Tuesday, January 19, 2010

"It's not Obama's seat, it's the people's seat?"

They should be. Scott Brown has defeated Martha Coakley, but I bet you knew that.

This makes me think of Illinois politics . . . . because everything brings me back to Illinois politics sooner or later. Here's the thing . . . Illinois has not had quite the streak of Democrat Senators that Massachusettes has . . . . but we're a blue state, no doubt about it. And we happen to be holding an election to replace a liberal icon of our own; if you haven't heard, the seat occupied by Barack Obama before we foisted him off on the rest of you is up for grabs in a contested election. It seems to me that the Illinois campaign should be able to use a lot of what Scott Brown's campaign did well . . . particularly, running against the Obama agenda and tying the Democrat candidate to Obama. To be sure, the Democrats should be a lot more serious in the Illinois race than Coakley was in Massachusettes, but their candidate will probably be Alexi Giannoulias, whose main claim to fame is that he played pro basketball in Europe and now plays pickup one-on-one with Barack Obama. I'm sure his people are weighing options, but I see no way for him to distance himself from Obama. On the other hand, Obama is still hugely popular among Chicago Democrats as far as I know.

Of more interest to me at the moment is the Republican primary set for February 2nd. Does the Scott Brown campaign affect that race? I think it does. How?
Oooh . . . . good question. Here are a few possibilities:

1. Patrick Hughes gets a boost.
Hughes is not the GOP leadership's choice . . . that would be Mark Kirk, a "moderate" candidate from the northern Chicago suburbs. Kirk has great name recognition, especially in Chicago, and polls well against Giannoulias. But Kirk is widely despised by Republican base factions (see below) and so several "conservative" candidates have sprung up to nip at his heels. Patrick Hughes claims to be the best organized and funded, which he may very well be, but he's also derided by the other candidates as a wannabe who never voted in Republican primaries before 2008. However, he's strongly conservative, pro-gun, and in person does a good job of bringing across a Constitution-based political philosophy . . . . and in a time when the former head of the Illinois GOP is running as "the outsider," Hughes undeniably is a real outsider. He's also endorsed by several Tea Party groups. How much does that help? Well, it depends because maybe . . . .

2. Mark Kirk gets a boost.
Here's the thing: the Republican base is none too fond of Mark Kirk. Kirk is a Congressman from a fairly lefty district just outside Chicago. Not to pass judgment, but my college roommate, who couldn't change a tire and was astounded and frightened at his move downstate because "it gets really dark at night down here," was from Kirk's district. The rugged prairie it ain't.
But the GOP leadership in this state loves 'em some Kirk. Sure, he sponsored the 1993 Clinton Assault Weapons Ban (in 2008!) But who hasn't? And, OK, fine, he voted for "Cap and Trade" despite the fact that it slits the throats of all the coal miners in Illinois, but those guys are all in Democrat unions anyway, right? And, hey, he crossed his fingers when he done it, and when he announced for Senate he explained that he was only pandering, so no hard feelings. Everyone at the cocktail parties in Chicago agrees that the downstate hicks should stop shouting "Cap'n Traitor!" at Kirk during parades now that he's promised to pander the other way. And after all, he says he's against the Obama health care bill, and shipping Guantanamo Bay prisoners into Illinois, so the Tea Bag Nuts should probably move on pretty soon, right? And let's face it; if you believe the official "cash on hand" numbers, Kirk has almost seven times as much money to spend as Hughes does.
But how could the Massachusettes Incident benefit Kirk? Well, there are those who say that Scott Brown won because he's a RINO. They say that if he weren't pro-choice and . . . . well, that's pretty much all they've got, but they say he's a moderate and that's how he pulled it out. If the Illinois race follows the trend, that argues for Kirk as the moderate choice who can pull off the upset.

3. Alexi Giannoulias gets a boost.
This sounds a little counter-intuitive, but bear with me. What will be the Democrat reaction to "The Massachusettes Incident"? If they're smart (and some of them are awfully smart) they've already been looking around for other races that could get embarrassing. They should not get caught napping again. Anybody who pulls off an upset against another Democrat candidate this year is going to have to earn it against overwhelming odds. If he ever thought he could, Giannoulias is surely now aware that he won't be taking a vacation after the primary a la Coakley. The White House will send whoever they have to send, and Chicago is not Boston . . . . Obama is the local boy (of sorts) who made good, as far as Chicago's Democrat faithful is concerned, and although Mayor Menino of Boston has been in office longer, he's a piker at Machine politics compared to Mayor Daley and his brother-from-another-mother, House Speaker Mike Madigan. If Rahm Emanuel has to bust some heads, he will (not literally . . . . unless he can get away with it.)

2 comments:

Andy Martin said...

My My campaign is the big winner from the “Massachusetts Message,” because we are the only campaign nimble enough to react quickly. We will have a new statewide ad up this Friday. Patrick Hughes is dead in the water.

Andy Martin
www.Andyforussenator.com

See today:

U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin says he will “nationalize” the Illinois U. S. Senate primary

Martin’s advertising operation is working overnight to produce a new anti-Obama, anti-Kirk ad on Wednesday, January 20th

Martin is developing a national fundraising strategy to carry his message to Illinois voters

NEWS FROM:
ANDY MARTIN /2010
“The Name You Can Trust”
Republican for U. S. Senator
30 E. Huron Street, Suite 4406
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
(866) 706-2639
www.AndyforUSSenator.com
www.AndyforUSSenator.blogspot.com
www.AndyforUSSenator.wordpress.com

www.MarkKirk.us
www.IllinoisHighSpeedTrains.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ANNOUNCEMENT OF WEDNESDAY NEWS CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO

Martin says that his anti-Obama advertising will start airing statewide on January 22nd

Martin’s advertising agency has a reputation for producing hard-hitting commercials based on original research

(CHICAGO)(January 20, 2010) “Illinois Tough” Republican U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin will hold a Chicago news conference Wednesday, January 20th seeking to “nationalize” the Illinois U. S. Senate primary and capitalize on the “Massachusetts Message.”

“We are working all night to produce new advertising on Wednesday that will carry forward Scott Brown’s ‘Massachusetts Message,’” Martin says. “We are tailoring the anti-Obama advertising to a more conservative Illinois Republican primary electorate.

“Our studies of the WLS-TV Channel 7 debate found that Republican voters appreciated my ‘tough’ message. They saw a fighter on TV, not a patsy for liberal media hatchet-men. Our new campaign slogan: ‘Illinois Tough.’

http://www.wrex.com/Global/story.asp?S=11849000

Martin’s campaign accepts contributions online at www.AndyforUSSenator.com

-------------------------------------

January 20th news conference details:

WHO:

“Illinois Tough” Republican U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin

WHERE:

Sidewalk news conference, SE corner of Huron and Wabash,
Chicago (weather permitting)

WHEN:

Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 1:00 P.M.

WHAT:

“Illinois Tough” Republican U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin moves to “nationalize” the Illinois U. S. Senate primary with advertising attacks on Barack Obama. Martin is nationally known for creating the Republican Party’s hardest-hitting advertising.

MEDIA CONTACT:

(866) 706-2639; Cell (917) 664-9329 (not always turned on)

WEBSITE:

http://www.AndyforUSSenator.com

E-MAIL:

AndyforUSSenator@aol.com
-----------------------------
Andy Martin is a legendary Chicago muckraker, author, Internet columnist, radio talk show host, broadcaster and media critic. He has over forty years of broadcasting background in radio and television and is the dean of Illinois media and communications. He is currently promoting his best-selling book, Obama: The Man Behind The Mask and producing the new Internet movie "Obama: The Hawai'i years." Andy is the Executive Editor and publisher of www.ContrarianCommentary.com.

Martin comments on regional, national and world events with more than four decades of experience. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law and is a former adjunct professor of law at the City University of New York.

UPDATES:
www.twitter.com/AndyMartinUSA
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Andy's columns are also posted at ContrarianCommentary.blogspot.com; contrariancommentary.wordpress.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: (866) 706-2639 or CELL (917) 664-9329 (cell not always on)
E-MAIL: AndyMart20@aol.com
© Copyright by Andy Martin 2010

Don said...

Right. Stay off my side, hippie.
You do not have a reputation for hard-hitting anything. You have a reputation for smear pieces, bigotry, and ridiculous lawsuits. Your ridiculous homophobic conspiracy smears against Mark Kirk have accomplished nothing except to strengthen the Kirk campaign.
It would be a boon and blessing if you would go away and let the grown-ups talk.