June 24, 2020
U.S. VICE-PRESIDENTS HAVE HISTORICALLY BEEN "ROADKILL"
America's vice presidents, who now number 48, are a graphic and classic example of political road kill. For a myriad of personal, historical and/or demographic reasons, 34 of them never successfully made it across Pennsylvania Avenue into the White House. Fourteen of them rose to the presidency and only four (Adams, Jefferson, Van Buren, Bush) became president in their own right, winning elections in 1796, 1800, 1836 and 1988 after serving as the sitting vice president. Of the nine who succeeded to the presidency (Tyler, Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Arthur, Teddy Roosevelt, Coolidge, Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Ford) through the incumbent's assassination, natural death or resignation, only five of them got their party's nomination for the next term, and only four won, in 1904, 1924, 1948 and 1964. There is an inconsistent, incoherent pattern. ON TO 2020: Here's an easy prediction: Whoever is elected vice president in 2020 will be president in or before 2024. Full Article...
June 17, 2020
DEMOCRATIC SLATE SCORES OVER/UNDER TRIFECTA FOR MWRD COMMISSIONER
There are three things that the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) does well. It disposes about 280 million pounds of solid waste that Cook County's citizens flush down the toilet every year. It treats and sends to the Gulf of Mexico the 500 billion gallons of effluent that annually inundates Chicago's and the county's urinals and thence sewer systems. And it pays their nine elected commissioners exceedingly high salaries and benefits for part-time work. They also gross about $1,080 per hour to attend 22 board meetings per year. And one more thing: They squabble. Attached is a CHART detailing the 2020 and 2018 primary results. Full Article...
June 10, 2020
SILVERSTEIN AND GARRIDO LOSE FOR SUBCIRCUIT JUDGE DUE TO BAD REPS AND IMAGES
An image once created cannot easily (if ever) be uncreated or re-created. A reputation once established cannot be easily (if ever) re-established. And political enemies last forever. The accuracy of this was demonstrated to Ira Silverstein and John Garrido on March 17 when both lost their bids to win a Democratic judgeship nomination in the 9th and 10th subcircuits, respectively (see chart). Full Article...
June 3, 2020
HUGE HISPANIC TURNOUT, DNA, TOO MANY MEN CLINCH MARTINEZ 31.3% VICTORY IN CIRCUIT COURT CLERK RACE
“I don’t owe anything to anybody,” boisterously proclaimed state senator Iris Martinez, Cook County’s incoming Clerk of the Circuit Court. “I won,” said Martinez, “because voters wanted a woman of color.” The 2020 primary turnout for Clerk was 861,814, which was 220,221 less than 2016’s 1,082,034, when incumbent Dorothy Brown won with 44.1 percent. According to the final tally, Martinez topped the field with 269,576 votes, to 216,181 (25.1 percent) for party-slated Mike Cabonargi, a Board of Review commissioner from the North Shore, 199,526 (23.1 percent) for Richard Boykin, a black former county commissioner from Oak Park, and 113,855 (13.2 percent) for Jacob Meister, a gay lawyer who ran in 2016 (getting 20.5 percent against two black women – Brown and the slated Michelle Harris. Martinez swept to a solid victory In the 12 Hispanic wards, where turnout was 77,437, and she got 44,125 votes (59.4 percent). She got over 60 percent in 4 wards (12, 22, 30 and 31) and 50-59 percent in 7 (10, 14, 15, 25, 26, 35 and 36). Martinez got a whopping 76.9 percent in the 6 Hispanic townships (Cicero, Berwyn, Hanover, Schaumburg, Stickney and Riverside). Her base delivered. She topped Cabonargi countywide by 53,337 votes; she topped him by 45,944 in Hispanic areas. A chart detailing the result is attached. Full Article...
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