Scooping the Chicago Tribune/ Let's make a Deal
Revised on Monday at 6:30 pm.
Jeff Berkowitz: Some of my reliable sources tell me that Judy Baar Topinka this week will announce, perhaps as early as “early this week,” …that she is running for Governor and my reliable sources tell me that she will be asking Doug Whitley to join her as the Lt. Gov. candidate. [Whitley is the President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, See Whitley here on “All Kids.”]
Tom Roeser: Well, you know, if that comes to me, I’d say that I wouldn’t tremble about it. Because, she [Topinka] has enough baggage to carry through—that people running against her are going to be very busy, but I will turn it over to the Senator [Bill Brady].
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Sunday Night, 8:20 pm, Tom Roeser’s “Political Shoot-out Program,”
On WLS-AM Radio [See here].
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Monday Morning, Chicago Tribune, Top of the Fold:
"Topinka tells GOP: I’ll run for Governor." See here for the Monday morning article and [See here] for a Tribune online update.
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As to Whitley, we’ll have to see.
But, as to Judy, I would say the Tribune was scooped, and from what I can tell, I was the first in the media, MSM or otherwise, to do so. Not that I would ever pat myself on the back, though. It is way too much of a stretch. But, see Tom Roeser's gracious acknowledgement of same.
Tom also refers to a rumor that Joe Birkett may trade his good name and try to give Topinka credibility with the conservative Republican base by joining the Topinka Ticket. Joe and Senator Brady have apparently made that path a feasible one by giving Illinois' RNC whealer dealer honcho, Bob Kjellander a pass, making both Joe and Bill more attractive political dates [or is "partner," the more politically correct word selection].
Brady or Birkett, if they consummate the deal with Topinka, would of course expect to become Lt. Gov. in 4 to 8 years. It is unclear whether many of the true-blue believers, the 29% or so who voted for Pat O'Malley for Governor in the 2002 Republican Primary, would follow Brady or Birkett to such a ticket.
However, such a deal did work for JFK in 1960 and for Reagan in 1980 [the Reagan deal was of course, in reverse and the JFK deal was in a different party]. On the other hand, conservative Republicans got the disastrous tax increase, recession and Souter [Sununu inspired] Supreme Court Appointment Presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush by making that deal with someone many conservatives would consider the devil. Burned once, twice shy? [As an aside, "liberals," had to live with LBJ for five years as President as a result of their deal with the "devil," and they detested every minute of it, notwithstanding his "Great Society," programs and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.]
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Jeff Berkowitz, Host and Producer of Public Affairs and an Executive Recruiter doing Legal Search, can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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Jeff Berkowitz: Some of my reliable sources tell me that Judy Baar Topinka this week will announce, perhaps as early as “early this week,” …that she is running for Governor and my reliable sources tell me that she will be asking Doug Whitley to join her as the Lt. Gov. candidate. [Whitley is the President and CEO of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, See Whitley here on “All Kids.”]
Tom Roeser: Well, you know, if that comes to me, I’d say that I wouldn’t tremble about it. Because, she [Topinka] has enough baggage to carry through—that people running against her are going to be very busy, but I will turn it over to the Senator [Bill Brady].
******************************************
Sunday Night, 8:20 pm, Tom Roeser’s “Political Shoot-out Program,”
On WLS-AM Radio [See here].
**********************************************
Monday Morning, Chicago Tribune, Top of the Fold:
"Topinka tells GOP: I’ll run for Governor." See here for the Monday morning article and [See here] for a Tribune online update.
****************************************
As to Whitley, we’ll have to see.
But, as to Judy, I would say the Tribune was scooped, and from what I can tell, I was the first in the media, MSM or otherwise, to do so. Not that I would ever pat myself on the back, though. It is way too much of a stretch. But, see Tom Roeser's gracious acknowledgement of same.
Tom also refers to a rumor that Joe Birkett may trade his good name and try to give Topinka credibility with the conservative Republican base by joining the Topinka Ticket. Joe and Senator Brady have apparently made that path a feasible one by giving Illinois' RNC whealer dealer honcho, Bob Kjellander a pass, making both Joe and Bill more attractive political dates [or is "partner," the more politically correct word selection].
Brady or Birkett, if they consummate the deal with Topinka, would of course expect to become Lt. Gov. in 4 to 8 years. It is unclear whether many of the true-blue believers, the 29% or so who voted for Pat O'Malley for Governor in the 2002 Republican Primary, would follow Brady or Birkett to such a ticket.
However, such a deal did work for JFK in 1960 and for Reagan in 1980 [the Reagan deal was of course, in reverse and the JFK deal was in a different party]. On the other hand, conservative Republicans got the disastrous tax increase, recession and Souter [Sununu inspired] Supreme Court Appointment Presidency of George Herbert Walker Bush by making that deal with someone many conservatives would consider the devil. Burned once, twice shy? [As an aside, "liberals," had to live with LBJ for five years as President as a result of their deal with the "devil," and they detested every minute of it, notwithstanding his "Great Society," programs and passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.]
****************************************
Jeff Berkowitz, Host and Producer of Public Affairs and an Executive Recruiter doing Legal Search, can be reached at JBCG@aol.com
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