Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Berkowitz to join headliner Paul Vallas on Tom Roeser's weekly WLS- 890 AM radio show, Political Shoot-out, this Sunday night at 8:00 pm

After all the turkey left-overs have been eaten on Sunday and there is virtually no football left to watch, don't despair, you will still have one big treat in store for you.

Jeff Berkowitz will join Paul Vallas, former Chicago Public Schools CEO (1995-2001) and first runner-up to Rod Blagojevich in the 2002 Democratic Primary for Governor, as a guest this Sunday night on Tom Roeser’s often edgy, breaking news Sunday, call-in radio show, Political Shoot-out, on WLS 890 AM Radio, from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
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You say you don't live within the WLS broadcast area? Not to worry. You can go here to listen to the program, live, on the web.[You may encounter some technical problems in signing on-- allow five minutes, or so, for following the prompts for technical difficulties, and you should be able to hear WLS live on the web] See here for Tom’s Blog which has Tom's thoughts on a great many matters, political and otherwise.

Upset with something Berkowitz said on his show, Public Affairs, something he wrote on this blog or just the way he looks? Tom Roeser’s show on Sunday night is your chance to fire back. A free fire zone, so to speak. Also, you can help shape the show and its topics by calling in with your questions and comments—312-591-8900.

It is this journalist's guess that Tom Roeser will focus a bit more on national issues than is usually the case, in that Paul Vallas, has put in stints during the last decade as the major educational honcho in New Orleans, Philadelphia and Chicago, not to mention a run for Governor in Illinois. Thus, Vallas brings perhaps more of a national perspective than many of Tom's guests. who tend to focus on Illinois state and local political issues.

It might be interesting, for example, to get Vallas' perspective as to the current priorities of Louisiana Gov. Jindal, who is himself a bit of a national figure. It might also be good to get Vallas' views about President Obama's and his Secretary of Education's [Arne Duncan] education reform efforts, e.g., the race to the top, given Paul Vallas' enormous education reform credentials.

Further, now that Vallas appears to have become a Republican, what is his perspective on the current Republican national leaders and the likely crop of Republican Presidential candidates in 2012?

Of course, given Paul Vallas' knowledge of Illinois' historical and perhaps current budget and finance issues, as well as what he knows about Democratic and Republican Party pols, it would also be worthwhile to get Vallas' views on the Democratic and Republican gubernatorial primaries, both as to issues and personalities.

Finally, there is some buzz that Paul Vallas might run for Mayor of Chicago in 2011. Would Vallas do that, irrespective of whether Mayor Daley decides to seek re-election? Indeed, perhaps Vallas would like to take on the Mayor. Read this for some historical background on the Vallas-Daley relationship and what that author seems to think President Obama learned from Mayor Daley.

Of course, the above are just some guesses by this journalist as to some of the topics that this Sunday night's show might touch on. The ultimate choice is up to the show's host, Tom Roeser, and his listener call-ins.

This journalist's surmise as to the political (and other) personalities who might be discussed this Sunday night include, without limitation, President Obama, Vice-President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Senate President Reid, Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Minnesota Gov. Pawlenty, General Petraeus, Mayor Guiliani, Former Alabama Governor Huckabee, Wisconsin Cong. Paul Ryan, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; Illinois Republican Primary Gov. Candidates Proft, Andrzejewski, Brady, Dillard, Ryan, McKenna and Schillerstrom; Democratic Guv candidate and State Comptroller Dan Hynes, Democratic Governor Pat Quinn; Republican U. S. Senate Candidates Cong. Kirk, Pat Hughes and John Arrington; Democratic U. S. Senate candidates David Hoffman, Cheryle Jackson, Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Jacob Meister.
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Jeff Berkowitz, Show Host/Producer of "Public Affairs," and Executive Legal Recruiter doing legal search can be reached at JBCG@aol.com. *************************************************************
"Public Affairs," is a weekly political interview show airing in Chicago on CANTV, in the Chicago metro area, Aurora and Rockford on Comcast and also often on the Illinois Channel. You can watch the shows, including archived shows going back to 2005, here.
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More than 116 of our shows from the last two years are posted on the Public Affairs YouTube page . Our most recent shows w/ Democratic Primary U. S. Senate Candidate David Hoffman, 7th CD candidate Chicago Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon [24th Ward]and State Comptroller candidate Clint Krislov are now streaming.
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