Posted on 02/07/2010 5:58:55 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
The Democratic nominee for Illinois lieutenant governor has dropped out of the race less than a week after winning the nomination amid a political uproar about his past.
Scott Lee Cohen announced his decision Sunday night at a Chicago bar.
The pawn broker and owner of a cleaning supplies company won the nomination Tuesday. Since then, it has become widely know that he was accused of abusing his ex-wife and holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend.
The girlfriend herself had been charged with prostitution. He also admits using steroids in the past.
Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, who would have been paired with Cohen on the November ticket, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis and Sen. Dick Durbin all had urged Cohen to leave the race.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Had he been a Republican, the ratmedia would have outed him a year ago.
I’m not understanding the process here. He just won the nomination. Doesn’t that put him in the exact same position as Torricelli was in NJ years ago?
Does this mean a “switcheroo” similar to Lautenberg? Court involvement?
I’m sorry, the primary voters knew who this waste of oxygen was going in, and he won anyway. What is this new standard that party bosses can protect their party’s prospects by undoing the results of the primary?
Am I missing something?
Fitzgerald was the last Republican senator.
Coulda fooled me, he’s been running to the left of his Democrat opponents every year, so he’s already an “excellent” Democrat, and he’s worse than Percy. We needed a Fitzgerald to run this year. I’ve endorsed Eric Wallace in the general, and I hope to see Kirk defeated.
Whoops, I forgot about Peter Fitzgerald, the one-term Senator.
The deadline to drop out is a far way off in Illinois. In New Jersey, the ‘Rats broke the rules with the help of the state Supreme Court.
Yes. Easy mistake, Percy was the last liberal RINO Senator.
Well he’s out Titans.
I still think they did not plan this though. The negative publicly surely outweighs any benefit to hand picking the fill in (Hynes? A black female?) since the post is so meaningless.
Since 1950, there have been 12 Senators from IL, you can rank them as such:
The Good:
Everett Dirksen (R)
Peter Fitzgerald (R)
Ralph Smith (R)
The Bad:
Alan J. Dixon (D)
Paul Simon (D)
Adlai Stevenson 3d (D)
Chuck Percy (R)
Paul Douglas (D)
The Ugly:
Roland Burris (D)
Carol Moseley-Braun (D)
Dick Durbin (D)
Zero (D)
They are beyond in the tank. They are the Public Relations Buero for Obama.
Okay, so then what, a special primary?
Interesting history lesson. The conservatives who elected Everett Dirkson have long since died or moved to Phoenix. It’s worth noting that Ralph Smith wasn’t elected, but apponinted after Dirkson died. Part of the reason for Smith’s loss in 1970 was the celebrity of his opponent, Adlai Stevenson III. As for Fitzgerald, the only reason he narrowly won in 1998 was the weakness of Carol Mosley Braun.
On a side note, Ralph Smith ran one of the “law & order” campaigns that many Republicans ran that year, but only a few were successful, most notably Bill Brock’s defeat of Al Gore, Sr. Smith got himself into trouble when he said, “when I look at Stevenson’s record, I see red.” That was considered an insult in those days, before it was conservatives and Republicans who became known as “red.”
I loathe Paul Simon. I’d put him lower.
I think that the state party chooses a candidate.
I think Fitzgerald would have beaten Obama. (Maybe Jack Ryan too sans “scandal”.)
By no means would it be assured but I’d call Fitz/Obama 2004 a tossup.
Too many IL freepers are fine with Kirk cause they think “oh conservatives can’t win, Fitzgerald was gonna lose in 2004”.
Fitzgerald would have smoked him downstate just like he did CMB. That was the key to his victory in 98. Bush lost IL by only 10 points or so. You wouldn’t have needed that much crossover.
I only give Simon grudging credit for #1, taking out the dreadful Percy (frankly, I had to hedge on putting Percy under ugly, especially given his “trendy” anti-Zionism), and #2, ostensibly being somewhat credible on issues such as the Balanced Budget Amendment.
Fitzgerald would’ve won had the Combiner wing of the GOP not spent 6 solid years screwing him with a rusty shiv.
Paul Simon was the one who leaked the false charges of Anita Hill during the 1991 Clarence Thomas hearings. He then lied about his involvement in it.
If you’re talking about 2004, Bush won 44% in Illinois that year. He improved on his 2000 showing in a number of urban states that year by making inroads among urban Catholic voters, many of whom disliked John Kerry,
The reason I put Dixon ahead of Simon is because he had the balls to vote for Clarence Thomas (although he later claimed to regret it).
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