Cole & Stewart.
I have said this once and will again, often: If Sheila Simon had been elected mayor of Carbondale over Republican Brad Cole, we would never be hearing the end of it from this…ahem…objective major media. Barack Obama, the two Madigans and Dick Durbin had endorsed her as did Governor Blagojevich and Dan Hynes. Can you imagine what the…ahem…objective media would be saying? Something like this:
The law professor daughter of the late Paul Simon (D-IL) won a smashing victory Tuesday to become mayor of normally Republican downstate Carbondale—and immediately speculation turned on the probability that she will run for Attorney General in tandem with the First Democratic Daughter of Illinois—Lisa Madigan, rated as a sure bet for governor. The victory sets up yet another Democratic dynasty—the Daleys in Chicago,the Madigans in Springfield, the Hynes family in Chicago where the former Cook county assessor trained his son Dan to become Comptroller…etc.
Instead, there is all the quietude of a tomb. Nary a peep about the young man who was reelected Carbondale mayor without even working up a sweat, Brad Cole…who was reelected largely with the help of House Republican Leader Tom Cross.
Well, this Sunday join me as Russ Stewart, attorney and able political analyst, interview Brad Cole and toss him some unaccustomed curve balls to throw him off his stride. That’s this Sunday at 8 p.m. on WLS-AM (890).
The Democrats’ Achilles Heel.
It is the very commonplace statement by all the major Democratic candidates for president that they will repeal the Bush tax cuts…which means that they will give this country which is cruising in unheralded but unprecedented prosperity a return to harsh economics and the rhetoric of the class struggle.
My once adopted state of Minnesota just witnessed a huge army of 7,000 voters congregated on the Capitol mall in protest of runaway government and “necessary” tax hikes on “the rich” to accommodate liberal spending programs. I ask you, is there any mass protest planned for Springfield and this governor’s massive tax hike? Or is the Republican party so controlled by Jim Thompson clones that it will lie dormant and allow just a few feeble political speeches being delivered rather than a mass rally?
The word is that Speaker Madigan will dangle the possibility of the Gross Receipts Tax before the populace and then become the hero by pulling it away…with the result that we are supposed to gratefully accept a modest hike in the state income tax. Are we so dumb to fall for this trick?
The prescription to cure an ailing Republican party will not come from anything less than a popular grassroots movement gathering in Chicago and in Springfield. If the major media will not cover it…as they decided not to do in St. Paul…let the word go out that the media more than ever is hand in glove with liberaldom.
So…does anybody have plans for an angry taxpayers’ rally?
"Whom the gods would destroy, they first drive insane--"
ReplyDeleteMay the Good God have pity on our once great nation!
If misery loves company, it is the same here in The Peoples Republic of Connecticut--
Didn't Brad Cole come to fame working for former Gov. George Ryan? How will he explain that away?
ReplyDeleteTom, you ask if any angry taxpayers have plans for rallies. There have been many throughout the nation, mostly led by those who oppose the occupation of Iraq and its costs in dollars and lives. Look for another in DC the day after Mothers' Day.
ReplyDeleteTom Cross might have helped on that race, but if you look at the disclosure reports, Brad Cole actually got the most help, money and staff, from the State Republican Party.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Brad should be the one to say whether it's appropriate for almost all of the State Party's efforts (and Cross' if he says so) in the April elections to have been focused on a guy who is on the supervising board of that same State Party, and who used to work under George Ryan and Scott Fawell.
It's great that Cole won, but let's face it, Sheila Simon was a horrible candidate, and she made the stupid decision to limit her campaign donations to $50 per contributor.
Cole meanwhile got at least 10 Grand in cash, plus tons more in staff payroll, from the organization he oversees as a member of the Central Committee. Cole outspent Simon by something like 4 to 1 (all to get the less than 2,000 votes he needed to win). Carbondale is a really small town don't forget.
If you were just a regular Republican running for school board or mayor or trustee last month, you were probably completely on your own. The State Party was certainly too busy with one of their own insiders.
And yes, this is Cross' idea of "building a bench." Give a little extra help to a guy who was on the inside with Ryan and Fawell from day 1.
Spare us Tom and Tom.
Given that several thousand people worked for George Ryan in one way or another (he was Secretary of State, and Governor, if you recall)...statements such as
ReplyDelete"Didn't Brad Cole come to fame working for former Gov. George Ryan? How will he explain that away?"
are just not very relevant. Of course, a lot of mid level politicians, civil servants and Illinois residents have some connection to Thompson, Edgar, Ryan...So What?
Guilt by association was pretty much ended by the time the Old Testatment was authored. Why bring it up again?
JBP
Hello, Lawrence -- You ask, "what major university journalism department is Conservative?" I was under the impression that most of the larger schools of journalism have a greater focus on advertising and even Video News Release production than print and investigation journalism. Am I way off? Which schools of journalism are you familiar with?
ReplyDelete