I can understand why Lisa Madigan is being so cautious in trying to figure out what elective office she will seek in the 2010 elections.
No matter what strengths she would bring to the campaign season, all it would take would be one stupid move now and her whole future in public service could get flushed away.
THINK I’M KIDDING? How many people remember Loleta Didrickson these days?
Now I’m not saying that the one-time state legislator from suburban Flossmoor who served one term as Illinois comptroller was ever as highly regarded among Republicans as Madigan is among Democrats.
I don’t think Didrickson ever had the potential to go as high as Madigan does. But I recall her political career coming to a crashing end back in 1998.
Didrickson was among the flood of Republican officials who took over state government in 1994, creating a two-year period where the GOP ran everything and another two years where the Democratic voice on issues was a mere whisper.
BY 1998, THE Republicans were trying to figure out how they could run a solid ticket for the elections so that they could ensure their chances of keeping power. Of course, we now know they were unable to do so, and that election cycle was the beginning of a process that four years later saw the Democrats gain as solid a hold over state government as the Republicans had in 1995 and 1996.
How did this affect Didrickson?
After serving her one term as state comptroller, she decided she wanted to move up on the state government pecking order. Loleta got it into her head that she wanted to become Illinois secretary of state.
Aside from putting her name on the driver’s license or state identification card that virtually every adult Illinoisan carries, it is a position that would put her in charge of a large staff of state government employees.
BEING THE STATE’S secretary of state would make her a significant politician – even if she were never to gain a higher office in her career.
The problem was that the powers-that-be of the Republican Party had hopes of trying to show they weren’t totally the party of aging white guys, and they talked of having Didrickson run for the U.S. Senate seat then held by Carol Moseley-Braun.
They had dreams of the Moseley-Braun/Didrickson campaign, and had hopes that all the trash talk they could dredge up against the senator from Hyde Park could give them the Senate seat.
Didrickson ultimately decided to ignore the desires of the party bigwigs, and she announced her campaign to run for Illinois secretary of state.
THOSE SAME PARTY bigwigs had other officials in mind for secretary of state, so they weren’t particularly pleased. And they wound up doing as little as they had to in order to bolster her chances of Election Day victory.
After about a month of campaigning, Didrickson decided her inner party struggles weren’t worth it. She changed her mind, and shifted her campaign to a bid for the U.S. Senate.
Not that the party bigwigs were that forgiving. They did as little as they had to for her campaign, and it weakened her to the point that she wound up losing the Republican primary that year to Peter Fitzgerald (who wound up going on to narrowly defeat Moseley-Braun in the general election). Loleta has yet to hold elective office since.
When I hear the reports these days of how Lisa Madigan has been asked to show up at the White House and is receiving some pressure to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Roland Burris (even though I get the sense her personal preference would be to make the gubernatorial run), I wonder if she runs the same risk as Didrickson – having a whole lot of politicos turn on her if she dares to think for herself and seek the office she wants.
NOW I REALIZE that Madigan has the advantage of calling the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives “Dad.” She would never get the complete turnabout that Didrickson got 11 years ago, and some people would wonder if trying to turn on Lisa would cost them in terms of retribution from the House speaker.
But would the thought of taking on an incumbent Democrat as governor (Pat Quinn) create a similar hostility as when Didrickson dared to think she (instead of some DuPage County officials) could be secretary of state?
She’s going to have to make up her mind soon what office she decides to seek. After all, the campaign season is getting in gear these days and any candidate who’s going to do serious fundraising and building up significant support has to get going now if they want to be taken seriously for the February primary elections.
But a wrong choice now could result in the names Lisa and Loleta being paired up in Illinois history in a most unusual manner.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: A whole lot of other political people can’t decide for themselves what (http://www.sj-r.com/news/x931218535/Madigan-decision-could-change-game-for-other-politicians) elective office to seek until they know Lisa Madigan’s intentions.
While people always expected Madigan to stretch this decision out as long as possible, the (http://chicagoargus.blogspot.com/search?q=lisa+madigan) deadline is approaching.
No matter what strengths she would bring to the campaign season, all it would take would be one stupid move now and her whole future in public service could get flushed away.
THINK I’M KIDDING? How many people remember Loleta Didrickson these days?
Now I’m not saying that the one-time state legislator from suburban Flossmoor who served one term as Illinois comptroller was ever as highly regarded among Republicans as Madigan is among Democrats.
I don’t think Didrickson ever had the potential to go as high as Madigan does. But I recall her political career coming to a crashing end back in 1998.
Didrickson was among the flood of Republican officials who took over state government in 1994, creating a two-year period where the GOP ran everything and another two years where the Democratic voice on issues was a mere whisper.
BY 1998, THE Republicans were trying to figure out how they could run a solid ticket for the elections so that they could ensure their chances of keeping power. Of course, we now know they were unable to do so, and that election cycle was the beginning of a process that four years later saw the Democrats gain as solid a hold over state government as the Republicans had in 1995 and 1996.
How did this affect Didrickson?
After serving her one term as state comptroller, she decided she wanted to move up on the state government pecking order. Loleta got it into her head that she wanted to become Illinois secretary of state.
Aside from putting her name on the driver’s license or state identification card that virtually every adult Illinoisan carries, it is a position that would put her in charge of a large staff of state government employees.
BEING THE STATE’S secretary of state would make her a significant politician – even if she were never to gain a higher office in her career.
The problem was that the powers-that-be of the Republican Party had hopes of trying to show they weren’t totally the party of aging white guys, and they talked of having Didrickson run for the U.S. Senate seat then held by Carol Moseley-Braun.
They had dreams of the Moseley-Braun/Didrickson campaign, and had hopes that all the trash talk they could dredge up against the senator from Hyde Park could give them the Senate seat.
Didrickson ultimately decided to ignore the desires of the party bigwigs, and she announced her campaign to run for Illinois secretary of state.
THOSE SAME PARTY bigwigs had other officials in mind for secretary of state, so they weren’t particularly pleased. And they wound up doing as little as they had to in order to bolster her chances of Election Day victory.
After about a month of campaigning, Didrickson decided her inner party struggles weren’t worth it. She changed her mind, and shifted her campaign to a bid for the U.S. Senate.
Not that the party bigwigs were that forgiving. They did as little as they had to for her campaign, and it weakened her to the point that she wound up losing the Republican primary that year to Peter Fitzgerald (who wound up going on to narrowly defeat Moseley-Braun in the general election). Loleta has yet to hold elective office since.
When I hear the reports these days of how Lisa Madigan has been asked to show up at the White House and is receiving some pressure to run for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Roland Burris (even though I get the sense her personal preference would be to make the gubernatorial run), I wonder if she runs the same risk as Didrickson – having a whole lot of politicos turn on her if she dares to think for herself and seek the office she wants.
NOW I REALIZE that Madigan has the advantage of calling the speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives “Dad.” She would never get the complete turnabout that Didrickson got 11 years ago, and some people would wonder if trying to turn on Lisa would cost them in terms of retribution from the House speaker.
But would the thought of taking on an incumbent Democrat as governor (Pat Quinn) create a similar hostility as when Didrickson dared to think she (instead of some DuPage County officials) could be secretary of state?
She’s going to have to make up her mind soon what office she decides to seek. After all, the campaign season is getting in gear these days and any candidate who’s going to do serious fundraising and building up significant support has to get going now if they want to be taken seriously for the February primary elections.
But a wrong choice now could result in the names Lisa and Loleta being paired up in Illinois history in a most unusual manner.
-30-
EDITOR’S NOTES: A whole lot of other political people can’t decide for themselves what (http://www.sj-r.com/news/x931218535/Madigan-decision-could-change-game-for-other-politicians) elective office to seek until they know Lisa Madigan’s intentions.
While people always expected Madigan to stretch this decision out as long as possible, the (http://chicagoargus.blogspot.com/search?q=lisa+madigan) deadline is approaching.
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