Mike Debonis of Slate pretty much nails it.

Despite their current four-game losing streak, Chicago's Sox still have the best record in the American League by far. They're a lock for the playoffs, and they have a real shot at making the World Series for the first time since 1959. But if they do win it all, there won't be hundreds of books and special-edition DVDs that exhaustively document the final moments of anguish and misery on Chicago's South Side. When the sports world's most mundane epic losing streak ends, it will go quietly.

The White Sox, who last won the World Series in 1917, haven't lost in heartbreaking ways like the Red Sox always did. They don't lose despairingly often like the Washington Senators and St. Louis Browns. These Sox just lose, that's it. The team's futility has no romance, glamour, or meaning. And when they lose, they still can't win—the White Sox aren't even the losingest losers in the Second City. [...]

It's not that White Sox fans don't complain about losing. We complain all the time, but we complain about being bad. We complain about bad players, bad coaching, and bad management. Lurk around a Sox Internet board and you'll find the usual pessimism, second-guessing, personnel demands, and Cubs hatred. You'll have a hard time finding any woe-is-us moaning, though.

The comforting thing about rooting for the White Sox is that you don't have to swim in your own filth. There's little talk of "suffering"—or, even worse, a curse. The White Sox have the strongest case for curse cause-and-effect of any pro sports team. For chrissakes, this is the franchise that threw the 1919 World Series and never won it again. Surely that offends hardball deities more than selling your best player or evicting a stinky billy goat.

Read the whole thing. Perfect pitch.

And think positive. Everyone has a few bad days. A win tonight will turn this frown upside down.

Go Sox.

Vanessa's State Fair tent reviews

This was written by my daughter, Vanessa, for today's Capitol Fax. I'm posting it here so her friends can see it.

This year, my dad asked me to do tent reviews. I went from political tent to political tent looking for what's interesting and what needs changed. To be honest, I was doing my dad's dirty work because he has caught so much grief about his tent reviews in the past. I am afraid that some of this might get pretty ugly, but no offense intended.

The Democratic tent was my first stop, and my first impression was not the greatest. The first thing I noticed was how barren it seemed. It was not very decorative and the staff seemed the same. Plain.

There was, of course, a bit of information on each Democrat representing Illinois. But that was about it. No extra information, no colorful posters, nothing that would attract more visitors.

I was interviewed Wednesday afternoon by Mike Wilson, a Springfield talk radio host, and I clearly stated my dismay with the Democrats' tent. The very next next day I returned to find that it had changed for the better. There were more family oriented posters and more tables and chairs to fill in the vacant spots that had made the tent so bland. And the staff were more hospitable towards the patrons of the fair. Much better, but still not great.

Let's walk into Attorney General Lisa Madigan's tent shall we? This tent was very informative and very eye catching with bright colors. Clearly, a lot of work was done. Great job on the visuals! But the huge poster of SEX OFFENDERS right when I walked in was a little disturbing. And they even had a computer so you could look up sex offenders in your area. How comforting.

Next was Secretary of State Jesse White's tent. The environment was friendly. When I first walked in I was drawn to the bright colors and the information. It couldn't have been more informative. Speaking of colors, a person could definitely tell the staff from anyone else. Their bright yellow shirts made the place look like a Banana Republic store.

Comptroller Dan Hynes' tent had a jar of pennies and if you guessed the correct number of pennies, you won. Exactly what you won was not clear. The tent was neat and attractive. Information was brief and to the point.

I just have a brief summary of the governor's tent. Lots of cute colorful children's activities, some entertainment, but none of the staff were smiling. Come on, he can't be THAT bad.

I have to applaud the Republican tent this year. I have never seen this much enthusiasm about a job before. Everyone was very friendly. The tent had lots of information, such as the history of the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. It was actually interesting. They've taken "Republican" to another level this year.

I had a bit of trouble tracking down Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka's tent. I asked around and was misled several times until luck finally brought me to the tent buried in an alley. The floral arrangements were a nice touch and the information was scattered around the little cases holding money and other items.

I met some great people in both the Democratic and Republican parties, and had lots of fun. See you next year!

Question of the day

It's Friday, so we'll do something a little offbeat again. This was suggested by a reader last week.

Let's say you own a sandwich shop. Devise sandwiches named after some of the top politicians in Illinois. Make sure to tell us what's on the sandwiches.

As seen in the Capitol Fax

Dick Durbin's poll numbers are here.

Four-month tracking, which appears to show little to no impact from his controversial remarks about Guantanamo back in June is here (fixed link).

All 100 Senators are here.

Insight on KJ

Rick Pearson and Christi Parsons provide some good insight into all the hoo-ha over Bob Kjellander.

Oberweis has been an early proponent of ousting Kjellander, in large part because of his chief political patron. Oberweis is being backed by conservative activist Jack Roeser, who has had a long-running feud with Kjellander.

Another contender for governor, state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger of Elgin, has long called for Kjellander to step down--again due to Roeser. In 2004, Roeser supported Rauschenberger in a failed attempt to defeat Kjellander for national committeeman.

In other words, much of this controversy has been deliberately manufactured.

Fair director profiled

I had a chance to chat with State Fair Manager Amy Bliefnick this week, and she seems to have a good head on her shoulders. The Fair looks great, I like the new ideas, and Bliefnick has loads of energy. Bliefnick is from Decatur, and the local paper provides us with an interview

Every day, Bliefnick can be seen riding around the fairgrounds in a golf cart greeting people or talking on her BlackBerry device.

"I have all this so I can work 24 hours," joked the 48-year-old Bliefnick on Tuesday, as the BlackBerry remained perched on her ear. Another cell phone was hooked to her denim skirt and a lapel microphone (connected to a battery-operated radio) was clipped to the collar of the black fringed cowboy shirt she wore. [...]

When it came to choosing a state fair manager, Chuck Hartke, director of the Illinois Department of Agriculture said there was no other choice but Bliefnick.

"It was just a given because of her bubbly personality. She is forceful in her decision making and who can say no to her," Hartke said. "I'm very pleased that she is our state fair manager this year, and she's doing a fantastic job."

If you haven't been to the Fair yet, I highly advise you to get yourself over there now.

Relief?

We've been bombarded by spam comments lately. The infestation progressed to the point where I was e-mailing Blogger every day threatening to leave next week if they didn't DO SOMETHING.

Last night, I received an e-mail saying they were working on a solution, and a few hours later it was completed. You now have to go through a word verification step before you can submit comments. Hopefully, that will stop some of the spambots, although I hear the nefarious bot masters are getting pretty good at breaking through those barriers as well.

I'm going on vacation soon and I'll be shutting off comments when I do, so if the word verification doesn't stop them, maybe several days of being completely blocked out will do the trick.

I apologize to everyone who has had to deal with the spam. The Blog Posse and I have deleted most of them within minutes, but a few have stayed up longer. Hopefully, the spam will end. If not, I'm moving to another platform, most likely WordPress, which has a lot of spectacular features. I don't want to move, but it may be the best option in the long run. I'll think about all of this while I'm away.

Keep your fingers crossed.

KJ swarmed by the media. Oberweis used part of his speech to demand Kjellander's resignation.

Rep. Roger Eddy enjoys a respite from the speeches.

Rockford stud, Aaron Chambers.

Question of the day

The guv says we shouldn't repeal or roll back the sales tax on gasoline. Instead, he wants the federal government to release stocks from the strategic petroleum reserve. Barack Obama says that's a bad idea. Sen. Steve Rauschenberger said the tax should be capped at $1.70 a gallon.

What do you think should be done, if anything? Should this even be a state issue?

Facts in disupte

The police officer who stopped Sen. James Meeks and was accused of racial profiling has a different story to tell.

A Calumet District police sergeant accused of racial profiling by the Rev. James Meeks has told investigators he drew his gun and used profanity because he was intimidated when Meeks and a pair of bodyguards who pulled up in a tail car got out of their cars at the same time.

"He had two men behind him, another one in front of him and a fourth [driver] in the car," said a high-ranking police official familiar with the sergeant's version of events. "He was frightened. I would have done exactly the same thing." [...]

According to Meeks, a white police sergeant curbed the car carrying the minister and his family at 116th and Kensington. Meeks claims that when he got out of the car to talk, the sergeant addressed him with profanity and stuck a gun in his face.

The sergeant tells a different story, according to sources. He has told police brass that he pulled over the car carrying Meeks, his wife and son after the minister's driver pulled around the squad car and went through a stop sign.

Meeks, along with a pair of bodyguards who pulled up in a tail car, got out of their vehicles and the bodyguards went "behind the squad car," the sergeant has said. The sergeant drew his weapon and issued a profanity-laced directive to all three men to return to their vehicles.

But the politically charged nature of the accusations and a mayor who is desperate to retain good ties to the African-American community and Meeks has made this a difficult case for the investigators. Meeks is out of town on vacation (I tried to reach him earlier this week) but when he comes back I'd like to hear a response from him about the officer's story.

State Fair Governor's Day pics

Lee Milner took some photos yesterday and offered to share a few with us.









Sorry about no Fair blogging yesterday. Was busy. I'll try do some today.

100 percent agreement

I don't know which editor wrote this editorial, but I'm in total agreement.

We wouldn't advise Edgar on whether or not to run. That's a personal decision.

But we will say this: Hustle it up. Make a decision now.

Edgar will harm his party if he draws this process out for several months and decides, as he has on a couple of other occasions, to stay retired from politics.

But, wait, there's more:

But Edgar wouldn't have a free ride, either. This is going to be an election about who will break the sleazy pay-to-play politics of Illinois. If Edgar runs, he will have to answer questions about Management Services of Illinois Inc., a big campaign contributor that was convicted of bilking the state out of $12.9 million on a welfare reform contract. Edgar wasn't implicated in the fraud, but more than a year after he left office, court records showed that several of his top aides had been named as unindicted co-conspirators in the case.

A little zinger never hurt.

Nice job.

Old news

Capitol Fax subscribers already know this.

U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood will not run for governor, and instead will announce plans today to seek re-election to Congress, the Peoria Republican said Wednesday.

More trouble for BK

House Republican Leader Tom Cross wants Bob Kjellander to step down.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross on Tuesday said the state's embattled GOP national committeeman, Robert Kjellander, should step down because his personal business interests have made their party a punching bag for Democrats.

Cross (R-Oswego) is the highest-ranking GOP elected official to call for Kjellander's resignation.

Actually, Republicans have been doing most of the criticizing, but the Cross statement can't be ignored.

Meanwhile, the Tribune's John Kass thinks that Jim Edgar's longtime friendship with Kjellander ought to be an issue. Edgar and Kjellander's wife are building a horse barn together.

Question of the day

Some governors, including Florida's Jeb Bush have sharply criticized the NCAA for its decision to bar "offensive" American Indian mascots from post-season tournaments and prohibit universities with the mascots from hosting any tournaments.

This week, the University of Illinois' board chairman added his voice to the criticism.

The University of Illinois is criticizing the NCAA for “inflammatory rhetoric” in its recent decision to sanction universities that use American Indian nicknames and mascots for their sports teams.

The NCAA’s use of the words “hostile” and “abusive” to characterize some of those, including Illinois’ Illini and Chief Illiniwek, was particularly disappointing, UI board chairman Lawrence C. Eppley wrote in a letter Monday to USA Today.

The question is, should Governor Blagojevich be expected to voice his opinion one way or another? So far, he hasn't said a word. What about the other candidates?

Let's try to stick to the question at hand and not get into a hostile debate over the chief. Thanks.

As seen in the Capitol Fax

Here is SurveyUSA's Illinois poll on President Bush's approval ratings.

The tracker is here, and ratings for all 50 states are here.

State Fair stuff

A full list of events for Governor's Day can be found here. I'll most likely be here after the official Democratic stuff ends, watching the ponies.

Illinois DemNet and DFI have events planned, with speakers.

The main Dem Party festivities begin after noon on the director's lawn, with food and drinks and then speeches and rah-rah stuff around 2 pm.

And don't forget Velvet Revolver at 8pm.

I'll likely do some live blogging from the Fair today and tomorrow, depending on my mood.

Pesky worms

Yet another good reason to switch.

JCAR approves pharmacy emergency rule

From a press release.

Legislators serving on the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) today voted to make permanent Governor Rod R Blagojevich’s emergency rule that ensures pharmacies in Illinois fill women’s prescriptions for contraceptives without delay or hassle. The rule requires licensed pharmacies that dispense FDA-approved contraceptives to fill all birth control prescriptions in the same timely manner they would other prescriptions. [...]

Gov. Blagojevich submitted an emergency rule on April 1, 2005 clarifying the responsibilities of licensed retail pharmacies to fill prescriptions for all FDA approved contraceptives if the drug store dispenses birth control medications. That rule remained in effect in an emergency capacity until today, when JCAR voted to allow the Governor’s rule to become permanent. [...]

The rule clearly defines the responsibilities of licensed retail pharmacies in Illinois to fill all FDA approved birth control prescriptions if the drugs are in stock and a legal prescription has been presented. If the drugs requested are not in stock, the pharmacy must do one of the following: provide a medically acceptable alternative drug, or, at the request of the patient, order the drug from their supplier, transfer the prescription to a different drug store or return the prescription to the patient.

Lemonade

Those high gas prices are good for the state budget.

The Illinois Department of Revenue says the state has seen an estimated $65 million increase in sales tax revenue because of high gas prices.

Revenue Department spokeswoman Geraldine Conrad says Illinois took in $345 million in sales tax on gasoline during the first nine months of the fiscal year that ended June 30th.

Motorists in Illinois pay a 6.25 percent sales tax on the pump price of gas. The state gets 5 percent and the remaining 1.25 percent goes to local governments.

The governor claims to be looking for a way to ease the crunch on consumers, but so far he's just saying he's looking, not that he's found something yet.

Question of the day

Yesterday afternoon's post about the Democracy for Illinois people planning to offer suggestions to the Democratic Party of Illinois about its website set off a huge online catfight that, as of early this morning, had already attracted 90 comments.

Very few of those comments actually talked about the party's website, however, and what could be done to improve it.

So, check out DPI's site and then suggest ways of making it better in comments.

Mayor CM-B? Not likely

The Sun-Times has a strange story about former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun's brother calling the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police asking about the timing of its mayoral endorsements.

An FOP official said Monday that Joe Braun, the former senator's brother, placed the call and told FOP officials in no uncertain terms that his sister would be a candidate for mayor.

But CM-B herself says no way.

"You just threw me for a loop. I'm surprised at that information. . . . I did not ask him to do anything in that regard," she said. [...]

"I'm a businesswoman now and I have no current intention of running for any political office," insisted Moseley Braun, who turns 58 on Tuesday. [...]

"I'm in the private sector. It puts me in an awkward position -- and almost an inappropriate one -- to get into this punditry about local events," she said.

Shout-out

I've been wondering who in the Middle East has been reading this blog (my web tracking software shows users by time zones). It turns out that it's my old buddy Jerry Clarke, who is stationed in Iraq and just wrote to say that he's been checking the blog every day to stay up on Illinois politics.

Good luck, Jerry! Stay safe. And come home soon.

Blog stuff

IL Pundit is back, and has a sharp new format. (Oops. Wrong address. Fixed now. Sorry.)

Downstate Pundit has moved, and also has a great new format.

The Tribune's Dave Wischnowsky has a new blog.

Guv opposes relaxing security requirements

From the Sun-Times:

Proposed changes in airport screening that would allow passengers to carry on razor blades, small knives and scissors are "wrongheaded," Gov. Blagojevich said Sunday. [...]

Staff recommendations drafted Aug. 5 also would allow ice picks and bows and arrows on flights. Only those passengers who set off metal detectors or look suspicious would have to remove their shoes. And screeners would be given the option to not pat down passengers wearing tight-fitting clothes.

Bows and arrows? I can see exempting nail clippers, but bows and arrows? What the heck?

When Blagojevich was a congressman, he worked against a post-9/11 plan to federalize the passenger screener system because SEIU represented several of the private screener employees. SEIU then gave the candidate almost a million dollars and hundreds of volunteers. The guv's hands aren't all that clean on this subject, but I can see why he'd be upset that bows and arrows would be allowed in carry-on luggage.

Beaubien won't challenge Bean

From the Daily Herald

Republicans in the 8th Congressional District lost another potential high-profile candidate when state Rep. Mark Beaubien decided not to vie for the right to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington. [...]

Before Beaubien, state Sen. Pam Althoff of McHenry, state Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg and Cook County Republican Chairman Gary Skoien of Inverness, among others, all decided not to try to challenge Bean.

So far, Barrington Hills investment banker David McSweeney, Mundelein businesswoman Teresa Bartels and Wauconda ex-military attorney Aaron Lincoln have filed federal paperwork to start Republican congressional campaigns.

Wauconda attorney Kathy Salvi also is a likely candidate, said her husband, former state Rep. Al Salvi. State Rep. Bob Churchill of Lake Villa has said he’ll announce his decision around Labor Day and Gurnee conservative activist Ken Arnold also is considering a run.

By the way, I hear that the Daily Herald poobahs may be thinking about a revamp to the website that could include a separate page for all political news. That would certainly be a positive development for people like me. We wouldn't have to scan every one of the DH's innumerable sections to find a decent nugget.

Petitioning the party

Democracy for Illinois plans to use its State Fair gathering to deliver letters of advice to the Democratic Party of Illinois.

DPI is not exactly netroots friendly. Its website is pretty much a joke, but the thing that bothers Internet savvy Dems the most is that the party provides no online opportunities to get involved in anything.

The party's philosophy is definitely based on the old "We don't want nobody nobody sent," Chicago machine attitude. The top Dems I've talked to view the Internets as a disraction, but they are mulling over a strategy. At the moment, however, it's all top-down thinking, and Democracy for Illinois wants to flip that around.

The group has posted a list (scroll down) of what other state parties are doing to tap into the netroots. It's worth a read.

If the group is comfortable with it, I'll agree to post some of their members' suggestions here.

Stay tuned.

Question of the day

Let's call this the suggestion box (idea stolen from KaneBlog).

What advice would you give to a Republican candidate against Gov. Rod Blagojevich? Be as complete as you can.

Wilhelm responds

David Wilhelm responds to the Sun-Times coverage of his dealings with the teachers' pension fund.

Unfortunately, several key facts may be lost amid the innuendo. Unlike the parties who are actually at the center of this investigation, Hopewell hired no consultants or placement agents and paid no fees to anyone to secure any of our investments. We have not been accused of any wrongdoing of any kind and have not been contacted by anyone in the U.S. Attorney’s office about anything whatsoever.

All I did was make personal financial sacrifices (such as taking a second mortgage on my house to finance our development), build a great team of experienced investors with a great track record and successfully launch a fund to bring desperately needed venture capital to Illinois.

He then makes several detailed rebuttals to the article. Worth a read if you're at all interested.

Kelly out

Hiram wonders why the news about Speaker Madigan and Senate President Jones taking over as co-chairs of the governor's campaign committee was issued on a Friday. Others have asked the same question here.

Perhaps I read too much into the timing of this "support" from Madigan - but if I were announcing something momentous and I had a choice, it wouldn't be on Friday during height of summer vacations. Of course, I could have this backwards. It might be that this was when Rod's campaign wanted the announcement made - which would also be interesting.

I think the Tribune may have the explanation:

The two powerful Chicago lawmakers will replace the campaign fund's current chairman, Blagojevich's controversial chief fundraiser, friend and adviser Christopher Kelly.

The campaign said Kelly, a roofing contractor, will continue to assist in fundraising and will focus on his own business.

In June, a Cook County grand jury working with Illinois Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan subpoenaed Kelly over allegations of campaign contributions traded for positions on state boards.

Those allegations were originally made by Blagojevich's father-in-law, Chicago Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), but were recanted after Kelly threatened to sue Mell.

Kelly has denied any such swaps took place.

Buried on a Friday

At 4:50 this afternoon, the governor released a list of a kabillion bill actions, both approvals and vetos. Luckily for me, I don't have to write again until Monday. I pity the reporters who have to now phone their spouses to inform them that the guv has majorly screwed their evening plans.

That's life, I guess. If you want to see the list, click here (text file).

Fritchey fires it up

Here.

Breaking news (Updated)

House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Emil Jones have agreed to co-chair Governor Rod Blagojevich's campaign committee. From a press release:

The state’s two top legislative leaders, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Michael Madigan, have agreed to co-chair Friends of Blagojevich, Governor Rod Blagojevich’s political committee.

Together with the leadership of President Jones and Speaker Madigan, Governor Blagojevich has made real progress for Illinois, providing health care to 324,000 workers and children who had none before, rewarding the work of 450,000 Illinoisans by raising the minimum wage, and investing in our schools without raising sales or income taxes.

In addition to the announcements of Jones and Madigan, Brian Daly will also return to Friends of Blagojevich in a senior staff role. A former U.S. Marine, Daly leaves the Governor’s office where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff to return to the committee where he was Deputy Campaign Manager in the 2002 primary and general elections.

Jones and Madigan will take the lead in forming a campaign committee should the Governor decide to seek reelection. Daly will run the day-to-day operations of the committee. Outgoing Chair Christopher Kelly will continue to assist the committee with fundraising.

“The Governor is delighted to have President Jones and Speaker Madigan on board for a possible second effort,” said Pete Giangreco, a consultant to Friends of Blagojevich. The Governor is not expected to make a decision on reelection until after the fall veto session.

(Removed the link to the file since I was able to put the text here.)

UPDATE: AP runs a brief:

Two key Democrats have agreed to help Governor Rod Blagojevich's (bluh-GOY'-uh-vitchz) campaign committee.

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and House Speaker Michael Madigan will serve as co-chairs of the committee.

Both men have had their differences with Blagojevich. Their high-profile support of his campaign should send a clear signal of unity to anyone thinking of challenging Blagojevich in the primary.

Happy birthday, Vanessa!

Vanessa is my daughter. She'll be contributing a column for the Capitol Fax next week about the State Fair.

Question of the day

What currently living Illinois politician is the most likely candidate to have a statue erected in his or her honor in or around the Statehouse?

Guv defends Wilhelm (Updated)

Governor Blagojevich is starting to talk like Mayor Daley.

Gov. Blagojevich defended his former campaign chief David Wilhelm on Thursday, saying he could not stop Wilhelm, a private citizen, from handling a $10 million investment from the state Teachers Retirement System soon after leading Blagojevich to victory.

"It's a free country," Blagojevich said. "David Wilhelm doesn't work for me. He was an unpaid supporter and adviser to my campaign. He's free to pursue his own business interests if he does it honestly."

Asked if he should have encouraged his campaign chief not to try to make money from the state for a while after helping Blagojevich win on a "no business-as-usual in Springfield" platform, the governor said, "He's a grown man. I can't tell him what he can or can't do. . . . It would be nice if he became a priest. I can't make him become a priest."

He must be taking speaking lessons from hizzoner. I wonder if his voice got all high and squeaky when he was talking.

Meanwhile, the Tribune reported that the guv bashed the Republicans for his own appointment of Stu Levine to to two state boards.

Blagojevich noted that while he reappointed Levine to the board, the longtime Republican campaign donor was a supporter of his general election opponent, Jim Ryan. Blagojevich also reappointed Levine to the Health Facilities Planning Board, where prosecutors allege Levine participated in similar kickback schemes. And while Cari is a Democrat, he also supported Jim Ryan, Blagojevich said.

"I don't want to sound partisan here but these guys are Republicans for the most part and they were supporting my opponent when I ran ... This alleged criminal conspiracy began long before I was elected in 2002," the governor said.

But both Cari and Levine did help Blagojevich after he won election.

State campaign finance records show that Levine paid $1,900 for Blagojevich campaign staffers and supporters to fly to New York for a fundraiser in October 2003. Those records also show that Healthpoint, the New York investment firm that Cari represented before the teacher pension board, paid $3,500 for meals at a Blagojevich fundraiser in New York the next day.

UPDATE: Wilhelm is moving back to Ohio, but he's "not going anywhere."

David Wilhelm, a Democratic powerhouse whose name has surfaced as part of a federal probe here, is selling his Chicago house and plans to move back to his home state of Ohio.

Mr. Wilhelm Friday confirmed that his new primary residence will be just outside of Columbus. He said he is moving to help care for his elderly parents and a sister who was badly injured in a car accident, but will commute to Chicago weekly. While in Chicago he will stay in a condominium his family owns in the South Loop.

Mr. Wilhem denied that his move is connected in any way to a reported federal probe of how a venture capital fund he operates received millions of dollars in investments from the Illinois Teachers Retirement System (TRS), a large state pension fund.

“I’ve had a lot of family challenges. I want to step up and sort of rally my extended family” in Ohio, he said. “I’ll be here every week if anyone wants to find me. I’m not going anywhere.”

Latino population continues to rise

From CBS-2:

New census numbers show a booming population in the Chicago area fueled mostly by one ethnic group.

Between 2000 and 2004, the number of people in the seven-county area increased by 258,000. Nearly 217,000, or 80 percent, were Hispanics. [...]

Latinos are still only about 12.5 percent of the total state population, but more than a quarter of Chicago residents. All minorities combined are 34 percent in the state.

And the Tribune:

Hispanics' four-fifths share of the population growth since 2000 represents an accelerating trend from their two-thirds share between 1990 and 2000 in the seven-county area: Cook, DuPage, Lake, McHenry, Kane, Will and Kendall Counties.

Non-Hispanic whites remain the majority in the metropolitan area, but they are rapidly losing ground to minorities in a region that now has an estimated 8.4 million people, up from 8.1 million in 2000.

The last census in 2000 showed non-Hispanic whites accounted for 58 percent of the population in those counties. Just four years later, that percentage had dropped to 55.8. Blacks account for 18.5 percent, Asians 5.3 percent and Hispanics 19.3 percent.

The Trib also had this graph:

NON-HISPANIC WHITE POPULATION As a percent of the 7-county Chicago area

1990: 65.6%

2000: 58%

2004: 55.8%

The Trib added this story today:

Yet the percentage of Hispanic children who lack health insurance is still more than twice that of black children and more than three times the percentage of white children, according to the report.

Parade report

Jim Leach was at the State Fair parade yesterday and tells us what happened, at least from where he was standing:

• Gov. Blagojevich: no boos, but no cheers or applause either. Just an awkward silence.
• Sen. Dick Durbin: enthusiastic applause. Don't north-enders read Drudge or watch O'Reilly to know about Durbin's military-hating, anti-American ways?
• Attorney General Lisa Madigan: applause, slightly less enthusiastic than Durbin's.
• State Senator Larry Bomke: a smattering of applause
• Rep. and Lt. Gov.-hopeful Raymond Poe: back to Blagojevich-style silence, although in fairness to Poe, he was way back in the parade, and I'm sure people were exhausted from suppresing their boos for the governor.

Post your own reports in comments.

Brad Cole named to GOP state central committee

Downstate Pundit has the scoop:

A county chairman has confirmed that Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole is replacing Steve McGlynn as the 12th Congressional State Central Committeeman.

The chairman reports that it was by a unanimous vote, which would have to mean that St. Clair County Chairman Mike McGlynn must have withdrawn from the process as he controlled nearly 40% of the vote.

DP also has a brief interview with Cole at his site.

Road money

From the Rockford Register-Star:

According to a spreadsheet provided to the Register Star by the nonpartisan Metropolitan Planning Council, Illinois must raise $864 million in the next four years to provide the 20 percent match for highway projects, and bus and rail transit funding. For new commuter rail projects the state must provide a 50 percent match, or $2 billion. That's a total of $2.8 billion, the Chicago-based council says.

That's a lot more money than the state currently has, or will have, without some bigtime tax hikes. Notice that Rauschenberger, Topinka, Gidwitz and others have so far not taken the no tax hike pledge. They likely already know what the public is about to find out.

What a nice thing to say

Thanks, Charlie.

Also, while I'm making nice with the Leader, take a look at Proft's take on the idiots from Kansas.

Statement from Lt. Governor Pat Quinn

Just received this from Quinn's office regarding the threat to disrupt this Saturday's military funeral in East Peoria.

"On behalf of Illinois' 13 million citizens, we honor the life of Gunnery Sgt. Terry Ball and we mourn his loss. His memorial service on Saturday is a profoundly sad day for everyone in the Land of Lincoln and anyone who would dishonor his memory is truly despicable. May God rest the immortal soul of Gunnery Sgt. Terry Ball."

Quinn plans to attend the service. (He quietly attends all of these services.)

UPDATE: I checked with the Lt. Gov's office this morning and was assured that they contact the families in advance to see if it would be appropriate for Quinn to attend any services. He has been invited to speak at times, other times he's been a silent face in the crowd.

An important lesson

We could end up writing this same story right here in Illinois next year.

It is well established in politics that being seen as a sure loser can have its advantages. Or at least, that rule seems to be in play in Germany these days, as the country's presumed sure loser, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, facing elections a bit more than five weeks from now, is suddenly no longer being decreed a sure loser at all.

And, of course, that means that the presumed sure winner, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Angela Merkel, has been faltering. The Sept. 18 national election, seen until a couple of weeks ago as a cakewalk to power for Mrs. Merkel, is, Der Speigel proclaimed this week, "suddenly wide open again." [...]

Other gestures that have cost Mrs. Merkel support include her announcement early on that she would favor a 2 percent increase in Germany's 16 percent value-added tax on all purchases. On its own, the idea is aimed at bringing down Germany's uncompetitive labor costs, and in a speech at the American Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday night, Mrs. Merkel offered many more measures aimed at gaining the same result.

But, as the pollster Mr. Hilmer said, "The C.D.U. has always been the party of no tax increases, and the first thing they do is announce an increase in the V.A.T." It was an honest gesture by Mrs. Merkel, political commentators have argued, and she deserves credit for being up front about what will she will do if she does become chancellor. But for the moment, it didn't wash.

Merkel is still the frontrunner, but I imagine some of you might want to compare her campaign so far to Judy Baar Topinka's prospective candidacy. There is a big difference, however. Merkel is dull and boring. JBT is anything but.

Happy birthday, Dad!