The Stonecipher Report

One Year On – My First Anniversary at The Stonecipher Report

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

Aug. 27, 2009

Hey, not to be TOO self-congratulatory, but yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the first appearance of my work here on The Stonecipher Report!

Much has gone on since I responded to head honcho Tyler "Ripp Stonecipher" Rippeteau’s ad (on Craigslist) seeking local political writers for his site…I am now his site’s semi-official "Political Director" (a la the much admired wonk coverage of the ’08 election for NBC and MSNBC by Chuck Todd) and Tyler’s co-host of The Stonecipher Report radio show (available on Chicago’s WHPK, 88.5 FM or online via whpk.org) (plug, plug!) – as well as a friend now to the all-around good guy who runs this site.

Lisa Madigan Makes Up Her Mind…(and Startles the Political World)

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

July 9, 2009

What?!? THAT’s what we’ve all been waiting for here in Illinois (and across the rest of the country)? "Just" another potential term as IL Attorney General for the state’s assumed political "Big Dog," Lisa Madigan? Huh? THAT’s what had all the other politicians in Illinois waiting and wondering what the state’s electoral 800 lb. gorilla was gonna do? Man…and we thought that AK’s Sarah Palin was a frustrating, complicated mess…

So, yes, you may have heard that, no, Madigan WON’T be running for the US Senate seat (formerly occupied by Barack Obama; currently being barely warmed by Roland "Jus’ Passin’ Through" Burris) from IL in 2010…NOR – as long expected – will she be competing for the IL Governor’s job up for election that same year. She is – instead – going to seek an additional term as state Attorney General. Uh, wha?

Who’s In, Who’s Out, What’s Next? – Chicago / Illinois Politics a Bit Up in the Air

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

June 20, 2009

Man, you spend a couple of late-spring weeks guiltily watching a former Illinois First Lady tough it out in a jungle reality television show (that, plus a ton of baseball), and – suddenly – when you turn back around to the local political headlines, you find that nearly everything has gone a bit topsy-turvy.

I’m a Politician…Get Me IN There!

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

June 12, 2009

Note: This piece is cross-posted at Eyes on Obama

So – in case you forgot how we got here – Federal Judge James B. Zagel ruled that disgraced (and removed-from-office) Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was NOT allowed to leave the country to participate in NBC’s jungle-survivor reality show "I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!" in Costa Rica. Oh, man – were we disappointed…if nothing else, we at least wanted to see what a few styling-product-less days in a steamy jungle would do to the famous Blago helmet-o’-hair.

Instead, of course, B-Rod’s wife Patti apparently managed to barely qualify as some sort of a "celebrity" (along with "The Hills’" Spencer and Heidi, washed-up original "supermodel" Janice Dickinson, Stephen and Daniel Baldwin, and others)…and so SHE headed off to represent the family on the show instead – AND to work to pull in some appearance dough for them.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky Opts Out of the 2010 IL Senate Race

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

June 10, 2009

Note to self: Next time, try to finish that day’s paper before going on the air to talk local politics…

The other day, on The Stonecipher Report’s radio show (coming next week to alternating Tuesdays, following the regular alternating Mondays!), I asked Tyler Rippeteau for his latest thoughts about whether his Congressperson, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, was going to compete – presumably, at least against state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and semi-newcomer-with-legendary-name Christopher Kennedy – in the 2010 IL Democratic primary for Senate. Of course, between prep for the show and other obligations, I had only gotten to page 11 (and Richard Roeper’s column) in the Chicago Sun-Times that day…yet, just beyond that, on page 15, I would’ve seen the headline to Lynn Sweet’s column: "Schakowsky stays put, won’t run for Senate." D’Oh!

Lisa Madigan Gets to Pick Her Political Spot – While Everyone Else Waits

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

May 16, 2009

In local, statewide Illinois politics, current Attorney General Lisa Madigan is the proverbial 800 lb. gorilla – and nobody is sure just yet where she wants to plop that considerable poll and electoral weight next…

For years, the assumption has been that she was tuning up and aiming for the Governor’s office. Even her being from the same party – Democratic, natch – as the until-recently two-term incumbent Guv was not going to be a stumbling block; even if Rod Blagojevich had not been impeached and hounded from office, I – and most other observers – fairly strongly assumed that Madigan would’ve challenged him in the 2010 primary…and almost certainly would’ve whomped the Serbian Haircut out of town.

No Daley in the IL Senate Race…But Maybe a Kennedy

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

Apr. 29, 2009

The one thought floating in the background of my mind while reading the good piece that our site leader Tyler Rippeteau posted the other day about Rep. Jan Schakowsky pondering a run for the IL Senate seat currently being kept slightly warm by Roland Burris was this: OK, Jan and IL Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (and probably even the hanging-on 845-dollar-man, Sen. Burris), but…what about the potential Big Gorilla in the race, former US Secretary of Commerce – and mayoral brother – Bill Daley? You know, the brain-trust guy in the famous Chicago political family – the one who already LOOKS positively Senatorial? We had heard – multiple times – that he, too, would be running in the IL Democratic primary in 2010…so, what’s up with that?

Rep. Jan Schakowsky for Senate in Illinois

Posted by: Tyler Rippeteau

Apr. 27, 2009

On Monday morning my Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky (D - IL), sent an email to her supporters announcing that she is seriously considering a run for the U.S. Senate in Illinois.

As she said in the email, her decision to take a closer look at this possibility was based, in part, on the results of two recent polls.  One poll, not surprisingly, showed that the six-term Congresswoman from Evanston, IL would beat a generic Republican in a statewide election. 

Sen. Roland Burris Banks $845 – and That AIN’T $845K…

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

Apr. 20, 2009

So, politics in Illinois has gotten pretty expensive lately. Statewide offices now cost millions in campaign funds…heck, even Congressional races in the contested city and suburban districts can easily top $1 million per candidate.

Not to mention legal defense funds – Gov. Ryan, Gov. Blagojevich, and Sen. Burris have all run up legal fees in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, trying to fight charges or even (perhaps, in the case of Burris’ multiple-misspeaks about his Blago connections) just misunderstandings. Needless to say, mucho bucks need to be raised, semi-constantly, to feed the hungry political process of running for and holding onto public office here (and – sometimes even – the attempts to stay out of the grey-barred Big House).

Read All About Petty Lil’ Sen. Roland Burris – in the New Yorker

Posted By: Michael Sweeney

Mar. 20, 2009

You know who is probably most grateful that the US Senate has been so caught up with bailouts and stimulus packages and even attempts at recovering or taxing unwise bonus payments recently? (OK, I know – the headline was a pretty strong clue…) The Junior Senator from my great home-state of Illinois – the (semi-)Honorable Sen. Roland Burris, that’s who.