Rauner had better learn to act ‘blue’ if he wants to succeed politically

Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner’s election rhetoric has some Illinoisans (particularly those from outside metro Chicago) desiring a guy who’s going to be antagonistic and challenging and willing to provoke the urban opposition.

Particularly toward that guy in the Illinois House of Representatives named Madigan, who despite his unpopularity in some parts of the state was re-elected to his legislative seat with 16,393 votes running unopposed in his Clearing neighborhood (the Midway Airport area) district.

BUT HERE’S HOPING that Rauner was sincere when he said late Tuesday how he contacted House Speaker Michael Madigan and state Senate President John Cullerton and expressed a willingness to work WITH the legislative leaders to try to resolve the state’s problems.


Even though both the Capitol Fax newsletter and the Chicago Sun-Times questioned Wednesday whether Rauner made any call to Madigan. Let's hope he really did make the call.

Because if Rauner really is delusional enough to think he can single-handedly take down the structure of Illinois government, he’s going to find himself as isolated and unpopular and incapable of getting anything done as it can be.

I’d hate to think that Rauner spent nearly $30 million of his own money to win an election that would turn him into the pompous ass of Illinois politics. Nobody wins in that scenario.

THE REALITY IS that Rauner’s re-election is a political aberration. The factors that apply as to why it happened aren’t really part of any conservative Republican movement that some want to believe is sweeping across the nation.

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., won re-election to a fourth term in the U.S. Senate with ease; whomping all over Republican James Oberweis – who seemed envious of the fact he won’t be part of a new GOP majority on Capitol Hill.

There’s also the fact that Republicans were completely unsuccessful in their goal to win more seats in the Illinois House. Political pundits prior to the vote counting were convinced the GOP would gain two or three legislative seats – thereby taking away from Democrats their biggest political weapon. But as of Wednesday, it does not appear to have happened.

It seems we still have a veto-proof majority in both legislative chambers. If Rauner thinks he can arbitrarily reject anything the General Assembly passes, they have the power to overturn him!

YES, IT’S A loss for Democrats to lose a gubernatorial post anywhere in the nation. But this state basically is “blue” regardless of that one loss. It’s going to be Rauner’s role to adapt.

Let’s hope for his sake that he really doesn’t have an ideological social agenda (and my understanding is that on environmental issues, he does have an attitude that offends the conservatives amongst us). Otherwise, he’ll wind up being a one-termer – losing, perhaps, to Lisa Madigan come 2018?

I write this knowing full well that Judy Baar Topinka managed to get re-elected as Illinois comptroller (is Democratic challenger Sheila Simon now relieved she gave up the lieutenant governor post and didn’t go down to defeat with Pat Quinn?), and that Tom Cross may wind up as state treasurer.

That race (tied up at 48 percent apiece with about 1 percent of the votes remaining to be counted) could wind up giving Democrats a “take” from Republicans that would help to assuage the loss of the Executive Mansion – which no Dem has lived in for quite a while, and which even Rauner says he won’t use.

THEN, THERE ARE all those referendum questions that the GOP claimed were designed to encourage Democrat-leaning voters to show up at polling places.

They all passed by overwhelming margins – a minimum-wage increase, contraception coverage and a so-called millionaire's tax increase – meaning there is evidence that the people of Illinois won’t revolt if the conservative Republicans don’t get their way on these issues.

Particularly the tax increase that Rauner would want to believe was a major reason why people rejected “four more years” of Quinn as governor. Sixty-three percent of voters said “yes” to the idea.

Could it turn out that in the end, the ultimate losers will be the conservative ideologues who had fantasies of political conquest when they cast their ballots for Rauner?

  -30-

A serious allegation? Or just a way of trying to legitimize campaign sleaze?

I recall a day I once spent on the job for the now-defunct City News Bureau of Chicago when I was trying to confirm a sordid tale about Oprah Winfrey – one in which I came up with nothing!

RUTHERFORD: Facing a firestorm!

Not a single fact. Nothing confirmable. I didn’t get the story!

THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES a couple of weeks later came up with a gossipy blurb about it in one of their columns. And by day’s end, that had crumbled into falsehood.

I remember Winfrey feeling compelled to go on her television program live to address the rumor and deny it – while not giving any credence to the story.

I have been thinking about that incident for the past week; ever since Republican gubernatorial hopeful Dan Rutherford held that press conference on Jan. 31 along with former federal agents to try to defend himself from what he expected would be allegations made against him. The moment felt, to me at least, very Oprah-esque.

The stories being told now about Rutherford are sordid enough that some people want to believe it will be the end of the political campaign for the man from Chenoa who rose through the ranks of Illinois government from state legislator up to Illinois treasurer.

WHO NOW WANTS to make the big move up to governor!

For the past week, we have had stories published and broadcast about allegations with no details offered up. With reporter-types who knew the name of the person making the allegations, but choosing not to reveal it.

At least not until Monday. Which is the day that Ed Michalowski filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago against Rutherford. He says that while working for the state treasurer’s office, he was sexually harassed. He also claims he was pressured into doing political work on state government time. But most people are going to focus on the former accusation.

WINFREY: Will Dan be as successful?

Michalowski loses any claim to anonymity because his name is now on the lawsuit. It’s a matter of public record.

ALTHOUGH THE FACT that it is now out there, in a sense, does not make me feel there is any more legitimacy to the allegations.

I’ll state right now that I don’t know Michalowski or anything about him. And I certainly have no clue as to whether or not there is any legitimacy to his claims – which are that he experienced the harassment once at Rutherford’s home, once at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., and once at a tavern in Springfield.

Before we knew what he was talking about, Rutherford denied the allegations. He claimed more than a week ago that any trash talk being spewed now was politically motivated.

The sad thing is that my gut feeling makes me suspicious – of the people who are making the accusations. Particularly some of the attorneys who have been talking in recent weeks about the case!

FOR IN THE two-plus decades that I have followed the activity of state government, I have heard rumor and innuendo concerning Rutherford that would be consistent with these latest tales.

Is this lawsuit now just something on a piece of paper that is meant to give legitimacy to such trash talk? As in now that this case is out there, they can start spreading the other nonsense tales that they have spewed for years?

All in hopes that it could drive the Rutherford campaign out of the mix for governor? Which makes me wonder if the real villain becomes whichever Republican candidate stands to benefit the most IF Rutherford were to wind up dropping out of the campaign?

I’m not about to get into tales I heard about Rutherford years ago – other than to say they were always more resembling of whispers that were told anonymously by people who couldn’t necessarily get their stories straight.

QUINN: The ultimate winner?

WHICH MAY WELL be where this whole saga is now headed! Just one nasty mess that will take down everybody in its path.

Which also has me thinking that the ultimate beneficiary of this may well be the Pat Quinn campaign – since whomever winds up winning the Republican nomination is going to be beaten up, bruised and bloodied so badly that they may not be able to give it their best effort in trying to Dump Pat come November.

  -30-