Saturday, January 16, 2010

Tour de Endorsements

It's less than three weeks before Primary day, Tuesday Feb 2. Which is about that time most candidates ramp-up and start doing things -- like stealing yardsigns and collecting endorsements -- in lieu of actual campaigning. This year is no exception, at least when it comes to endorsements. The new crop of endorsements has some familiar names as well as some surprises. Your LakecountyEye has compiled a representative sample:

The big endorsement coup this cycle goes to Robert Dold (R/Congress 10). Dold got Dan Quayle's endorsement. For LakeCountyEye operatives too young or buried too deep in the witness protection program to remember the late 1980s, Dan Quayle was a US Vice President. Quayle is better known as a GOP gift to Internet satire, emeritus.

Dold's leading opponent, Elizabeth Coulson (R/Congress 10), was apparently not to be outdone. Coulson announced her own heavyweight endorsement, John Porter.

John Porter? Erm, well perhaps Coulson was outdone.

Travelling cross-county, over to the other side of the proposed Rte 53, Maria Rodriguez (R/Congress 8) picked up an endorsement from far right-field. Rodriguez is endorsed by Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum. The Eagle Forum is an organization that could take the teabaggers to school.

Joe Walsh (R/Congress 8) is Rodriguez's purportedly nearest opponent. Walsh, not to be outdone either, is endorsed by The Eagles.
Ev'ry night when the sun goes down
Just another lonely boy in town
And she's out runnin' 'round

Moving on to the actual House of Representatives, Melissa Bean (D/Congress 8) picked up a not surprising endorsement. Bean, who serves on the House Financial Services Committee, has been endorsed by Bedford Falls's own Mr Potter.

Back down the ballot, perennial candidate Ed Sullivan Jr (R/IL Rep 51) gets an unexpected hand up from one endorser. This election, Sullivan has been endorsed by sock puppet Topo Gigio.

State Senator Terry Link (D/Lt Governor) is seeking to be our next Lieutenant Governor. Link was last sighted noshing on rubber eggs at a downstate Pekin IL Chamber of Commerce breakfast, where he was endorsed by the Missing Link.

County Board Chair Suzi Schmidt (R/IL Senate 31) did not see an expected pay raise this year. To make up for the lost income, Schmidt is running for State Senate. It comes as no surprise that Schmidt has been endorsed by Johnny Paycheck.

Willard Helander (R/Lake Co Clerk) is nationally known for registering a goldfish to vote in Lake County. Which reeled in for Helander an endorsement from Glenn Beck.

Dan Seals (D/Congress 10) is normally endorsed by country musician Dan Seals. However the endorsement did not materialize this year, for two reasons. First, your LakeCountyEye played the endorsed-by-a-guitar-player-with-the-same-name gag once already. (See Joe Walsh above.) But second and more importantly, Seals (the musician) is deceased as of last year. Note to LakeCountyEye operatives: in politics have a Plan-B ready. Since this marks Seals's 7th attempt in the 10th Congressional District, Dan Seals was endorsed in the movie The Seventh Seal.

Amidst deporting undocumented aliens and denying accusations of racial profiling, Mark Curran (R/Lake Co Sheriff) picked up a needed endorsement from a fellow law enforcement officer. Curran got the endorsement of Frank "Ponch" Poncherello, a proven favorite with ethnic voters of generic origin.

Last but not least, the endorsements for Congressman Mark Kirk (R/US Senate) have come piling in like a mosh pit at a Jesus Lizard show. Most noteworthy, Top Gun Mark Kirk has been endorsed by Hollywood hunk Tom Cruise.

Your LakeCountyEye will post updates on news of any new endorsements -- irregardless real or fake -- as soon as they come in.

Special Endorsement Contest!
Three of the endorsements posted here are real. The rest are made up. Or was it three are the fakes? Whatever. Guess the real endorsements and win a fabulous prize. No, the prize is not a coveted LakeCountyEye endorsement -- that and a cup of coffee will get you a trip to the bathroom. Post your contest submissions to Goldline International. Winning entries will receive a FREE investor kit today!

13 comments:

Nicki said...

Dan Quayle? My, oh my. Mr. Dold surely can't have understood the ramifications of that one. Also, in reference to IllinoisJim's comment on your last post about the absence of flags to signify the real Americans in the current races, just have a look at Mr. Dold's website. Red, white, blue, stars - and a nifty background of R-W-B Dold yard signs AND a flag on his announcement video.

John Porter's endorsement of Beth Coulson is not really to be sneered at. His name still elicits respect from most Republicans and even many Democrats in some parts of the 10th District. (Also see Ms. Coulson's red, white, and blue website for more heartening evidence of real Americanism. You can tell she's a Republican - the Democrats tend to go easy on the red.)

Anonymous said...

Teabaggers? Really? Do you know what teabagging is? Have you been hanging out with Mark Kirk staffers?

Grasshopper said...

thanks for the laugh

Crazy4glf said...

1. Sara Palin makes Quayle look informed, intelligent, and capable.
I'm not sure what an endorsement by someone so removed from regional politics and policy does for anyone.

2. Mr. Sullivan was recently named to a commission (blue ribbon panel, task force?) on jobs. I'm not sure what to make of him having two government jobs and being on a panel to figure out how to improve economic development in our state.
Its ironic and calls into question why someone with said government positions who thinks this 'saves us money,' even considers such a committee post. I also wonder on what religious holiday the commission will meet.

3. If I recall, we can thank Mr. Porter for keeping NTC Great Lakes in North Chicago.
Under Kirk's stead, at least one significant division has left Great Lakes for Texas. Partially because of this, his own legislation bringing additional funding to local schools has been in doubt for years. If only Kirk would have stopped twittering and ensured that divisions didn't leave Great Lakes, he wouldn't have to scramble to save some semblance of funding under one of his few pieces of legislation.
If Porter could help guide the base re-alignment process under a Republican Administration, why couldn't the Intelligence Officer?


To be sure, Blago spent a fair amount of money, and Dem's are not perfect. Though the supposition that the GOP is superior or above clout/untoward-based behavior is lacking (including CURRENT CANDIDATES: McKenna, Topinka, etc.)

For every Dem that the GOP can point to and complain about, there is a member of their party that can be pointed to. Of course, at least we Dem's know that pointing fingers, heckling, and rhetoric will not solve problems.

Barney Baxter said...

hi Nicki,

In Mr Dold's defense, he worked for Qualye back in the day. Either campaign-related or on staff, I'm not sure.

And thanks for the heads-up on Porter. Porter was my congressman back when he was one. My recollection of Porter today is pretty similar to the impression he had on me back when -- minimal.

-BB-

edsullivanjr said...

Crazy4glf,

The task force headed by Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie) is going to make recommendations to help our states dismal record in growing our private sector. Funny thing is that already we were told that UI Trust fund solvency, Workman’s Comp, and Minimum Wage issues are off the table. That leaves one of the biggest obstacles to business expansion, Property Taxes. After eight months at Avon Township you should have a better understanding of property taxes. You know that even in this downward slide of values that government agencies are going to get their money no matter what. What did Avon do with their levy this year? As you should know by now the only way to lower property taxes is to reduce levies. Did you lower your levy? If you did or froze it then I commend you and the board.

I am on this committee because businesses know they have to pay their property taxes even if they are not profitable. I know it rankles you that I hold two jobs but hopefully as you help run a unit of government you will begin to see having my expertise in Springfield is a positive not a negative. Heck, Speaker Madigan has even complimented me and he runs your party!

Rep. Ed Sullivan

Anonymous said...

Yes, as you know the levy process, it is expressed in dollar amounts. I believe Avon lowered the levy request or held it at last year's level, knowing they would receive less.

Anonymous said...

I do have one question for Mr. Sullivan-if you have two jobs, would you say you are over-paid at the Assessor's office? It seems like that job should pay about $35k a year, as you make it work on a part-time basis. That would help save the taxpayers money, as the levy could be reduced further.

edsullivanjr said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
edsullivanjr said...

Anon 4:55,

If Avon Township did indeed lower or hold even their levy then they should be commended. I believe the Village of Mundelein may be the only other government body to take the same pro-taxpayer action.

Rep. Ed Sullivan

edsullivanjr said...

Anon 4:59,

I believe I am paid in the bottom third of township assessors in Lake County. Salaries in Fremont Township will be frozen for the next 4 years. That includes all forms of compensation. At the end of the 4 years I will have one of the lowest salaries in Lake County. I have challenged people here at this blog to review the statistics in how an assessor’s job performance is measured. The new assessor in Avon is a numbers guy. Have him pull the statistics for COD’s and Township Multipliers over the last 16 years. Don’t take my word for it.

Anonymous said...

Help us out with those statistics, Mr. Sullivan. Is there any one place where assessors are ranked, and on what basis are they ranked? You've mentioned this before and I've asked someone at the Illinois Department of Revenue about this and they really weren't aware of any ranking. You keep referring to this and I'm fascinated to see where my own assessor rates. Any info you could give would be very helpful.

edsullivanjr said...

Anon 9:54,

When you rank a sports team it is usually by a statistical value of wins/loses. You can rank the best hitter in the league buy a statistical value, batting average. With an assessor the statistical values are Coefficient of Dispersions (COD’s) and Township Multipliers. The IL Dept. of Revenue would like an assessor in an area like Lake County to have a COD under 15. With Township Multipliers ideally an assessor would have a multiplier close to 1.0. These statistics can be found with the IL Dept. of Revenue or the Chief County Assessment Office. I believe my COD is around 8.3 and my Township multiplier has been 1.0the last 4 or 5 years, with a lifetime average of something near 1.005.

Rep. Ed Sullivan