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"There was a lot of frustration in there," said a Democratic senator who declined to be identified.

"People were hot," another Democratic senator said.

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Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Feb 5th, 2010 at 11:59:13 AM EST
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ILLINOIS, Campaign 2010

On the same day Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn officially claimed the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, he found out that his newly-minted running mate has a rap sheet that includes alleged domestic battery and tax evasion....

According to court records obtained by the Chicago Tribune, Scott Lee Cohen, a millionaire pawnbroker who prevailed with a narrow plurality in the crowded primary for lieutenant governor, was accused by his ex-girlfriend, a prostitute, of holding a knife to her neck in a 2005 domestic dispute....

"I have no intention of stepping down or stepping aside. When the facts come to light, after my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend speak, the people of Illinois can decide, and I will listen to them directly," said Cohen.

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Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
by Cat on Fri Feb 5th, 2010 at 12:05:29 PM EST
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Never a dull moment in IL politics.  Though to Cohen's credit, we do have one former governor in prison and another on the way there (after a side trip to Celebrity Apprentice).  Since Lt. Gov. is a position which mostly involves waiting for your boss to be arrested or impeached, it's understandable that he'd think being a criminal is pre-requisite for the job.  

I think a teabagger (IL is a moderate Republican-old school democrat state) might get the GOP nomination for Gov., though it is practically a 3-way tie between the candidates (and was also practically a tie between the Dem. candidates too.)  A guy who helped his family run a failed bank that gave large loans to mobsters got the Dem. nod for Senate, so you can expect that seat to be lost.  On the upside, a progressive reform candidate won Cook County Board President.  We'll see how long it takes them to turn her into a vampire...


"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Fri Feb 5th, 2010 at 12:50:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Wonderful:

Cohen's rap sheet stuns Illinois Dems - Josh Kraushaar - POLITICO.com

"I tried to tell everyone about this early on. I wanted to talk about all of these issues, but everyone wrote me off, and said I didn't have a chance to win. Now that I'm the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor, the day after the election, there are questions. I am happy to answer any and all questions; I just need time to do so," he said.

This falls squarely into "Love means never having to say you're sorry" territory.

Is there a Mr. O'Neal in the house? A Ms. McGraw?

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Fri Feb 5th, 2010 at 02:59:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"People were hot," another Democratic senator said.

I'm sure somebody once said something about leaving the kitchen if you thought it was too hot. but that aside, while Franken is right that the white house has shown the opposite of leadership on this, the senate has hardly covered itself in glory.

If you wanted to talk about being set-up, it's hard to avoid concluding that the WH wanted to avoid their own nasty little pharma-deal becoming the story of HCR, so they allowed the Senate to fight like rats in a sack until what was left was a threadbare and embarrassing mess. But the Senate didn't have to be so obliging; it's their fault too.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Feb 5th, 2010 at 01:12:35 PM EST
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