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Russ Stewart
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July 2002 Articles
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July 31, 2002
DEMOCRATIC
“SWEEP” OF STATE OFFICES LOOKS MORE LIKELY
In 1992, Clinton won Illinois with 2,453,350 votes, while
then-President George Bush had 1,734,096 votes. The energized
Democratic vote soared by nearly 900,000 over 1990, while Bush
barely topped Edgar’s vote. In the 1998 governor’s race,
Republican George Ryan got 1,714,094 votes, while Democrat Glenn
Poshard got 1,594,191. Democrats resoundingly won two statewide
offices -- Secretary of State (by 437,206 votes) and Comptroller
(614,413 votes) -- and barely lost the governorship (by
119,903 votes), the U.S. Senate seat (by 98,545 votes), and the
state treasurer’s post (by 62,279 votes). Jim Ryan’s
average vote in the last three elections was 1,773,196, which is
almost exactly the Republican base vote. full
article...
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July 24, 2002
CAN
JIM RYAN STILL WIN?
Ryan fought cancer, and, to date, won. If George Ryan gets
indicted before November, then Jim Ryan is doomed. Ryan must
pledge not to raise taxes, and must demand that Blagojevich do
likewise. Ryan must “take the pledge” not to raise income or
sales taxes if he’s governor, and, if Blagojevich doesn’t,
then Ryan has a huge opening. As
governor? Right now, the Ryan stance is the losing stance.
Ryan must
demonstrate that Blagojevich is not competent to be governor,
and that means a nasty, negative campaign. full
article...
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July 17, 2002
BLAGOJEVICH
VOTE RECORD GIVES RYAN SMALL TARGET
Poshard,
through his 10 years in Washington, had voted against gay
rights, and had voted to restrict the availability of abortion.
Ryan’s strategy worked. Blagojevich
adroitly straddled some issues: He voted to expand federal law
enforcement powers to fight terrorism, but opposed broadened
electronic surveillance. Attacking Blagojevich as too liberal on
social issues is counter-productive. Ryan has already run TV ads
Downstate attacking Blagojevich as pro-abortion and pro-gay
rights. Ryan could try to paint Blagojevich as a big-spender and
foe of tax reduction. full
article...
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July 10, 2002
LARGE
DEMOCRATIC FIELD TARGETS FITZGERALD IN 2004
Fitzgerald
thought that Ryan’s pal would make the museum a haven for
political patronage. Fitzgerald’s
voting record has been generally conservative, but with some
significant deviations, particularly on environmental issues.
Unlike Durbin, Fitzgerald consistently opposed any hikes in farm
subsidies, and backed cutting those subsidies by $1.9 billion.
Both Durbin and Fitzgerald opposed increasing senators’ pay by
$4,900. Moseley-Braun spent $7.2 million. For
2004, Fitzgerald fervently hopes that Moseley-Braun tries for a
comeback. full
article...
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July 3, 2002
STATE
SCANDALS HARKEN TO “MIGHT-HAVE-BEENS”
With
over 5,000 state jobs at his disposal, Ogilvie aggressively set
about rebuilding the Republican Party. Paul Powell died in 1971,
and Ogilvie appointed a Republican as Secretary of State, which
added another 3,000 jobs. In Chicago, long-dormant Republican
ward organizations suddenly became energized, suffused with
state workers compelled to work precincts, and with pro-Ogilvie
Republican committeemen. Stanley initiated and co-coordinated
the Republican ward committeeman campaigns of pro-Ogilvie
candidates Chester Lizak in the 45th Ward (who lost) and Peter
Piotrowicz in the 39th Ward (who won). Ogilvie might have won
the nomination and election. full
article...
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