I got my Topinka dish; and I didn’t even have to go to the estate sale

A Topinka item with no purpose? How appropo!

During my more than two decades of being a political reporter-type person, I have accumulated some pieces of memorabilia ranging from a pot holder depicting the face of one-time Illinois gubernatorial candidate John Schmidt to a ball cap of Bill Bradley – the one-time New Jersey senator.

Yet the item that amuses me the most is a glass dish with lid that I have kept on whatever desk I have worked at since back when I was a Statehouse reporter-type person in Springfield.

THE DISH WOULD be ordinary glass, not even tinted any particular color. But it has embossed on its lid the Illinois State Seal and the name of Judy Baar Topinka – who back then was the state treasurer.

I remember Topinka herself giving me the dish, while also concocting a tale about the many different uses one could put the dish to. Which makes me suspect it’s really just a less-than-tacky little trinket that serves no real purpose.

I also recall the reason she felt compelled to give me the dish was that one of her aides saw all the political junk I had accumulated, and he was offended that Topinka’s persona was NOT represented amongst the mess.

Including Judy in the mess was something he thought she would appreciate.

ALL OF THIS popped into my mind when I learned how Topinka’s family held an estatesale this past weekend; allowing people into her cluttered home in suburban Riverside to give them a chance to find themselves a great bargain on some item they could use for themselves.

Considering that I remember Topinka herself occasionally talking of how she’d shop at second-hand stores and at estate sales, I suspect she’d find it totally appropriate that her possessions were disposed of in such a manner.

Just a few of the items for sale this weekend

I didn’t make it out to Riverside – heck, I already have my Topinka-related possession (which for all I know will wind up at an estate sale hopefully to be held decades from now once I pass on). Although I saw the description on estatesales.net and the photographs of the merchandise that make it clear a lifetime’s worth of possessions were being unloaded.

It looks like the ultimate garage sale was held Thursday through Saturday in Riverside. The perfect place for Topinka-type people to spend an afternoon rummaging for that item they absolutely had to own.

NOT THAT I would expect anything of significant value was for sale. For one thing, Topinka held an estate sale of some of her possessions back in 2007.

The listing back then said much political memorabilia (including autographed photographs of her with assorted politicos) was up for sale, with some of the proceeds given back to the Republican Party that she was a loyal member of for so long – even though she could also get along with Democrats.

Which make me think that our state would be so better off these days if we hadn’t lost Topinka back in December when she passed away just after Election Day but before she could begin serving the new four-year term as comptroller to which she had been re-elected.

Thinking of Topinka and her junk makes me wonder how she’d be reacting to the stalemate taking place these days between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic leaders of the General Assembly in putting together a budget for the soon-to-be current fiscal year.

I HAVE NO doubt she’d be criticizing Mike Madigan and John Cullerton for their actions – she was a GOPer, after all. But I also have no doubt she would be appalled by the childlike tantrums being thrown by government officials of all political persuasions these days.

I don’t think she would have had that same press conference that current Comptroller Leslie Munger held to blame Madigan and Cullerton for the pending government shutdown (only 16 days ‘til July 1). She would have been trying to find that middle ground that would prevent a shutdown from being necessary.

And she’d probably be the one who – in private – would tell Rauner in rather blunt language what a knucklehead he’s behaving like and how quickly all of this could turn the people of Illinois against him if he lets his partisan desires to whack at the labor unions prevent state government from fulfilling its obligations to the people.

  -30-

Why I think Judy would be “crying” at political partisanship done in her name

It seems that on the day most of us were ignoring the Chicago mayoral race (only 34 percent voter turnout that day), a state legislator from the far northwest suburbs was trying to slip a change into state law purely out of partisan political spite.

Feb. 24 was the day of the mayoral election. It also was the date that state Rep. Michael Tryon, R-Crystal Lake, introduced a bill for consideration by the General Assembly this spring to change the way in which governors can fill vacancies.

SPECIFICALLY, TRYON WAS concerned with the outcry that developed following the death in early December of state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.

Eventually, Gov. Bruce Rauner filled the spot with Leslie Munger. But for the month that existed between Topinka’s death and Rauner’s inauguration, former Gov. Pat Quinn long-time political ally Jerry Stermer to be the comptroller.

Now anyone with common sense sees nothing wrong with this. The former governor filled the immediate vacancy, and the current governor got to fill the new term that began when they were inaugurated in mid-January.

There was no interruption in the services provided by the state Comptroller’s office. There was no problem.

EXCEPT IN THE mind of Tryon and other political people who want to put partisanship above all other concerns. Hence, Tryon is trying to get a change in the law.

Specifically, he says a governor must be required to replace a vacancy with someone “of the same leading political party.” Because Topinka identified herself as a Republican, her replacement must also be a registered GOPer.

During the month that Stermer was comptroller, the constitutional office was headed by a Democrat. Which the Illinois Review website that spins all news from a conservative ideological viewpoint says was somehow wrong.

Actually, it’s just the way government operates, and ought to operate. Governors across the nation get the authority to make appointments and fill vacancies as they see fit. It’s one of the perks of the position.

IT ALSO IS a reason why people should take such elections seriously. Picking a governor impacts more than just who gets the right to call the Executive Mansion in Springfield home.

And yes, if Pat Quinn had managed to win re-election back in November, he would have had every right to pick a Democrat over a Republican – regardless of the fact that Topinka defeated Democratic comptroller nominee Sheila Simon back in November.

There certainly is precedent. Back in the early 1980s, Democrat Alan Dixon won the first of his two terms in the U.S. Senate half-way through his term as Illinois secretary of state.

Democratic partisan interests were hurt when then-Gov. James R. Thompson chose fellow Republican (and gubernatorial aide) Jim Edgar to replace Dixon. Those are the breaks, and Thompson had every right to make that choice.

I’M SURE THAT Tryon isn’t old enough to have been politically active back in the early 1980s (I was in high school back then), but I suspect he and his ilk would be screeching and screaming at anyone who would have dared to challenge Thompson’s appointment – which impacted our state by putting Edgar into the position by which he eventually springboarded to two terms of his own as governor.

Considering that Topinka was a Republican partisan who always managed to draw significant political support from Democrats as well, I’d like to think she would appreciate this very fact. I’d like to think she herself would not be taking seriously this bill – which I personally hope manages to get lost in the shuffle of legislative activity this spring.

The sooner that knuckleheaded partisan ideas like this fade away, the sooner we all can get around to having serious governing on our behalf.

Then, maybe I can get the late Lesley Gore song “Judy’s Turn to Cry” out of my head, because it was among the first thoughts that popped in there when I learned of this measure.

  -30-

Who’s going to out-politick whom on fate of Illinois comptroller post?

Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner let it be known this week whom he plans to pick to replace the late Judy Baar Topinka to serve as Illinois comptroller. But that doesn’t make the future’s post any more secure.

For now that we know Leslie Munger is the new person in charge of making sure government bills get paid in a manner sort of resembling being timely, it seems Rauner is pushing for the post’s abolishment.

ACTUALLY, HE WANTS a merger of sorts between the comptroller and the Illinois treasurer – the office that oversees the state’s financial investments and other income.

It has been a long-running political debate over whether state government finances ought to be overseen by two officials who hold state constitutional officer titles. It seems that Rauner wants to use the Topinka death as momentum to push this issue now, when in the past it has always limped along and withered away.

Now I know there are those who think this appropriate – they say Topinka herself favored merging the two offices, and that this could be her legacy. But I can’t help but be skeptical.

Perhaps it’s because I know my local history and remember the name Orville Hodge (the one-time state financial official who wound up doing prison time for his government antics).

IT WAS WITH that in mind that when the state Constitution was last re-written in 1970, delegates decided to split the duties related to state government’s financial tasks.

In essence, one person is in charge of bringing in as much money as possible for the state to spend, with another person being in charge of signing off on the checks that are issued to pay the state’s bills.

It provides a sense of ‘check and balance’ that I actually find appropriate. I’m not sure what is really gained by wanting to have one person serve as an all-powerful treasurer.

Except that some people see the concept of having that all-powerful person and get greedy at the concept of having that official on their side in partisan political maneuvers. Just like the idea of having a lottery to break the tie on a political redistricting panel was supposed to scare people into being afraid their side would get nothing, but instead their greedy nature makes them enjoy the chance to get all – and totally screw over the opposition!

RAUNER MADE IT clear this week that his appointment of Munger was part of a larger effort to have voters decide in the 2016 elections whether the two posts would be merged into one.

Whether such a plan can gain traction will depend on how it is worded, and which position is perceived as being the one done away with.

Which is why I found it laughable that Illinois Treasurer-elect Michael Frerichs issued his own statement this week saying he favors doing away with the comptroller post in 2016 – as though that is a big conciliatory gesture!

For one thing, his proposal merely protects himself. I don’t think Republican political interests (including Rauner) will meekly go along with that.

PLUS, I THINK it shows Frerichs’ political cluelessness if he really believes that can happen.

For the voters back in November chose Topinka to serve a four-year term running from Monday through mid-January of 2019. Whether there has to be a special election in 2016 to pick someone to finish the last two years, or whether Munger gets to have a whole four-year term without being elected has to be decided.

But we’re going to have the two positions in place at least through then – there’s no getting around that! Whether some time in the 2020s the two posts can be combined is a different issue. But it’s not going to happen anytime before then.

There’s still time between now and then. Let’s hope sense prevails and we don’t get a restructuring of our government just because current officials have dreams of more power for their partisan side!

  -30-

Quinn made the safe comptroller choice, no matter what anyone thinks

Gov. Pat Quinn made his pick Friday for who gets to be Illinois comptroller for three-and-a-half weeks, and it’s Jerry Stermer.

That’s a name that will draw a reaction of “Who??!?” from the bulk of people. Although anyone who pays attention to state government and politics and Quinn throughout the years will know the name.

HE ONCE WAS Quinn’s chief of staff, and has held many other positions under Quinn during that man’s time in various government posts. Most recently, he was the governor’s budget director.

Meaning he was the governor’s personal financial expert and the guy whose staff ought to be cooperating with aides to Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner to get them prepared for the state budget they’re going to have to propose in the spring of 2015.

So doesn’t it kind of make sense that Quinn, confronted with a situation where he has to pick a person to run the constitutional office that oversees the state’s bank accounts and makes sure bills get paid in a sort-of timely fashion, would turn to this trusted aide to oversee the state’s finances for the remaining weeks of his gubernatorial term?

To me it does. Personally, I always thought that if Quinn truly wanted to make a non-controversial appointment to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, he ought to just pick his budget director.

HE’S ACQUAINTED WITH how much of a mess the state’s finances are. He’s been around state government for years.

And because he’s not the kind of guy who has ever put his name on a ballot, he’s not likely to have any ambition to stick around beyond the Jan. 12 date on which state government transitions itself to the officials who got themselves elected back in November.

In fact, Stermer himself made a point of saying he would formally resign on Jan. 12 as of Noon, and that he’s not viewing his nearly-one month-long stint as a state constitutional officer as a way of boosting the pension benefits he will someday receive.

He could do that, but he says he won’t. Although he will accept the comptroller’s salary for the next three weeks – which is about $10,000 per year higher than the gubernatorial budget director salary he now receives, according to the Capitol Fax newsletter.

OF COURSE, WE have the ideologues who are upset that he would dare pick someone for a short-term vacancy whose loyalty presumably would be to him.

There are those who will perpetually argue that Topinka’s long-time chief of staff, Nancy Kimme, should have been the one to get a short-term post. Although my own experience in dealing with government staffers (as opposed to the elected officials they work for) is that they usually have the temperament that makes them suited to following orders and running things, rather than setting grand policy decisions.

A good staffer makes an elected official look better. They don’t necessarily make a good public official in and of themselves.

Besides, the ideologue types are likely to get a chance to nominate the long-term pick for Topinka, who won’t be able to fulfill the four-year term to which she was chosen last month.

TRYING TO CLAIM that Quinn was somehow being irresponsible with his pick on Friday merely makes them seem to be greedy! We still have to figure out what will happen for the long-term. Who will Rauner pick? Will the Legislature try to force a special election for the post in 2016?

Considering that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, hasn’t done anything yet to indicate he’s willing to cooperate with Quinn’s demand for a special session come Jan. 8 (it does need to be resolved before the mid-January transition to a new General Assembly), it makes me wonder if it will be more rhetorical nonsense spewed on the issue.

Take into account that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is the one who issued the opinion saying there ought to be a special election and Michael Madigan is saying he wants the two governor-types to resolve this on their own, what happens if father defies daughter?

Will there be a Merry Christmas at the Madigan household next week?

  -30-

Do we really need the cost of yet another election come 2016?

One thing we should take into account when walking into a voting booth to pick chief executives for government is that those people do get the authority to fill vacancies for lower posts, as they become available.

If you don’t trust the individual to fill government positions, then perhaps you should consider voting for someone else.

MY POINT BEING that I accept the fact that governors, in Illinois and elsewhere, have the ability to pick individuals for any posts that become vacant due to unexpected circumstances.

So as for those people out there who are now arguing it would be unconscionable for someone to get a full four-year appointment to serve as Illinois comptroller without having been voted into the office, I have to regretfully disagree.

We voted for the governor and gave him the appointment powers. And as for those who will say they didn’t vote for the governor and wanted the “other guy” in office, well “Too bad.” Your guy lost on Election Day.

This is pretty much my stream of thought this past week as Illinois government tries to figure out who the new state comptroller will be.

JUDY BAAR TOPINKA, who in 2010 was elected to a term that runs through noon on Jan. 12 and last month was re-elected to another four year term in the post, isn’t going to be able to fulfill her state constitutional duties.

In fact, the memorial service being held Wednesday at a labor union hall in suburban Countryside (just a couple of towns over from her long-time home in Riverside) will give people their last chance to pay respects to Topinka’s memory.

Then, the hard-core politicking to replace her will be underway. Although it can be argued that that politicking during the past week has been intense in its own weird way.

We can make a serious argument about whether Gov. Pat Quinn or Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner is being more petty and childish, while Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, is coming across as the mature, responsible adult here.

WHILE DAUGHTER LISA, the state’s attorney general, is coming up with the rules by which a Topinka replacement will be picked.

It seems that Quinn is likely to get to pick the person who finishes Topinka’s 2010 term, while Rauner will have say over who gets to take over when he assumes control of state government next month.

Rauner is making it clear that he wants his pick for a comptroller to run through 2019, while there are those who are arguing intensely that there ought to be a special election in 2016 (paired up with the presidential and U.S. Senate from Illinois seats that will be up for grabs) to pick a new comptroller.

As Illinois law and the state constitution is now written, the governor gets to fill the vacancy until a new election is held (in November 2018) and there are NO provisions for special elections.

ALTHOUGH THERE ARE clauses that are being interpreted by some to say that the General Assembly has the ability to amend the law to create a special election.

Which I think is a waste of time and financial resources that could be better spent elsewhere. Even with other government posts up for grabs two years from now, it still adds to the bureaucracy to add another post into the mix.

It’s true that governors filling vacancies usually get to do so for shorter time periods. Perhaps a year or so. Or, like Quinn, one month for comptroller.

But I don’t like the idea of rewriting state law every time unique circumstances occur. We need to have consistency in logic in the way our government operates, and this very unusual circumstance shouldn’t create a change that seems motivated more by the political partisanship of people whose preferred candidate lost in last month’s election.

A PART OF me still thinks it was silly to have a special election in 2010 to pick a replacement for the final six weeks of Barack Obama’s six-year U.S. Senate term, just because they despised the idea of a Rod Blagojevich-connected appointment getting any time on Capitol Hill.

If you hate the idea that Rauner will get a four-year appointment for a state constitutional officer, then perhaps you should work harder to defeat him should he decide to seek re-election in 2018.

Trying to create special elections sounds too much to me like trying to get a “Do Over,” which is an idea that real people grow out of on the playground roughly about the time they turn six.

  -30-

Quinn gets chance to create one last political headache for his critics

Pat Quinn has just over one month left in his time as governor, yet he’s going to create such a political firestorm. There’s just no way he could leave on a quiet note.

It is because of the death early Wednesday of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka – one month before she was to be sworn in for her second term as head of the post that cuts the checks to pay the state’s bills.

BECAUSE OF THE fact that she’s in charge of the office that keeps state government running financially (the state treasurer oversees the state’s investments), there needs to be a comptroller to ensure the government keeps running.

So to those people who, for politically partisan reasons, want Quinn to sit back and do nothing and defer to Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner until he takes office Jan. 12, that ain’t a gonna happen.

Quinn gets to pick a new state comptroller to finish out the remainder of the term to which Topinka was elected to in 2010. None other than the Illinois Constitution gives him that authority.

Although ideologues usually don’t care what some stinkin’ piece of paper has to say – they’re going to rant and rage that Quinn has no right picking anybody because of his electoral loss in last month’s elections.

I ALREADY HAVE read assorted commentary about how, if Quinn does get to sign off on a “Comptroller for a Month” position, he ought to defer to whatever Rauner wants to do. Even though when then-Gov. James R. Thompson had a secretary of state appointment to fill in 1981 when Alan Dixon moved up to the U.S. Senate, he picked fellow Republican Jim Edgar for the post rather than respecting the fact that voters picked a Democrat for the post.

Which means the idea of respect for party politics isn’t going to happen. It’s ridiculous to presume it will happen.

You’d think the fact that Quinn’s appointment will only run through mid-January and that Rauner himself will take office with a major appointment to fill (who gets to be comptroller for the four-year term running through early 2019 that Topinka was just elected to) would please those people.

But it won’t. Some people, particularly those who are trying to rewrite state law to call for a special election, are just way too eager to pick issues to complain about.

I’M NOT ABOUT to predict here who’s going to become the new state comptroller – not for the next month, nor for the next four years.

I’ve heard the political wisecracks about how Quinn likely won’t pick Sheila Simon to fill the post that she ran for, and lost, last month. After all, her refusal to continue to serve as Quinn’s lieutenant governor was a fairly prominent snub – perhaps the biggest of the now-complete campaign season.

I’ve also heard the names of “Tom Cross,” “Dan Rutherford” and “Evelyn Sanguinetti” all tossed about as possible picks by Rauner, along with the possibility of putting Topinka's chief of staff in the constitutional post.

The idea being that Cross came so close to winning state election (running for treasurer) that he ought to get some sort of post, while Rutherford serving as state treasurer has some sense of what the state’s financial situation truly is.

THE IDEA OF Lt. Gov.-elect Sanguinetti as comptroller is the most amusing to me – one person suggests that it would save the state some money in salary because Rauner could then go without a lieutenant governor during his gubernatorial term.

Of course, if that happened and Rauner wound up being unable to finish his term in office, that would make state Attorney General Lisa Madigan next in line to become governor without having to be elected. A thought that I’m sure would make the ideologues wretch in disgust.

Personally, I'd rather have someone as inexperienced as Sanguinetti in a do-nothing position like lieutenant governor, than being in charge of making sure bills get paid close to being on time. But maybe that's just me.

It will be intriguing to see who Quinn picks for the “Comptroller for a Month” post. Somebody will get to be a state constitutional officer for 31 (or so) days.

SIMILAR TO THOSE people who remember the week-long stint that David Orr once served as Chicago mayor in between the death of Harold Washington and the appointment of Eugene Sawyer.

Which was only significant in that it makes him the answer to a trivia question for political geeks.

  -30-

EXTRA: No more jokes on Judy

I woke up Wednesday to a slew of e-mail messages consisting of the various statements sent to me by assorted government officials, all eager to see who could be the first to eulogize Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka.

She was 70 and suffered a stroke Tuesday. After being taken to a suburban Berwyn hospital, she was pronounced dead early Wednesday.

THERE ARE THE endless reminisces about her ability to work in a bipartisan political manner, which is a rare commodity these days amongst elected officials.

There also are the “crazy aunt” Judy type stories being shared about her outgoing personality with a quirky sense of behavior.

Personally, I can recall her walking around the state Capitol building in Springfield wearing slippers designed to look like the feet of a gorilla. Topinka justified them by saying they were comfortable.

I also recall the 1995 inaugural ceremonies when she was first sworn in as state Treasurer when she shared a campaign anecdote that basically was a fart joke – which left many of the Republican-types eager to celebrate their overwhelming victory in that electoral cycle completely stunned.

WHEN IT COMES to bipartisanship, I recall a Republican campaign event where she offended some of her GOP colleagues because she invited then-Cook County Board President John Stroger – who showed up!

But I also recall this was a woman who back in 1996 seriously believed her GOP colleagues should nominate Phil Gramm to be president – and she was one of the few Illinois Republicans with enough of an independent streak not to “follow the leader” and think that Bob Dole was the key to defeating Bill Clinton in that election cycle.

Personally, I recall when I got laid off from my then-job at the Statehouse with United Press International in 1999. Topinka was the one public official who came to see me and offer condolences, including a kiss on the cheek. Most political people would have given me a "smack" with their fists.

A day later, her aides told me a job was open on her staff, if I was interested.

I WOUND UP not taking it, and in fact came back to Chicago in coming months. But it was nice to know that the offer was there and that somebody had noticed me in a favorable way.

There also was the fact that Topinka in the 1990s got hit with a so-called scandal when she tried to resolve a debt owed to the state by a company that built a luxury (by Springfield standards) hotel.

The company owed some $40 million and was likely to default. Topinka was willing to write off the debt in exchange for a $10 million payment – which turned out to be better than the miniscule amount of repayment the state ultimately got.

Topinka wound up getting dinged with repeated jokes about her love of luxury and hotels – which was about as far removed as possible from the reality of a woman who often shopped at consignment stores.

I EVEN REMEMBER once being on the brunt of a Topinka diatribe who was convinced I was going to find another excuse to write about that long-ago issue.

But if there’s one plus to the fact that Topinka’s spirit is no longer with us, it is this – she won’t have to endure any more stupid hotel jokes at her expense.

Rest in Peace, Madam Comptroller (and Treasurer). And condolences to son Joseph, daughter-in-law Christina and grand-daughter Alexandra.

  -30-

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-

EXTRA: Forgettin’ the home folks

How many votes did Democratic state comptroller hopeful Sheila Simon lose Monday night amongst residents of Illinois' Little Egypt with her wisecrack during her pseudo-debate during WTTW-TV’s “Chicago Tonight” program?

Both Simon and Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka were asked the proper pronunciation of “Comptroller.” Topinka said the silent “p” is a British holdover. Simon agreed, but then added she mispronounces many things, being a Southern Illinois resident.

I HAVE BEEN in way too many quarrels with Southern Illinois residents over how to say “Cairo,” “Vienna” and “Eldorado” – and who are absolutely convinced their regional dialect (KARE-oh, VIGH-enna and ElderRAYdough) is the only way to speak.

Then again, how many Germans snicker at the local “rubes” whenever they hear someone speak of Chicago’s “Goethe Street?” Named for poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (GUER-tah), they find it absurd that a Chicago cop  (back in my old City News Bureau days) once mocked me for not realizing it is spoken locally as “GOH-thee.”

  -30-

Does Oberweis really want Kirk support? Or to put senator in place?

It always amazes me when political rivals publicly expect their opponents to support them following an election.

KIRK: Keeping quiet for party loyalty

Any public statements of support would be half-hearted, at best. Outright lies, more likely.

IF I HAD managed to win a political primary election against a challenger who was ideologically opposed to me, what I would most want is that opponent to keep his (or her) mouth shut during the following general election cycle.

Don’t keep harping on how much you don’t agree with me. Accept the fact that you lost the primary election, and gear up for the future election that you will seek to win.

That’s basically the attitude I have with regards to Republican Senate nominee James Oberweis and whether he should expect any support from incumbent Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., in his bid to defeat Illinois’ other U.S. senator, Richard Durbin, D-Ill., come the Nov. 4 election.

Now I know that, strictly speaking, Oberweis and Kirk don’t fit my theoretical scenario.

KIRK DIDN’T LOSE to Oberweis in the primary elections held last month. Doug Truax did, and he has withered away in the public eye. Nobody expects him to say or do anything publicly. If anything, it would be regarded as tacky if he tried to seize the public eye any longer during this particular election cycle.

But Kirk has managed to offend his political colleagues – first by saying he has developed a relationship with Durbin during the past few years and doesn’t want to jeopardize the work they’re trying to do on Capitol Hill on so many issues.

Traitor!!!! RINO!!!!

OBERWEIS: Doesn't want undermining

Since, he has said he will campaign a bit on behalf of Oberweis. Which has the same people who want to label Kirk questioning how sincere anything he could say on Oberweis’ behalf could be.

HE REALLY OUGHT to go out of his way to avoid anything involving the election cycle – and focus on being a senator, since his term runs for two more years.

For the fact is that Oberweis is the favorite candidate of the conservative ideologues who want a government that will reinforce their views on so many social issues.

While Kirk is the more moderate. He’s got a solid enough supportive attitude toward military issues and certain economic questions that he wouldn’t fit in with Democrats – and people who say he’s really a Democrat are just being nonsensical.

TOPINKA: The GOP big winner?

On those social issues, Kirk is more influenced by the fact that he’s a North Shore suburban resident (Highland Park, to be exact). He’s urban in his viewpoint, compared to the fact that the majority of Republican officials these days tend to reflect the rural perspective of our society.

I EXPECT KIRK will wind up trying to do as little as he possibly can – largely because the kind of people who are Kirk supporters are the kind who will have serious trouble coming around to vote for Oberweis.

They are the reason why serious Republican operatives are writing off the Senate seat from Illinois as un-winnable, and are focusing their political efforts on backing Bruce Rauner’s bid for governor.

Pat Quinn politically is more vulnerable than Dick Durbin. Although it’s very possible that the outcome of this year’s election cycle could be both Quinn and Durbin keeping their electoral offices for another term (four years for governor, six for senator) – with the GOP victory coming in the form of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka taking down Sheila Simon’s political aspirations.

People who think that Kirk could do anything to bolster Oberweis’ chances are merely dreaming. If he’s really the GOP loyalist that I believe he is, he’ll pipe down until Nov. 5 – then speak out all he wants!

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EXTRA: Rauner wins – does this mean the Cubs will narrowly lose in ’14?

I made the wisecrack recently that the people who expected Kirk Dillard to do a political comeback and win the Republican primary for governor are the same kind who expect the Chicago Cubs to win the National League pennant in the near future.

Would Bruce Rauner actually move into the Executive Mansion in Springfield? It's not like the Winnetka resident with a Chicago high-rise condo and seven other residences across the country needs another place to live.

So does the close campaign we appear to have got this election cycle mean that the Cubs will not be quite so awful, and may actually finish a close second place?

CUBS FANS MAY well be satisfied with that. But for those who detest the concept of venture capitalist Bruce Rauner as governor, his apparent victory over all his GOP challengers is still bound to sting.

With about 10 percent of precincts still to be counted late Tuesday, it seems that Rauner got 40.8 percent of the vote, compared to 37.2 percent for the state senator from Hinsdale who in conceding defeat showed he could duplicate former Gov. Jim Edgar’s deadly-dull monotone-style of speaking.

Other candidates William Brady (14.8 percent) and Dan Rutherford (7.3 percent – and conceding defeat even while some polls in Chicago were kept open late because of morning delays in getting them open) also ran.

I really suspect that Rauner, with his personal ties to Mayor Rahm Emanuel, will be a turn-off in the rural parts of the state, where there are those who want a governor who will put a leash on Chicago’s desires, and not cuddle up to the current version of Hizzoner.

ALTHOUGH IN CHICAGO, Rauner had a 52.43 percent majority among those city dwellers who chose to cast a GOP ballot. And no, hearing Rauner’s lieutenant governor running mate mix a little Spanish into her introduction Tuesday night isn’t going to sway many people to change their vote.

What about the incumbent?

Gov. Pat Quinn seems to have a 71.9 percent share of the vote, compared to 28.1 percent for the soon-to-be forgotten Tio Hardiman.

In Chicago, Quinn got 79.07 percent of the vote, and the Cook County suburbs gave the guv a 79.62 percent share. In short, Quinn did better than that poll that said Hardiman would get a miraculous 36 percent share of the vote.

WHAT ELSE WAS notable about the results that are still straggling in from this Election Day?

Will Guzzardi seems to have succeeded in dumping state Rep. Toni Berrios, D-Chicago, from her Northwest Side legislative district. Some see this as taking a political post from a Latina and life-long Chicagoan, and find some offense in the fact that it was taken by an alleged “hipster’ who has only lived in Chicago a few years.

Personally, I’m more inclined to think this was a vote against her father – Cook County Assessor and county Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios and his policies of putting assorted relatives on government payrolls.

Not that those people have ever been capable of beating Joe at the polling place. So they took it out on his daughter. Not exactly something to boast about!

I HAVE MORE respect for the electoral victory Tuesday of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary and is now boasting of her “Soviet-style victory” that got her the 100 percent vote tally.

There’s also the fact that the Republican Party already is blasting Gov. Pat Quinn for the campaign ads he aired Tuesday night while votes were being counted that remind us of Rauner’s weaselly ways when it comes to the minimum wage.

Personally, I thought Quinn’s initial attack could have been harsher. It certainly wasn’t as critical as the remarks that newly-nominated U.S. Senate candidate James Oberweis made against incumbent Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., Tuesday night.

Which makes me wonder if this year’s gubernatorial campaign is going to be between a wimp and a whiner?

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EXTRA: Syria strike cost? Who knows! Aside from Topinka, who seems to care

I couldn’t help but be amused earlier this week by Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka when she told a chamber of commerce-type gathering in suburban Tinley Park her thoughts about U.S. military involvement in Syria.

TOPINKA: War too expensive!!!

Her serious point is that any military effort that isn’t completely pointless is going to be expensive – probably to the point that the U.S. government really can’t afford it.

OR, AS THE blunt-spoken official put it following an extensive trashing of Illinois state government for its financial mess, “We don’t need another war, because we can’t afford that either.”

Perhaps she’s on to something. Because the Congressional Budget Office released a report this week saying that it doesn’t have a clue how much a military strike involving Syria would wind up costing the federal government.

“The administration has not detailed how it would use the authority that would be provided by this resolution (authorizing the conflict); thus, CBO has no basis for estimating the costs of implementing,” such a military effort, the report reads.

Not that cost is going to discourage those people who are determined to use military force and justify it on the grounds that we’re teaching Syrian officials a lesson for their use of chemical weapons on civilians.

ALL MILITARY EFFORT is inherently expensive. Cost has never discouraged our war-mindset from kicking into gear in the past. It certainly won’t now.

And let’s be honest. The people who will vote against this particular request by President Barack Obama for Congressional approval to use military force in Syria are largely doing so for their own ideological hang-ups.

OBAMA: The war-time? prez

Perhaps it is the reason I have become apathetic about this issue. I realize it’s going to happen, regardless of whatever opposition (which under typical circumstances I would be inclined to agree with) gets tossed its way.

Or regardless of whatever financial sense Topinka tries to talk us into. Perhaps our focus ought to be on trying to minimize its impact – which might go a long way to containing its cost.

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