* Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft and Carol Marin do not have the greatest relationship in the world. Here’s Proft on Marin earlier this month…
“She is a liberal Democrat. She is somebody who has written the same story about Cicero for twenty years. She is not about to change her storyline… [Marin] has no concern for the facts, she is the one who is unethical by the way she chooses to disregard facts that are inconvenient to a storyline she has set… I am not going to be a pin cushion to the liberal media in this town.”
Proft was referring to a Marin report about Proft’s lucrative public relations contracts with Cicero. The Tribune also wrote about his contracts…
After helping Cicero’s town president win a close election, political strategist Dan Proft received no-bid contracts worth $578,000 a year to serve as the mouthpiece for the town and two local school districts…..Cicero spends nearly double what even much larger suburban communities spend on public relations… The municipal complex construction management contract with K.R. Miller Contractors Inc. (for a new city hall) sets aside $616,860 to go to Urquhart for public relations during the two-year project.
And, today, after Proft announced his statewide bid, Marin takes after him…
Here’s hoping [Proft] discloses his income tax returns so we can see how much money he actually siphoned from this blue-collar, mostly Hispanic community.
Proft, who touts his conservative credentials and has done commentary on WLS radio’s “Don Wade and Roma” show, founded a public relations firm that was small in size but whose Cicero-related fees approached $1 million in 2008.
Besides being the spokesman for the aforementioned Larry Dominick, who has packed the town payroll with an army of his relatives, Proft picked up a separate fee of more than $300,000 to be the spokesman for a new municipal building. Yes, for a BUILDING.
The question is, when a henchman becomes a candidate, whom does he hire as HIS henchman?
This is gonna be a fun campaign.
Oops. I shouldn’t have used the word “fun.” Eric Zorn did that a while back and ended up in this e-mail exchange with Proft…
PROFT: Fun for whom?
ZORN: Fun for me, at least. Do you have a date set to make the announcement either way?
PROFT: I’m sure. I can only imagine your fair and balanced treatment in store me should I enter. Thankfully, I’m used to the counterfeit objectivity characteristic of most of the Chicago press corps. The bullies with bylines for bankrupt outlets in this town who confuse their liberal orthodoxy for intellect only encourage me. No decision yet thus no announcement date, either way.
ZORN: See, now that’s what I’m talking about! What could possibly be more fun than regular explosions of just this sort of bilious contempt for anyone who disagrees with you? I can’t wait. I mean it.
PROFT: Please. I get along famously with many people who disagree with me. Just not folks who cherry pick their facts and work backward from pre-drawn conclusions, discarding inconvenient facts. You cheap-shotted me in our previous exchange when cornered by the incongruity of your critique. I’ll be pleasantly surprised if you choose to offer anything more constructive or substantive, but that is, of course, your choice. I don’t worry about things beyond my control. It’s okay when you throw punches, even below the waistline, but when someone throws back, you resort to (silliness)–erecting straw men to knock down. Your salivating only serves to reinforce my argument.
Zorn also poked some light fun at Proft yesterday afternoon.
Proft’s kickoff announcement is here. CQ Politics writes…
“I am running for governor so that others like me, who might have lost faith in their party and their state, know that a choice exists and know that their fight has been joined,” Proft said in a campaign speech that was posted to his campaign Web site.
Proft, whose clients have included the town of Cicero southwest of Chicago, said last month on political analyst Jeff Berkowitz’s “Public Affairs” television program that “I don’t believe there’s anybody in this state that has more innovative market-oriented ideas than I do.”
Discuss.
* Related…
* Davis eyes run for County Board chief: U.S. Rep. Danny Davis is forming an exploratory committee to consider running for Cook County Board president, said his spokeswoman Tumia Romero. Davis commissioned a poll which showed “very favorable” numbers for his run, Romero said, including placing him 7 points ahead of County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, the presumptive front-runner who pulled out of the race last week.
- Bill - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:35 am:
Proft is a legend in his own mind. Carol and Eric are right on this one.
- Reddbyrd - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:37 am:
“Having some fun” was an expressing popularized by the late Steve Neal…usually after he roasted someone.
Neither Carol or Eric have those same skills
- shore - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:44 am:
I don’t know if the liberal media line is going to resonate with people in a paper in a city that overwhelmingly votes for democrats.
To me the only good thing about proft is that he’s neither a state government type or a millionaire, the only 2 kinds of republicans that ever seem to run. Some different ideas aren’t bad.
- A View from the Cheap Seats - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:46 am:
The Berkowitz interview is interesting….I noticed it was awfully difficult for him to justify the taxpayer funded contracts…being a conservative.
- Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:46 am:
Carol and Eric may be right about Mr. Profit, but he is right about the twisted media coverage in our area.
- Rob_N - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:50 am:
Holy cow! I feel a warm sting where Proft’s “rapier-like wit” crossed paths with my cheek.
The sockpuppets must be slow in this heat…
- BigDog - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:56 am:
“I don’t believe there’s anybody in this state that has more innovative market-oriented ideas than I do.”
I guess it’s hard to argue this point when stated by a man who earned 300 Large to be spokesman for a building!
- Jackson - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 11:59 am:
I love when conservatives can’t defend their positions so the blame the “liberal media”. It pathetic.
- Irked - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:00 pm:
=== “I am running for governor so that others like me, who might have lost faith in their party and their state, know that a choice exists and know that their fight has been joined,” ===
“Their fight has been joined”?
Is he running for Governor or Knight of the Round Table?
And lost faith in their state? Who EVER had faith in state government? Certainly not any Republicans.
try this, Dan-O:
“I’m running for governor because, like so many other Republicans, I believe our Party has abandoned its core principles, and we can’t get Illinois back on the right track until we get our party back on the right track. Instead of debating raising taxes, we should be debating lowering taxes. Instead of debating the creation of new government programs, we should be debating the creation of new jobs.”
And to answer Marin’s question, who does a Henchman like Proft hire to be his Henchman?
Someone like me, if he can.
- Just sayin - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:01 pm:
This is a fight Dan Proft can’t win. There is no explaining away his shady dealings in Cicero.
Also note that Cicero’s new spokesman also works for Proft’s media company. I would have to assume then he’s still feeding off Cicero and its low income residents. And who knows what the status is of all the other contracts.
Any conservative or any other Republican who attaches to this guy is making a big mistake. Cicero is guaranteed to produce more embarrassing news, which of course begs the question, if you create bad press for your client, how well are you performing as a PR person? What is the town paying for exactly?
Carol Marin has the moral high ground on this one and hopefully she’s not done. Proft has said some really nasty things about her. Proft likes to complain about bullies, but he’s the biggest one out there.
Also take a look at how Dominick, with the help of one or more of Proft’s employees, are trying to smear those women who came forward with allegations of sexual harrassment against Dominick. Town resources are being used to smear and intimidate women who work for the town. It also looks like they’re trying to scare other women who might think of coming foward.
Proft can’t run away from any of that. I personally think he’s just running for governor to divert attention. In any case, he’s not a serious candidate.
- Rob_N - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:17 pm:
Just sayin, Proft’s not a bully…
He’s a loudmouth D-list conservative spinster Ann Coulter-wannabe with an ego as big as Blago’s.
- Niles Township - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:20 pm:
Anyone remember that Danny Davis could have spared us Toddler’s years a sprez if he gave his to have his name put into nomination at the time.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:30 pm:
Guy seems to have an awful thin skin for a politician.
- Skeeter - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:31 pm:
I’m old enough that I almost never recoil in horror at anything written on Cap Fax, but the note that Danny Davis might run for Claypool’s old seat sure did it.
Danny Davis for the Cook County Board? I was trying to imagine a job where Danny Davis could do more damage than he does in his current position. That might be it. Has Davis ever said no to any spending? He is the exact opposite of what the Cook County Board needs.
- wordslinger - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:35 pm:
Skeeter, he was on the board before Congress.
- Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:40 pm:
Rob, tell us how you really feel. j/k.
Personally, AA thinks the guy is such a tool his parents should have named him Snap-On.
- Skeeter - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:47 pm:
Wordslinger
And how did that work out for everyone?
- Amy - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:53 pm:
the flap over the paper Proft started in college was all over the mainstream press here. probably some interesting quotes and thoughts from the young right winger back then. Proft is astoundingly bold in now claiming that he worked to defeat the huge public trough he worked for, the corrupt folks in Cicero.
- Carl Nyberg - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 12:55 pm:
Proft blames all attacks against him in the media on the fact that liberals run the media.
Last time I saw Proft he was speaking to the media on behalf of the Morton HS board of education.
Morton was considering *expelling* students for non-violently protesting the Iraq War.
Proft claimed that the punishments had nothing to do with ideology.
But in reading Proft’s complaints, it seems everything is about ideology to this guy.
BTW, how is being a PR flack for a medium-sized town with a bad reputation a stepping stone to becoming governor?
- Leroy - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 1:01 pm:
Glad to see fat contracts off poor minorities is becoming quite an issue.
Now when can I see this applied to other politicians in Illinois? I’m anxious.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 1:12 pm:
Proft is right about Marin not letting facts get in the way of her slant, however, he just gets upset because she manipulates better than him.
- the Other Anonymous - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 1:22 pm:
Is now a good time to remind folks that Proft named his PR firm after the fictional character Francis Urquhart (called FU for short) who commits blackmail and murder in his quest for political power?
- Obamarama - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 1:32 pm:
You’re a professional PR consultant yet Marin and Zorn get under your skin?
You’re a professional PR consultant yet you go on the defensive crying “liberal media bias!” when a reporter tells you that he can’t wait to cover your campaign.
Hack.
- Shared Responsibility - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 1:34 pm:
Skeeter:
Davis isn’t running for Claypool’s seat — he’s running for Board President.
- Wumpus - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 1:38 pm:
I don’t think Prof(i)t cares about winning, he wants the limelight of a campaign..to argue with people and to make himself a goto guy on something other than American Idol (for WLS, We Love Starfu…loving).
Marin, is this part really necessary? …we can see how much money he actually siphoned from this blue-collar, mostly Hispanic community
- Skeeter - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 4:08 pm:
Shared Responsibility –
Thanks. I misread the post.
That’s even worse though. After all those years of Todd, I might just leave the county if we are going to have four years of Danny K. Davis. Or maybe I will do something completely insane,like voting for Peraica.
- Danny - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 4:52 pm:
Patti Blagojevich would get more votes than Dan Proft.
- You gotta point - Wednesday, Jun 24, 09 @ 10:34 pm:
Danny Davis is on Ways & Means Committee so why would he want to leave Congress? He can shovel projects to his home district and Illinois til the cows come home! More importantly- who will take his place?
- Marco - Friday, Jun 26, 09 @ 11:20 am:
You are all pathetic, except maybe “Irked.” I have wasted 5 minutes of my life reading these gossipy blog comments that I will never get back. I was looking for just one real critique of Profts ideas and policy arguements. The closest I found was an ok rewrite of his speech by a guy that sounds like he needs a job. If any of you could stop using media buzz words like “Cicero” and “No bid” long enough to read Dan’s ideas, you might actually be surporised at how right he is.
- wordslinger - Friday, Jun 26, 09 @ 11:49 am:
–You are all pathetic..–
Marco, when you Proft guys really turn on the charm like that, my knees start to buckle.
Take a lesson from Francis Urqhuart — he was never quite so public with his misanthropy.
- A.K.A. Dorothy - Thursday, Jul 2, 09 @ 5:52 pm:
Dan is extremely intelligent and a great guy! He knows how to run campaigns and now will be the perfect candidate. It is time to stop the Chicago Machine from taking over the rest of Illinois! Someone needs to stop them-and he can do it!It is a good thing that someone who really knows the issues can finally take them on.