Illinois Review

Illinois Governor's Race: What Should a Conservative Do?

by John Brown's Ghost

Last night, I was talking to a person I respect tremendously in terms of their conservative take on the issues.  They related to me a recent meeting they had with a number of other conservatives.  At the end of the meeting, this person asked the assembled handful of people who they would vote for in the Governor's race.  There were five different answers.  Surprising, but when you read the daily back and forth comments here on Illinois Review, it is not tremendously surprising.

In this year's Governor's race, there are two very apparent things that come to mind.  A) None of the candidates are really lighting the world on fire, and B) if there was EVER a year to take back the Governor's mansion (Rod never used it, so I don't know if we are taking it back or not), this would be the year.  Good grief, the Democrats have run the state into the ground, so you would think voters would be ready for a new start with Republicans.  That is why point A above is so distressing.

IR Caption Contest: Who's saying what?

GOP candidate Adam Andrzejewski posted the photo below on his Facebook page with the title "Posterous Photos," something maybe should have been titled "Preposterous Photo"?  Nevertheless, it occurred to us that this should be a featured Caption Contest photo for our clever and creative IR readers. 

So, in this photo taken during a recent Chicago Tribune editorial meeting, we have GOP gubernatorial candidates Dan Proft, Adam Andrzejewski, Bob Schillerstrom and Bill Brady.  Obviously, the conversation is spirited.   We weren't in there, so let's speculate.  Who's saying what in this photo?

Brady Unveils Education Reform Package

from the Brady for Governor campaign

Sen. Bill Brady, Republican Candidate for Governor, unveiled a comprehensive education reform package today to give parents a greater choice in their children’s education and to better prepare Illinois students for college educations and 21st Century vocations and careers.

“Just as Illinois is economically challenged today with jobs leaving the state, so are we educationally challenged by not giving our students greater opportunities to receive the best education possible,” said Brady. “We must give our students a better education so they are ready and able to become productive members of our workforce. We must innovate, build on success and eliminate barriers that serve the educational bureaucracy, not our students.”

IR asks Bill Brady how he would work with Democrats

More "Illinois Review asks" to come ...

Bill Brady Files First for Governor with signatures from every county

from Brady for Governor campaign

Springfield, IL – Republican Sen. Bill Brady was the first candidate to file candidate petitions for Governor Monday at the State Board of Elections in Springfield for the February 2nd Primary Election. Filing the maximum 10,000 signatures candidates for Governor can file, Brady was pleased with his campaign’s performance.

“I’m proud to have collected signatures from every single county in this state,” said Brady. “I plan to be a Governor for all of Illinois, and having signatures from every county in Illinois reflects the work we’ve put into the campaign for the last several years and shows our strength as an organization.”

GOP primary candidates impress Union League Club members

At this morning's Union League Club of Chicago's Republican gubernatorial forum, attendees left impressed with the presentations of all GOP candidates vying to win the February 2, 2010 nomination.  Forum organizer Chris Robling said all five candidates -- Adam Andrzejewski, Bill Brady, Kirk Dillard, Dan Proft and Bob Schillerstrom have bright futures in Illinois politics and through their performances today demonstrated the value of an open and intense primary nomination process.

"Each one of the five have sharpened how they present their positions, their speaking abilities have improved vastly, and each one has a huge future in Illinois politics," Robling said. "Across the board, they have issue mastery, and are keenly aware of the difficulties being faced by Illinoisans.  After traveling throughout the state, they know well how badly the system built by Illinois Democrats is of, by and for the insiders, and each one is very serious about changing things in Illinois." 

A Brady supporter's take on University of Springfield GOP gubernatorial forum

Last Wednesday, five current gubernatorial candidates shared ideas with students and local Republicans at the University of Springfield. Brady supporter John Ackerman provides his take on the proceedings.

The forum was an opportunity to see the real differences in the candidates. Five of them participated in the forum: Adam Andrzejewski, Bob Schillerstrom, Kirk Dillard, Dan Proft and Bill Brady.

Adam Andrzejewski was the most disappointing of the participants. His only real accomplishment was getting a few jabs in at Bill Brady. At one point, while answering a question about what made him the best candidate, he pointed out that Brady wears Ostrich Boots and drives a nice car and that these showed that he was not a downstater? He started out jabbing at Brady with his opening address and rarely answered a question without mentioning him. It reminded me of a saying I heard once: when you are the lead dog in the pack the rest are just barking at your backside.

Brady picks up Barrington Township GOP endorsement

from the Brady for Governor campaign

Senator Bill Brady, Republican candidate for Governor, continued to gain momentum in Cook County with the unanimous endorsement of the Barrington Township Republican Organization for Governor in the 2010 elections.

The official endorsement Saturday marked the second consecutive endorsement for Brady by a Cook County Republican township organization.  The Republican Organization of Elk Grove Township endorsed Brady last Saturday, a week after Brady scored a near win in the straw poll at the Cook County Republican Party Convention. 

“I want to thank Committeeman Gene Dawson and the entire Barrington Township organization for this encouraging show of grass roots support,” said Brady. 

Brady IL's next governor, Stewart predicts

Long time Chicago political analyst and frequest talk show guest Russ Stewart gives five reasons HERE why he believes State Senator Bill Brady will be the next governor of Illinois:

• First, Brady is not a mean and angry conservative, like Oberweis... (who is an ardent Dillard supporter)

• Second, the hard-core conservatives, who are anti-abortion, anti-gun control and anti-gay rights, are a major component of the Republican base...

• Third, the DuPage County vote is fractured...

• Fourth, McKenna needs a rationale for his candidacy...

• And fifth, the Republican "establishment" vote -- primarily from DuPage and Lake counties and the North Shore suburbs -- is at least 350,000 in a statewide primary.

Stewart's early prediction: Brady will be the Republican nominee. And, absent any personal scandals, he will be Illinois' next governor.

Andrzejewski responds to Brady's tax return "gimmick" comment

from the Adam for Illinois campaign

Illinois – Republican candidate for governor Adam Andrzejewski is confident that plans for reform are sound policy.  That confidence was reinforced after learning of one of Bill Brady's sound bites masquerading as reform policy.

In an interview with the Springfield Journal-Register, GOP hopeful Bill Brady’s (R-Bloomington) primary idea to reform Illinois’ corruption-laden government is to limit the length of time that legislators spend in office.

Bill Brady was once against term limits, as he hasn't ‘term-limited’ his own 16 year career in the General Assembly.  But, he then called Andrzejewski’s policy of posting of personal sources of income-income tax returns online “a gimmick.”