Tag: Lisa Madigan

Chicago Argus: Democratic Senate Primary in Illinois No-Name Candidates

I enjoy Gregory Tajeda’s blog, Chicago Argus.  And while I like Alexi Giannoulias personally, Tajeda has a point when he accuses the current Democratic pols vying for Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat a bunch of no-names.

Giannoulias is fresh on the political scene.  And everyone else?

From Chicago Argus:

Am I losing my memory, or was there once a time when we political observers who are Illinois-oriented were talking about how our state’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate in 2010 could wind up being a fight between a Kennedy, a Jackson, and maybe even a Madigan?

So what happened?

IT SEEMS NOW like we’re going to get a scrap between a Giannoulias, a Hoffman and a Jackson. And by the latter, I mean Cheryle, not Jesse Jr.

And Tajeda is not very impressed with Republican David Hoffman either:

Inspector General for Chicago city government. In theory, that means he’s in charge of ferreting out corruption within city government, and there are those people who think that Hoffman was an annoyance to Mayor Richard M. Daley because of the way that his office pointed out that the leasing out of city parking meters to a private company became a public mess.

BOTTOM LINE AS far as most people are concerned – Hoffman has an incredible grasp of the obvious. Some might want to argue that corruption doesn’t appear to be on the decline due to Hoffman, so how much could he have succeeded?

Anyway, Hoffman is now unemployed. He quit his post on Wednesday so he could devote his full time to a campaign for Senate.

Look, I believe Tajeda raises some valid points.  Democrats need to consider this race carefully.  Playing pick-up basketball with Barack Obama does not alone qualify one to be a U.S. Senator.

I’d like to know more as well.

Click here and read the rest.


Lisa Madigan Seeks to Oust Blago

The state of Illinois has been plunged into a constitutional crisis this week with the stinging indictment of Gov. Rod Blagojevich.  Today, State Attorney General Lisa Madigan took it all up a notch:

Attorney General Lisa Madigan today opened an unprecedented legal attack against a sitting Illinois governor, taking the formal steps to ask the Illinois Supreme Court to declare Gov. Blagojevich unfit to hold office.

Madigan filed paperwork with the state high court this morning, invoking what is known as Rule 382 that would ask justices to rule on “the ability of the governor to serve.”

Madigan is seeking a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction, urging the state high court to oust Gov. Blagojevich “due to disability.”

The Sun-Times calls this an “untested legal front.”  You better believe it.  This move is without precedent in the state of Illinois.  If Blagojevich continues to insist on his innocence and remains in office, we are left with government essentially at a standstill.

Again from the Sun-Times:

Only 15 states, including Illinois, grant their state’s highest courts authority to remove a governor from office. The last time one of those states invoked that special power was in Indiana in 2003, when former Gov. Frank O’Bannon was removed from office after having suffered a stroke.

This will be much more difficult.  The man is innocent until proven guilty.  Madigan made a point of saying in her press conference on this matter that she was in no way making a statement about the guilt or innocence of the governor in these alleged crimes.  Her concern is that state government can no longer function.

Twice in one week, I’m completely blown away.