Will it be McKenna/Proft for the top of the Illinois GOP?

The Illinois field in the race for Governor is getting more applicants than American Idol. I'm no Randy Jackson, much less Ellen, but I like what I see.

Dan Proft is the only candidate with any real ideas - especially about education and how to get genuine ( Vouchers!)reform to our public schools -but Dan has fewer nickels in his jeans than your humble correspondent at the end of the pay cycle. Dan Proft welcomed one of the nicest guys in civic and public life into the hooley - Andy McKenna, Jr.

I met Andy McKenna years ago, when he served on a school board of directors. Mr. McKenna is tough, sharp, no-nonsense, good humored and as chatty as Speaker Mike Madigan. Andy McKenna operates on consensus, but does not dither. He will strike boldly.

Dan Proft grabs large issues and Gigantic political opposition by the belt, pulls the fight in close, tosses his forehead into the chest and pounds the short ribs until the bigger foe can no longer breathe - no breathe/no fight.

Yesterday, the sweet-natured but tough gutted Andy McKenna got a taste of Proft from the bell:



"We can nominate a candidate beholden to a small group of affluent political insiders who give money to both parties. They win when Republicans get elected; they win when Democrats get elected. Either way, you lose.

"Or we can nominate a candidate willing to take the fight to the establishment politicians of both parties, those who are concerned only with peddling influence and dividing up other people’s money.

"I am the only candidate willing to make a clean break from our ignominious past; to hold cynical Chicago Democrats and complicit Republicans accountable for what has happened on their watch; and to chart a future focused on expanding opportunity for people who play by the rules in Illinois.

"The McKenna family has donated thousands of dollars to Chicago Democrats, including Mike Madigan, Lisa Madigan, Dan Hynes, and Dick Durbin. They have also donated thousands of dollars to Republicans and the Illinois Republican Party.
"They hedge their bets, because they are interested in self-preservation. Mr. McKenna has taken indicted Springfield powerbroker Bill Cellini’s infamous ethos to heart, ‘When we're in, we're in, and when you're in, we're in. We're always in.’

"Who’s the ‘we’? I suggest you ask Andy McKenna. But the ‘we’ sure doesn’t include rank-and-file Republican primary voters.

"We have been down this road so many times as a party. Every time we allow the bipartisan combine to select our candidates, we run into a dead end. We cannot make the same mistake again if we want to not only win elections, but also bring about the system-change reform required to make Illinois economically viable. We cannot hope to un-fix Illinois before we un-fix our own party.

"As State Senator Matt Murphy, the other half of ‘Team Status Quo,’ said just a few weeks ago, ‘People are looking for a new face to take us in a new direction, especially on the Republican side…They want to see somebody who can represent a clean break from the past.’

"Sen. Murphy is right. And that is why Andy McKenna is absolutely the wrong candidate to lead our party and lead this state."

Ding!

I got a feeling here at ringside that we are going to see Dan Proft hammer away at Andy's short ribs round after round.

Now, here's the deal. If Jim Tyree had Andy's money and access to money, he'd toss his coin away. The dough is the stuff that keeps Ow-ees, cuts bruises and bumps from doing too much damage. Unlike Tomato-Candidates, Andy McKenna can devalue time and go round after round with Dan Proft. More importantly, Andy McKenna has a crowd of talented folks in his corner - he has an organization - troops. Andy McKenna has a Notre Dame sense of the field. Yet again and unlike Charlie Weiss, Dan Proft can read a clock and knows that what moves the arms on the tick-tock is the Dough Ray Me!

This just might be the GOP's year - Gov. Quinn got the backing of the Cook County Democratic Leadership, an endorsement from the Purple People Eaters of SEIU and is in a pillow fight with Dan Hynes. That should be gravy for the GOP and Dan Proft just might be the guy to keep them focused and keep the GOP from blowing their toes off - as is their wont. Dog! Yo! - make sure that Judy is out grabbing a smoke during the bouts, Dan.

This brawl might end up with Andy McKenna getting the big belt for Governor. I expect to see Dan Proft holding up Andy McKenna's arm with one hand and swinging the other one like a saloon door on payday in the role of Lt. Governor. This will be Dempsey v.Tunney *1926 all over.

Dan Proft will propbably come over to my 'Hood and flatten my tires for saying that: I would expect no less from a guy who is in the race to win. Andy, Proft can do the hard hitting.


*In his autobiography, Dempsey conceded that he forgot all about the rule: "It's hard to stop what you're doing, standing over a guy and waiting for him to get up."

Tunney, who floored Dempsey briefly in the ninth round, won the 10-round fight and retained the title he had won from Dempsey the year earlier.

Paul Vallas Calls for Front-Loading Political Accountability

The Progressive Think Tank!

Paul Vallas will be a great County Board President - you can be sure of it by this sign - all the goofs are lining up against him! To Nuance Old Jackie Swift.

"In the absence of a viable two-party system, the only accountability you have rests in the U.S. attorney's office. That's accountability at the back end," Vallas said. "No one is ever held politically accountable."

'Accountable? Accountable, Sir?!! Why I am an elected Official in the Land of Lincoln and Should be for life!'

Accountable. Yep. Meant something back in the day - even with political jobs. A guy would reach out and seek help to get a job and then his clout, or Chinaman, or Rabbi was held accountable for his work ethic and value to commonweal. It was up and down.

Then, along came the Whistleblower Culture. A goof could not or would not fulfill his vocational obligations and got in the jackpot with his supervisor - Voila! Pam Zekman appears and questions get asked like . . .'Mr. Polecatz, why was Mergatroyd Fuzzdyke required to sell Ward tickets?' Mergatroyd spent the previous twenty four months sleeping off hangovers in a nice, quiet cemetery, during his work hours for which he was handsomely paid, but failed to bring that to Pam's attention. The bigger the skunk shooting the eau d'cologne the better the 'Investigative Journalist' embraces the tale.

Accountability is a chimera.

Now Paul Vallas comes up from the Swamps and Bayous to the Cess-pool that is Cook County and brings back that old world notion of Accountability - People Actually doing the work for which they are paid.

Believe it or not . . .some kind soul who listens to Zanfir CDs? . . .please wake Forrest Claypool up . . .County Supervisers and most workers actually work hard.

It is the doughy dreamboats like Forrest, who was appointed to 90% of the jobs he has held in government, who get the Camera Face-time and play Atticus Finch for the nit-wits in the political audience who stir up the cess that has killed Accountability.

True facts. Old School Accountability in County and, yes Muriel, City government as well, rows hard against the Progressive currents, roiled by the oars of Reform Coyotes like Claypool and Preckwinkle and the now Congressional Quigley.

I needed some County work done to help kids here in Auburn Gresham at Leo High School and went to the right guy, and he introduced me to the righter guy, who had just the right guys and things got done - no quid pro dough; for which no moolah or services were exchanged; no grease; no trouble and I ain't sayin' nothin'!

I did not seek the help of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Please. The Wee Lad is busy enough with Kin. I would have reached out to his Pop. That gent was a master of grace and accountability. Guys that Stroger Pere trusted? You bet. I explained what was needed and with three conversations and follow-up. Things are moving.

Ask the help of a goof like Claypool and he would trot out the swell study done for Mike Quigley at the University of Chicago. Nope go to the hard-working people in government who actually perform and always seem to be the first people smeared by Pam Zekmans or have their jobs cut by the people doing the real stealing in the name of Reform.

That is Accountability. Not a Press Conference, or a WTTW Gush Glamorama with Phil Ponce by a self-absorbed flannel mouth who never does one thing to make government do anything for anyone. If the poor kids at Leo needed anything to make their lives better, safer, or more accountable, the last person one should ever see is a Reform goof like Claypool at County or Progressive Pirate like Preckwinkle.

Paul Vallas has it right front-load accountability. Paul Vallas ( GOP or Dem) is the right guy for the Cook County Presidency, because he is always accountable. Everything Old is New Again!