Saying Good-bye. . . Finally. . . To McLean County Pundit

A note from Kathy Michael, Founder and Editor of McLean County Pundit:

UPDATED 11/5/2010

McP signs off, with thanks to all Readers, after 5 years of excellent Punditry.

Well today’s the day we close up shop, per my article below,  and say the final good-bye to McLean County Pundit.  It’s a sad day all around as we also say good-bye to the Brady campaign team and family as Bill Brady concedes the close election.  (see following post)

We congratulate the many winners of the November 2 elections, no matter what your Party.  To make the sacrifices to run for office, money and emotional, is to be commended.  Congratulations to all of you; even those of you who lost your races.  Thank you for having the courage to take part in our great Democracy.

And as Bill Brady said today in his concluding remarks, “Life’s too short to rule anything out.”

We wish you well.

(This website is now closed to all posts and comments.  Thank you again loyal readers, contributing writers, especially Co-Editor Dark Knight, Smileys Pundit and Managing Editor JE Myers and the many other writers and participants. )

NOTE:  Kathy Michael (McPundit) is no longer involved in any blog.  The Being Downtown blog is under the sole ownership and direction of JE Myers.  It looks like a great one, I’ll certainly be reading it with great envy and going through writer’s withdrawal pains!  Best of success to a great writer, JE Myers!)

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It wasn’t an easy decision.  I just told several folks recently, that McLean County Pundit would continue forever, and in fact, thanks to the incredible work, innovations and the added professional writing skills of Managing Editor JE Myers; we ramped up the design and added sister site, “Blue” McPundit.  However, after much agonizing and thought, Wednesday, November 3, following our election results wrap-up and analysis, McLean County Pundit will close up shop.

On November 2, I will become the elected, McLean County Clerk.  As most of the readers here know, I won the Primary Election over 3 opponents, and face no General Election opponent.   A large part of the County Clerk’s duties includes overseeing the election process.  Because this site is, for the most part, political viewpoints in nature; I don’t want to bring any kind of mis-perception to the election process here in McLean County.  It’s been a painful decision as this site has been my passion for five years; and under the direction of JE Myers, we recently launched “Blue” McPundit and were going to be adding the Green Party and Libertarian Party, their own Opinion Pages with possible websites in the future; all in the effort to give a “fair and balanced” political voice for McLean County and beyond.  (smile)

However, the potential for a perceived conflict of interest is just too great, and the office of County Clerk, its staff, and the public deserve my 100% attention.

Bill Brady Concedes With Sadness, And Class

Behind by 19,400 votes, Bill Brady, the GOP candidate for Governor of Illinois conceded the race this afternoon from the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington. 

1:30 p.m.  With their families surrounding the room, GOP Lt. Gov. candidate Jason Plummer and Gubernatorial candidate, Senator Bill Brady entered the conference room.

1:34:  An emotional Jason Plummer spoke first:  “. . . we articulated our points well. . . I look forward to working with whomever, to help turn the state around. . . thanked his family, friends and supporters; voice broke up. . . . applause. . . support humbling. . . I can’t thank the folks of Illinois enough. . . it’s been an honor. . . . ”

1:35:  Bill Brady speaks:  “. . . no greater honor. . . . for us to be part of the campaign that debated the issues and moved Illinois forward. . . . nothing more important than working to bring jobs back to Illinois. . . . consistent and firm in our beliefs. . . . not to raise taxes. . . . just got off the phone with Gov. Quinn and congratulated him on his victory. . . which he deserved. . . he worked hard for it. . .”

Then the Senator thanked his wife Nancy. . . his three children, Katie, William and Duncan. . . . his mom Nancy. . . his aunts and uncles and his brothers, Ed and Bob and their families. . . .”I can’t say thank you enough.”  Wife Nancy struggled, having difficulty holding back her tears.  Their children were stoic, fighting to hold back theirs.

Thanked his staff including Jan Hood and Carol Aldridge who have been with him for 18 years.

“Truly grateful to the people of Illinois. . . . as State Senator I’m committed to working with Governor Quinn and my colleagues. . . . we can make this state even better. . . . and we thank all of you for being our friends. . . thank you and God bless you all.”

After questions from the media, Senator Brady concluded, “Life’s too short to rule anything out. . . ” as wife Nancy added, “. . . not the time to talk about that right now.”

The t.v. lights turned off and the swarming mass of reporters moved quickly to report their story.  

The partisan crowd dispersed with unusual silence and understandable sadness for their home-town Senator.

And the Brady’s retired from a long, tough campaign with class.

Breaking News. . . Brady to Make Announcement in BloomingtonThis Afternoon

Breaking News. . . .

Brady to Make Announcement in BloomingtonThis Afternoon

Final Election Results

Here are some final numbers from Real Clear Politics; who, along with all the other major polling firms, blew it on the Illinois Governor’s race, all having Bill Brady ahead of Quinn by 4-5 points through the entire campaign.  On the other hand, most all of the polls had it right on the US Senate race between Kirk and Giannoulias.  Most had Kirk with a very slight lead in the last two months.  In the end, Kirk won by a scant 1.9%.

Illinois Republicans won back two state-wide seats.  State Senator Dan Rutherford is the Illinois State Treasurer-elect; winning by 5 points; and former Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka is the Illinois Comptroller-elect, winning by 13 points.  The Rutherord win sets up a whole new chain of events as there are already several interested in being appointed to his Senate seat.  McPundit takes a guess here that Senator Rutherford has his eye on an even  bigger prize in 4 years.

U.S.  SENATE RESULTS

Democrats  now have 53 seats - losing 6. 

Republicans now have 46 seats – picking up 6

*Alaska results are still not determined between Murkowski, Miller and McAdams although it looks as if the write-in, former Republican running as an Independent Murkowski, may have it.

U.S. HOUSE 

Democrats 186 (-61)

Republicans 240 (+61) 

Ellie the Elephant scores another victory!  Now three for three, Ellie helped in the upset GOP win in Indiana’s 9th District, Todd Young won over incumbent Baron Hill.  Locally Ellie helped with the 2006 McLean County Sheriff Mike Emery campaign, along with yours truly, Kathy Michael for McLean County Clerk, in the February 2010 Primary.

GOVERNOR RESULTS

DEMOCRATS   18 (-8)

REPUBLICANS  29  (+7)

Illinois Perspective

A final parting thought from Contributing Writer, Smileys Pundit:

Illinois Perspective 

As Smiley looks to the termination of McPundit columns, a few thoughts on the Illinois situation come to mind.  As of this writing, the assumption must be that Bill Brady will not be able to make up the 8,000+ votes by which he trails Governor Quinn.   

 Paradoxically, two wrongs may make a right, the two wrongs being Quinn’s election and the Republicans’ failure to take control of the Illinois House.  Had either of those events occurred without the other, from a Republican point of view, the result would have been unpleasant, and possibly politically disastrous. 

 Had Brady been elected, absent a turnover in the House, he would have had to deal with the two of the Three Stooges who brought Illinois to near bankruptcy, who still remain (Madigan and Jones/Cullerton).  Those two, particularly Madigan, who functioned as what John Kass would call “the guy behind the guy”, would have been able to effectively thwart much of Brady’s efforts to straighten out the state’s finances.  At the very least, they would have been able to make sure that Brady bore the brunt of whatever unpopularity came with the measures necessary to right the state.  At worst, they could prevent the measures from being taken, with the result that at the end of Brady’s term, the state would be in an even more precarious position (if possible) than it is now.  Result: Brady is a one-term governor and the Dems (read: Lisa Madigan) get that office back in four years.

 Conversely, if Quinn were elected with a Republican House, the state would return to the same type of stalemate it experienced when Blago and Emil Jones fought a war of attrition with Mike Madigan; the war between them was a stalemate, but the state lost.

 From a purely political point of view, there are two silver linings for the Republicans.  The first is that, whatever happens for the next two years will be the responsibility of the Democrats.  Madigan has opposed an income tax hike.  Whether that was out of conviction or only because of the proximity of an election remains to be seen. If the tax goes up, it will clearly be the result a Democratic-generated increase.  If it doesn’t go up, spending will have to be cut, again with the Democrats bearing the entire onus.  Or a third alternative, perhaps the most unpalatable of all, is that the state continues to drift economically into a Greece-like oblivion, again with Democratic fingerprints all over it.  All the Republicans need to do is keep a low profile for two years and hope that by then the electorate has had enough.

 The second silver lining is that we won’t need to worry about who might have been picked to succeed Bill Brady in the Illinois Senate.

 All this, of course is bad for the state and its taxpayers; but they have only themselves to blame; they had their shot at solvency and sanity and they blew it. But politically, the bottom line is that two disappointments aren’t as bad as one disappointment.

Pat Quinn Projected Winner

UPDATE:  Quinn ‘elated’ about election results, looking ahead to new term  Chicago Tribune

Breaking. . . .

The final numbers, according to the AP are:
Pat Quinn: 1,721,812 (46.6%)
Bill Brady: 1,702,399 (46.1%)
Scott Lee Cohen: 134,219 (3.6%)
Rich Whitney: 99,625 (2.7%)

Quinn-Projected Winner

The Associated Press has estimated that Democrat Pat Quinn has won a narrow victory over Republican Bill Brady in the Illinois governor’s race.

 CBS News has not yet projected a winner in the race. With all precincts reporting, Quinn holds a lead of 1,721,812 votes to 1,702,399 over Brady. That’s a difference of less than 20,000 votes out of more than 3.4 million cast.

 The AP says its analysis of uncounted absentee and other ballots showed that Brady cannot close the gap.

 Quinn has claimed victory, stating that “the people of Illinois know I won the election.” Brady is refusing to concede until all votes are counted.

 ”Votes need to be counted, there are good votes, and we’re going to deal with all the data that’s there and we’ll then deal with the decision-making process as we gather data,” he said according to the AP.

 Quinn rose from lieutenant governor to governor when former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was ousted following his arrest on corruption charges. His victory would be a boost to Democrats in a tough midterm election year that saw President Obama’s old Senate seat in Illinois go to Republican Mark Kirk.

Whispers

Are McLean County Board Chairman Matt Sorensen and St. Rep. Keith Sommer looking at the Dan Rutherford Senate seat appointment?  (See list of possibles below)

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Positioning began months ago for the appointment to Bill Brady’s Senate seat when all the polling data pointed to a Brady victory.  Those numbers held steady for months with Brady holding anywhere from a 4 to 8 point lead.  One poll, the Chicago Tribune/CNN had the race narrowing to 1 point, with the advantage still to Brady.

Now. . . hopes, dreams and careers may have been dashed Election Night as Illinois awaits the fate of Bill Brady’s bid for Governor. 

Positioning for Bill Brady’s Senate seat, is now on the back-burner until the final vote-count.  The chances are growing dimmer when you do the math on the ballots out and the % needed by Brady.  According to the Chicago Tribune analysis, the majority of the outstanding Absentee ballots are from Chicago and the ‘burbs.

IT CAME DOWN TO THE CHICAGO SUBURBS

In the Chicago suburbs, US Senator-elect Mark Kirk got 60,000 more votes than Brady.  The independent vote went to Kirk but not to Brady up North.

POSITIONING NOW, FOR DAN RUTHERFORD’S SENATE SEAT

While we await the final vote count in the Illinois Governor’s race, one Senate seat will be open for an appointment.  State Senator Dan Rutherford will become the new Illinois State Treasurer on January 1, 2011.

Some names have been released who are openly stating their interest in the appointment.  Those names include:

Former Pontiac Mayor Scott McCoy

Former Saunemin Mayor Mike Stoecklin  www.mikestoecklin.com

Champaign County GOP Chairman Jason Barickman

WHISPERS ADDS TWO THREE NAMES TODAY WHO “MAY” HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE RUTHERFORD SEAT

1.  State Rep. Keith Sommer

2.   McLean County Board Chairman Matt Sorensen

3.  Tazewell County Board member John Ackerman  (ONLY if Rep. Sommer has no interest in the seat)

Local Election Analysis. . . the results. . . or not. . . .

It’s fitting perhaps that the next-to-last post on McLean County Pundit is a cliffhanger.  I can’t resist and must leave you with a last “Whispers”.  Watch for it later today along with a final good-bye and thank you.

Unless you were in your bunker last night with no t.v. or radio, you know what’s been happening.  The Illinois Governor’s race is too-close-to-call.

County Board member-elected Susan Schafer with current County Board member Bette Rackauskas

Several Republicans who had worked on McLean County Board GOP races had a separate, small gathering at Mugsy’s Pub last night, watching those results come in, with plans to then move to the Doubletree Hotel for the Victory Party.  By the time the final few Bloomington precinct results finally came in for one of the County Board races, it was nearly 11:00.  Republicans won 3 of the 4 County Board races, upsetting two incumbent Democrats.  The fourth race pit Ron Pacha (R) against incumbent Scott Black (D) who was appointed to fill Tari Renner’s seat and is a large Democrat district.  Pacha did a yeoman’s job for a Republican in what an uphill battle from the start in this Democrat-vote-rich district, coming in with nearly 45% of the vote.  Congratulations to Scott Black who worked hard for his victory.  At age 22, we’ll be seeing more of Scott.  That is, if he REALLY wants to stay in politics!

All the polls were wrong on the Illinois Governor’s race

When we arrived at the Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington, the mood at the Bill Brady election party was subdued, to say the least.  Many in the crowd looked shell-shocked.  Glances exchanged were that of disbelief.

With all the latest polls, most reported here showing Brady with a consistent 5-point lead over current Governor Pat Quinn, most Republicans were more concerned that Mark Kirk would not win the U.S. Senate seat over Giannoulias.  Instead, it was the reverse. (or may be)

As we all know by now, Kirk won his race by two percentage points, while Brady and Quinn are locked in a 46-46 tie; with Quinn leading by about 8500 votes.  There are still a few precincts left to report in, some from Tazewell County; which should bring several hundred if not a thousand or so to Brady; but there are a few Cook County precincts out as well.

This race will boil down to the controversial military absentee ballots and the voting reports from Chicagoland.  What else is new?  It’s Illinois.  Nearly 1/3 of all military absentee ballots were mailed past the mail-out deadline; and only given 2-3 day extention by the Justice Department to reach their election offices in time for counting.

8,500 votes or so may not seem like a lot for Brady to make-up. . . . but it is.

Republicans remain optimistic.  It ain’t over yet.

Congratulations to Senator Dan Rutherford and former IL Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, and U.S. Senator elect Mark Kirk; Rutherford will be the next Treasurer, Topinka the Comptoller.

And of course, congrats on the impressive victory by Adam Kinzinger, our next Congressman from the 11th District.

Lots of interesting Illinois races; GOP won back the Dennis Hastert seat, and if you followed Melissa Bean’s (D) race, what a strange one that was; and it looks like Walsh, may win that by less than 800 votes.

More later.

CONSERVATIVE TSUNAMI

Here is an excellent summary of the conservative tsunami that occurred last night and continues to occur as votes are (found) and tallied today! RedState. As Krauthammer said, “The Obama agenda is dead.”

My only real regret: that Fachna didn’t live to see this day.

McPundit Predictions

Care to add your predictions?  Here are my picks:

1.  Governor Bill Brady  Too Close to call-46/46-leans Quinn QUINN PROJECTED WINNER

2.  U.S. Senator Mark Kirk  Yes by 2 points

3.  Treasurer Dan Rutherford  Yes by 3 points

4.  Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka  Yes by 13 points

5.  Congressman Adam Kinzinger  Yes by 14 points

6.  U.S. House Republicans take 60 seats Yes-took 60

7.  U.S. Senate goes to 50/50 split  No  50 Dems   46 GOP,  2 Ind.   2 Undecided

8.  McLean County Republicans will win 3 possibly 4 of the contested County Board seats; 3 minimum.   Yes GOP won 3 of the 4

9.  The “race” to fill Bill Brady and Dan Rutherford seats begins 11/3!

10.  I’ll predict a 48% turnout in McLean County.  Approx. Final = 53%