Instead of being a Democratic Team, the state's top Democrats are fighting to reduce the office of the governor to the subservient post it has always been under most past Republican governors. Mayor Daley and House Speaker Michael J. Madigan lvoed it when Republicans were governors because Republican governors were relegated to governing over downstate Illinois, not the Chicagoland area which is a state within a state. Madigan and Daley should back down for the sake of the Democrat party, and more importantly for the sake of Illinois voters who elected Blagojevich twice despite the opposition from Daley, Madigan and other inside selfish political powers in the Democratic party. How about putting the Democratic party and the state ahead of personal interest and pork barrel spending for a change?
Power hungry politicians behind battle with governor
By Ray Hanania
Mayor Daley, House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and even Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn are all implying that Gov. Rod Blagojevich is the problem behind the ongoing political duel over the state budget.
But the fact is that Daley, Madigan and Quinn have been at this long enough to know that the real cause of the problem is not Blagojevich, a reformer who is trying to change the status quo in Illinois, but their own political gamesmanship.
They pushed Blagojevich into a corner. He was elected by Illinois voters to lead this state, twice, and yet Daley, Madigan and even Quinn think that they, not the voters, should decide what’s good for the state.
Blagojevich has certainly made his mistakes. His relationship with the humiliated sweetheart deal contractor Tony Rezko, remains. But outside of that, Blagojevich has shown that he can make the right decisions that are in the best interests of the state. And sometimes that means cutting pork barrel spending driven by clout rather than need.
For too long, Madigan has run the state, not for the benefit of the state’s residents but for his own benefit. Political. Personal.
Madigan is the Speaker of the House. He is not the governor. Madigan has limits on his power but wants to extend those limits and make the office of governor irrelevant. But the reality is that he is NOT the governor and he should let the governor do his job.
Madigan had a shot at ousting Blagojevich in the last election. He took it and he lost. He may have risen in the ranks fo the Democratic party over the past 25 years, but the reality is Madigan often elevates himself above not just the interests of the state but above the interests of the Democratic Party.
What Madigan is doing is no different than what disgraced and now indicted sleazy former Chicago Alderman Edward R. Vyrdolyak did when Harold Washington was elected mayor of Chicago back in 1983.
This time, though, the driving issue is not racism, which was behind almost all of Vrdolyak’s obstreperous actions. It’s pure political power greed. Madigan does not like being the number two man. He wants to be the state’s power.
He should have run for governor in the last election, but he knows he can’t get elected outside of his own legislative district, which he runs like a banana-republic.
Madigan is inaccessible to the voters. Of course, he NEVER returns my repeated emails or telephone calls for an interview. Knowing the sleazy tactics characteristic of some of his staff, I expect that at some point they will stop ignoring me and do what all disingenuous politicians do, slam me because I am raising legitimate issues.
I’ve been called a lot of things by far more formidable politicians so whatever Madigan throws at me, whatever!
We all know that Madigan is planning to run his daughter, Lisa Madigan, for governor. Probably in the next election.
Lisa Madigan, now the Illinois Attorney General, is a very able and capable government officeholder. She has a tremendous track record as Illinois Attorney General. She’s done a great job.
This isn’t about personality. Lisa Madigan is a good elected official and she would make a great governor.
But if the price of electing her is to merely give her father more power in Illinois, that is going to be an issue that will certainly be debated when it happens.
Personally, I think Madigan should run for the U.S. Senate, succeeding Barack Obama, who will likely become the vice presidential running mate for the party-backed candidate, who is certain to be Hillary Clinton. But that’s just my speculation.
In the meantime, we should get back on track and recognize that people like Daley, Madigan and Quinn don’t complain unless there is a selfish political point behind their words.
When they defend pork barrel projects, as they are doing, it’s because they are playing to the popular appeal rather than the reason and leadership that holding government office requires.
I say again, give Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich a break. Let him be the governor.
And instead of disrupting Illinois’ system as Daley, Madigan and Quinn are doing, start being leaders and do what’s right.
You should be team members, not Vrdolyak’s, who we hope will finally get his due.
(Ray Hanania is the senior political writer for the Southwest News-Herald Newspaper (www.SWNewsHerald.com) in Chicago. You can read his columns in print and online. Contact Ray at www.hanania.com or at www.TVChicagoland.com.)