Lake County News-Sun for Kirk; Tribune for Brady, Helander and Curran; Dold v. Seals Update

Lots going on this Saturday morning, so let's get to it:

Lake County News-Sun for Mark Kirk for U.S. Senate

Interestingly, although both the News-Sun and the Pioneer Press are owned by the Sun-Times Newsgroup, refreshingly, the different newspapers were apparently allowed their own editorial opinions (not certain that's always been the case in the past) and both the Pioneer Press and now the News-Sun have gone all-in for Congressman Mark Kirk for U.S. Senate:

If Kirk, who has served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo and Bosnia as a member of the Naval Reserves, has padded his military resume, Giannoulias can’t seem to keep his stories straight on when and how he worked at his family’s failed Chicago bank, and if or when he gave loans to shady Chicago characters. His four-year record as state treasurer has been dismal. Under his stewardship, losses in a mutual fund that was part of the Illinois Bright Start college savings plan totaled about $150 million in 2008, meaning many Illinois families who were saving for their children’s education are out of luck.

In comparison, Kirk has a solid 10-year record in Congress, working on behalf of his constituents, whether it be saving the North Chicago Veterans Affairs Medical Center and turning it into the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Center; working to double-track the Metra North Central Line from Antioch south to Chicago; stopping the use of double-decker trailers to haul horses; warning about Iran’s danger to us and Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East; leading the fight to stop BP from dumping waste into Lake Michigan long before the firm dumped oil into the Gulf of Mexico. His decade-long record has been one of service to the district and state, of a social moderate and fiscal conservative; of a Republican not in lock-step with party leaders.

Also, TA hears that the Democrats, led by Senator Dick Durbin, are pulling out all the stops and calling in favors to raise as much cash as possible for Alexi Giannoulias. Next week, FLOTUS Michelle Obama comes in to campaign for Alexi, in what Greg Hinz of Crain's Chicago Business thinks is turning out to be a referendum on Obama. But they still have catching up to do to Mark Kirk, who appears to be ahead in the most recent polls (although still within the margin of error), and has raised much more money than Alexi, plus had the benefit of outside groups such as Karl Rove's American Crossroads running TV ads.

Chicago Tribune Endorses Bill Brady for Governor; Lake County Clerk Willard Helander and Sheriff Mark Curran

The Trib has its endorsement for Governor up on its website (I assume this will be in the Sunday print edition), and it's for Republican Bill Brady:

What a spectacular opportunity! With the inept Rod Blagojevich defrocked and awaiting a felony trial, Pat Quinn had two years to reverse the Illinois death spiral: Two years to defang corruption and clout, to reform wild spending and borrowing, to make Illinois tax policy a magnet for jobs. Two years to rescue his beloved state — and to humble the critics who for decades had dismissed him as a gadfly.

Now, nearly two squandered years later, what a disappointment. With history lying in his hands and a populace yearning for him to succeed, Gov. Quinn has proved to the 12.9 million citizens of Illinois that … he is a nice man who cannot do this job. Strength, constancy, innovation, iconoclasm, the courage to speak truth to power — by each of these leadership metrics, Quinn stands bent and pale. [snip]

Does Brady have what it takes? We don't know, but we think he does. Remember: In the early 1980s, a young Jim Edgar endured criticisms Brady encounters today: downstater, largely unknown, not much of a record.

Edgar inherited, and with management skill strengthened, a near-destitute Illinois. Last week, as we mulled this endorsement, the ex-governor spoke our thoughts: "We've had …18 months of Gov. Quinn, and I just don't think managing is necessarily his suit. I think he means well, but I just don't think that's what he's cut out to do. Whereas Bill Brady we don't know for sure, he hasn't been governor. He has some business experience. I'm willing to take a chance there, too."

So are we. Illinois needs to stop the spiral. We trust that Gov. Brady will buck our ossified state government. We know that Gov. Quinn cannot.

The Trib this morning in the print edition (I can't seem to find the web article) turns its attention to county races and comes in for the peerless Willard Helander for County Clerk and Mark Curran for Sheriff.

Willard runs a crack operation in the Clerk's office and assures the integrity of elections without regard to party affiliations. She is also a leader among her peer group of county clerks and keeps a close eye on proposed changes in the election law that would tend to adversely impact the ability of her office to ensure fair elections, such as a recent push for same-day voter registration and voting. Can you imagine the difficulty of policing such a system? Egad. Willard has Team America's endorsement as well as the Tribune's.

The Trib also come in for Mark Curran, a former defense attorney who won election as Sheriff as a Democrat and switched parties because he couldn't stand the corruption and unethical behavior he saw in the local Democratic party, led by State Senator Terry Link. Needless to say, Curran has a target on his back, but his hapless opponent, Attorney Doug Roberts, doesn't seem to be getting much traction. Ironically enough, after being put up to run by Link to exercise Link's vendetta against Curran, Roberts says his goal is to end politics in the operation of the Sheriff's office. Ha ha. Curran says, thanks, but he's already done that. It seems like Curran is a safe bet for re-election, this time as a Republican. TA for Curran as well.

Bob Dold and Dan Seals are Heating Up the 10th District Congressional Race

The race to succeed outgoing Congressman Mark Kirk, who is running for the U.S. Senate, is really heating up. Earlier this week, Dold and Seals appeared jointly to debate the issues, including U.S. - Israeli relations at a temple in Glencoe, with agreement on many issues but yet some key differences. As important as the Israel/Middle East issues are, the central focus is still jobs, and Bob Dold has taken to characterize the current high unemployment and failing economic policies of the current administration as the "Dan Seals Economy." We'll see if that sticks. “The main concern I hear from voters is what Congress is doing to put people back to work, and yet Dan Seals believes we’re on the road to recovery,” Dold said. “This is not recovery.”

Dan Seals is the first to go up on network TV, while both candidates have been carpet-bombing the cable channels with ads for some time. Does this mean that Seals has more money to burn, or is he feeling the heat from Dold? We don't know, but it's interesting that Dold released his Q3 fundraising totals (over $800,000) and we haven't heard a squeak out of Dan Seals yet.

This race is also starting to get big attention nationally.

Fundraisers, Fundraisers, We Got Fundraisers

A lot of campaign events are coming up locally as we're getting down to the wire for candidates to raise last-minute cash and spend it effectively. Dan Sugrue, candidate for the 59th legislative district, will have a fundraiser at Opa! in Vernon Hills on Tuesday, October 12 (come meet Team America in person!), while his counterpart in the 58th district, Lauren Turelli, will have a fundraiser at a private home in Lake Forest on Thursday, October 14th. Contact the individual campaigns for details. Finally, for something a little different, the Warren Township Republicans will have their annual luau and pig roast at Jesse Oaks in Gurnee (Gages Lake), tomorrow, October 10th. Doors open at 1:00 p.m. Check their website for more details.


So, that's quite enough for one morning. What are y'all hearing on the street?