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In a year that is expected to draw far more Democratic voters to the polls than the typical midterm election, Republicans in blue states will depend on the Democrats who helped them win in the first place, and who might be tempted to split their tickets this time. To woo them, most have signed on to policies that appeal to those voters. […]
A possible exception is Illinois, where Gov. Bruce Rauner, a Republican, has adopted a largely combative stance against the state’s Democrats. At the same time, he has annoyed his own party so much with his moderate social positions and budget woes that he barely survived a primary in the spring, inspiring a third-party bid from a conservative candidate.
“Bruce Rauner thought he could be Scott Walker when he got elected,” Thomas Bowen, a Democratic strategist and former political director for Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, said, referring to the Republican governor of Wisconsin. “He forgot that Walker had a supermajority in the state legislature and he did not.”
“There was a playbook for how to be a Republican in Illinois that’s been replayed over and over,’’ Mr. Bowen said. “Be fiscally astute, compromise and don’t pick fights unnecessarily.”
Thoughts?
…Adding… Former Gov. Jim Edgar appears to agree with Bowen…
JIM EDGAR: “You don’t go out and call a person a crook today and then tomorrow think you’re going to sit down and solve problems. That’s a huge mistake we’ve seen some politicians make in this state."
whomever could he be referring to?https://t.co/4R7xDyw8mG#twill #ilgov
— Illinois Working Together (@IllinoisWorking) August 9, 2018
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:22 am
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Previous Post: Rauner blames Republican Nazi and “nut” candidates on Madigan
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Oops, now you did it Rich. Where we could have has some discussion on what I believe to be the best approach. But no, you mentioned Edgar. Now the thread will be filled with Raunerbots repeating the ramp mantra.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:39 am
“have HAD”
Comment by Norseman Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:39 am
Bowen is right, but I’m a Democrat too, so our opinion isn’t likely to be followed. And there are Republicans like Dan Proft who don’t believe Jim Edgar is a Republican, so his opinion doesn’t count either.
I think Proft would say the key to victory for Illinois Republicans is to be fiscally illiterate, never compromise and pick fights with everyone. And that’s how Rauner’s governed so far. We’ll see if it works as an electoral strategy.
Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:39 am
I’m with Edgar.
Rauner couldn’t get 60 and 30, never had the Walker legislature, and chose…
“I’m frustrated too but taking steps to reform Illinois is more important than a short term budget stalemate”
Illinois suffered. Purposely.
Then there’s the Diana Rauner social agenda Bruce signed that isn’t close to anything GOP…
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:42 am
==Thoughts?==
Thompson-Edgar-Ryan: twenty-six years, more than a quarter century, of Republican governors. It wasn’t always perfect but all three managed to craft budgets and maintain the state in fairly decent shape to hand on to their respective successors.
“Be fiscally astute, compromise, and don’t pick fights” pretty much sums up what in retrospect - and after three and a half years of Rauner and his nihilistic, willful destruction - looks like a golden era.
Comment by Nick Name Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:43 am
So the NYT thinks Rauner’s social positions are “moderate”? Wonder what they consider liberal…
Comment by Cubs in '16 Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:46 am
==“Bruce Rauner thought he could be Scott Walker when he got elected,”==
As I’ve said before, I think Rauner wasn’t enough like Walker. Walker successfully divided the unions. Rauner didn’t even try.
Comment by Arsenal Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:49 am
===Walker successfully divided the unions. Rauner didn’t even try.===
The Decatur PowerPoint ruined that farce that Rauner even respected labor.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:51 am
Neither Jim Thompson nor George Ryan were particularly fiscally astute. Edgar was more so. But at the end of the day, his pension ramp wasn’t all that innovative. It just backended the debt on furture administrations. I’d call that more cowardly than astute. But I would agree with the premise that Bruce Rauner came to town clueless, made unnecessary enemies across the aisle and ultimately betrayed his loyalist supporters in the General Assembly.
Comment by FarmBoy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:52 am
===his pension ramp wasn’t all that innovative===
He passed it, which is more than we can say for anyone else. Wasn’t the greatest plan, but it was a plan that could pass.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:55 am
That playbook failed for Kirk and Dold two years ago. Miserably.
Huge parts of the Proft/Ives/Burn the Party down wing of the Illinois GOP preferred Duckworth over Kirk and Schneider over Dold. They hated Judy Baar Topinka for the last decade she was alive. Anyone supporting those types of candidates are labeled as RINO and traitors.
When I ask how the last election is working for them, you know the voting records and positions of Senator Duckworth and Congressman Schneider, I get blank stares followed by angry retorts.
Which is why the current Illinois GOP remains in the wilderness. Rauner is just this year’s scapegoat to them, just like he is the scapegoat for Democrats to cover up their years of failure to govern in this State.
Crazy State I live in.
Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:57 am
===Edgar was more so. But at the end of the day, his pension ramp…===
Governors own.
Another failure of Rauner.
Rauner couldn’t and hasn’t grasped that governors own they’d own terms, and their successes and failures. Can’t just own the good and blame the bad on others.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 10:58 am
- Louis G Atsaves -
Bruce Rauner is not a Republican.
If you want to argue (comically) that Rauner is a Republican, Rauner is the worst Republican governor in America
Rauner isn’t a scapegoat. Rauner, including Diana, destroyed the ILGOP…
… wanting taxpayer funded abortions, signing “sanctuary state” legislation, while destroying social services, running up debt by refusing to pay vendors, and passively forcing state universities to close… to dismantle labor.
That sound like a Republican to you?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:04 am
–“He forgot that Walker had a supermajority in the state legislature and he did not.”–
That sounds important. Someone should have reminded him.
Comment by wordslinger Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:12 am
Rauner represents, for me, a huge bag of missed opportunities. When Schwarzenegger was elected in CA, his first year or two as Governor played out much like Rauner’s. Constant fights and no compromise. After realizing this wouldn’t work, he made some changes and ended up being a pretty successful and popular governor.
I kept waiting for Rauner to do the same. I expect that if he had, he would have found a surprising ability to work with a Speaker who was never afscme’s best friend. Instead he just kept hanging on to the idea that total war would give him all that he wants. Whether he got a lot of bad advice over the last few years or just has a pig-headed viewpoint, this whole endeavor has just been one giant disappointment. And all he has to show for it is a few extra seats in the House and a 27% approval rating.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:23 am
===That sounds important. Someone should have reminded him.===
All those superstars and BTIA, and no one said a word. Hm.
Comment by Nick Name Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:39 am
=just like he is the scapegoat for Democrats to cover up their years of failure to govern in this State.=
Yeah, he is just a “scapegoat” he hasn’t had a hand in exacerbating our problems./s
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:39 am
Rauner must have thought tons of money would plough through any obstacle (as it always had for him), expanding his wardrobe (costumes) would buffalo the hicks, and demonizing the other side would win him genius/hero status. He is thoroughly dislikable and the author of his own diminishment. Part of that personality is he isn’t likely to ever take an honest look in the mirror. Honesty is for suckers.
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:47 am
“Whether he got a lot of bad advice over the last few years or just has a pig-headed viewpoint….”
This. In equal parts. That is his deal.
Comment by allknowingmasterofracoondom Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:52 am
=== That playbook failed for Kirk … Miserably. ===
Really Louis. Dillard initially ran hard right expecting his money men would stay with him. When he found that Rauner had already co opted the rich, he started going back to the middle. Dillard only lost by 2%. Had he not flirted with the extremists, I think he would have gotten union support earlier and been successful.
Bottom line poor Louis is that your “not in charge” favorite proved that he’s a miserable failure. If not for his money, he would have been toast in the primary. Wish him well on his retirement to Italy.
Comment by Norseman Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 11:56 am
How did the Jim Edgar go along to get along approach go?
The Combine did very well.
His failure to address the structural problems in state finances ,
even in a booming economy and kicking the can down the road.
Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:09 pm
What Bowen said, plus Rauner seemed to think if he just made life miserable enough for poor people and other dependents on state services, the Democrats would cry uncle and agree to some major concession to stop the suffering. It may have been a spillover approach from Rauner’s business career. Whatever it was, he fatally misjudged Mike Madigan and / or Rauner’s ability to split the Democratic caucus.
Comment by ZC Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:12 pm
Rauner destroyed his administration just days into his administration when he did a powerpoint presentation in Decatur, exposing the new governor as a liar.
He knew he would lose months earlier if he told us during the campaign what he told us in Decatur. He lied and covered up his pathological need to ruin working class people across Illinois.
Consequently Rauner gutted his credibility, any trust and his own voter base.
NYT?
Always wrong.
Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:20 pm
You might think a Republican governor looking to win a second term would listen to the last Republican governor to win a second term…
Comment by Anonymous Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:23 pm
=“Bruce Rauner thought he could be Scott Walker when he got elected,”=
Scott Walker realizes that he can no longer be Scott Walker. That should tell the governor something.
Comment by Pundent Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:27 pm
back in 1994 during the budget debate, the speaker told the Trib that Edgar seemed emotionally unstable; guessin’ he thought yeah sometimes you have to pick that fight
Comment by ahh but those were good times Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:28 pm
===Now the thread will be filled with Raunerbots repeating the ramp mantra===
lol
Prescient.
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:44 pm
I’m with Edgar too.
Rauner does not want to work with Madigan. He wants to obliterate him. The state pays for the massive damage of Rauner’s war.
Rauner’s not a conservative. He is responsible for debt explosion. What’s the attraction to Rauner by Republicans and conservatives? Inflicting pain on opponents? Is that what conservativism has come down to now?
Quinn was more conservative than Rauner, based on debt and paying bills, which reflects worse on Rauner.
Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 12:50 pm
=====Now the thread will be filled with Raunerbots repeating the ramp mantra==
“When you can’t get around it, jump over it.”
- Edgar Ramp, 1994
Comment by City Zen Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 1:00 pm
The other reason Rauner couldn’t be Scott Walker, is Illinois is not Wisconsin. You have two big cities with their spillover to deal with - Illinois and St Louis, which has helped give Dems an enduring toehold at least downstate. There’s a slightly larger percentage of college educated white voters here than in many other midwestern states.
But the biggest thing, is IL has been a destination state for decades for Latino / Hispanic immigration, through Chicago but now spreading out into the suburbs, and this is a group that’s been socialized into the Democratic party, unlike say in Texas. If you’re a Republican running statewide you simply cannot get around that. According to exits, Trump narrowly won white voters in IL in 2016, but add in the African American vote -and- the Latino vote, and Republicans got crushed.
Until the GOP develops a viable outreach to Latinos in IL they are screwed. And they will not achieve such an outreach so long as Trump is president. Ergo … Rauner is screwed.
Comment by ZC Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 1:13 pm
I worked for Thompson and Edgar, and was around for Ryan’s time. They each had steady and able hands in their budget shop who were respected on both sides of the aisle.
Who can name Rauner’s budget directors?
Besides his stubbornness and general cluelessness, Rauner’s staffing decisions have crippled his admin in so many ways.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 1:34 pm
The thread will also be filled with Madigan bots defending the Governor Edgar as “fiscally astute”.
Ask yourself, how did the “don’t pick fights unnecessarily policy work out?
Not so well, both sides took the easy route and passed unconstitutional , unbalanced budgets for decades and now we have to pay for their comity.
Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 1:58 pm
===Not so well, both sides took the easy route and passed unconstitutional , unbalanced budgets for decades and now we have to pay for their comity.===
… just like Rauner just did. Rauner signed a budget with a 32% tax increase, no reforms, and the balance budget premise you claim is phony.
Rauner is a failure. What would be different in a Rauner second term?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 2:06 pm
What would be different in a Rauner second term?
There would be a check on Speaker Madigan’s agenda that has failed Illinois. The record is clear, Illinois economy went into a precipitous decline and an explosion in debt starting in 2003
“From 2003 to 2014, a decade when Madigan virtually controlled state government with majorities in both legislative chambers and Democratic governors, Illinois’ GDP grew by only 38.4 percent, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, or BEA. By comparison, U.S. GDP grew by 50.5 percent during that time.
Illinois ranked 41st in the U.S. for the 2003-2014 period, according to BEA information Compare Illinois’ performance with that of Texas, a high-growth state, which ranked 3rd with 94.3 percent growth. And neighboring Indiana also beat Illinois with a 40.8 percent growth rate in GDP.”
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/the-proof-is-in-the-gdp-illinois-needs-to-grow-its-tax-base-not-its-tax-rate/
If you want a return to the dreadful policies implemented during the 12 years of Blagoevich and Quinn vote JB.
Speaker Madigan and the Democrats would not have total control of all 3 branches of state government if Rauner wins,
Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 2:20 pm
===There would be a check on Speaker Madigan’s agenda that has failed Illinois.===
So what was Rauner doing while failing these past three and half years, capitulating to Madigan?
The only way your comment even works is if you admit Rauner has been a colossal failure and you hope Rauner can now, after failing, can stand up to Madigan “next time”
Why re-elect a failure you readily admit failed?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 2:28 pm
So what was Rauner doing while failing these past three and half years, capitulating to Madigan?
You must be the only person in the state who thinks Governor Rauner has capitulated to Speaker Madigan for the past 3 1/2 years.
It is the Democratic party in Illinois who have capitulated to the Speaker, the least popular politician in the state
JB says publicly people aren’t leaving Illinois because of high taxes
“People aren’t leaving because of high taxes.”
“The Paul Simon Public Policy Institute commissioned a poll of Illinoisans in 2016. It found 47 percent of those surveyed wanted to leave the state, the most common reason being taxes.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-sta-berg-column-st-0218-20180216-story.html
Comment by Lucky Pierre Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 2:43 pm
Lucky Pierre - As the governor has said, he not in charge.
Comment by Ike Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 2:47 pm
“I’m not in charge” - Bruce rauner
Comment by Ike Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 2:50 pm
OW, LP has us figured out, eh? Madigan bots.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 2:58 pm
===You must be the only person in the state who thinks Governor Rauner has capitulated to Speaker Madigan for the past 3 1/2 years.===
He signed a Madigan budget, with the 32% tax increase, with no reforms, and no cuts.
The only thing missing from Rauner being a Madigan Mushroom is voting for Magigan for Speaker, lol
Rauner is the most vulnerable and worst Republican governor for many reasons, and while under water, Rauner has no constituency. One reason is failing as governor isn’t a good look for a governor,
==…has us figured out, eh? Madigan bots.===
“Lucky Pierre” and - Louis G Atsaves -
“If you’re not with Rauner, you’re with Madigan.”
Rauner isn’t a Republican.
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Aug 10, 18 @ 3:03 pm