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And then there were 2 (well, 15) running in Dem primary for #IL02

And then there were 2 (well, 15) running in Dem primary for #IL02

News this morning that one of the three leading contenders for the Democratic nomination in the special election to replace Jesse Jackson, Jr., Toi Hutchinson, has dropped out of the race and endorsed Machine-pick Robin Kelly.

This may or may not be related to news recently surfacing that Toi paid her mother a large sum to be her “political consultant,” a setup remarkably reminiscent of the one Jesse Jackson, Jr., had with his wife. As you know, JJJ and his wife’s plea deals with the federal government were released Friday just as President Obama took the lectern at a local Chicago high school.

Toi Hutchinson was one of the presumed top three candidates in the Democratic race who, along with Robin Kelly, has been AWOL from the campaign trail even as they both raked in donations. Mayor Bloomberg’s Super PAC, which has spent nearly $2m attacking Democrat Debbie Halvorson during the race, had recently turned its sites onto Hutchinson.

And now, a few days later, Hutchinson has dropped out. After supporting Halvorson in the past, Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky has now endorsed Kelly. Anti-gun maven of Chicago Toni Preckwinkle announced her support for Kelly today as well, after initially backing Hutchinson.

Nine days until the primary election on February 26.

Nine days to see if the Democratic Machine will overcome the general competence, respectability, and moderate nature of candidate Debbie Halvorson to insert the Axelrod/Daily Kos/Chicago Tribune/Mayor Bloomberg pick Robin Kelly.

And nine days to see if the Republican establishment can stop sitting on their thumbs and join the grassroots to support Paul McKinley, the only man who has a chance to defeat the Democratic nominee.

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Comments

“Anti-gun maven of Chicago Toni Preckwinkle”

Every prick needs a foreskin.

Looks like nanny Bloomberg can’t leave well enough alone in NY, now he has to put his sights on the IL-02 Cong. election! If only there was a Daddy Warbucks on our side who would be willing to step up to the plate and bankroll a return volley to the PAC USA! Either Halvorson or McKinley will get my vote, but it’s sure to be a tough battle going against the vast number of kool-aid drinking low-info voters…!

    casualobserver in reply to BoPMonkey. | February 17, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    I’m not intimately familiar with Chicago area politics, but I wonder if the the Machine has ever lost an election to a non-Dem, much less to another Dem (more likely?). If its track record is as impeccable as I imagine (?), what could possible be different this time for a McKinley victory? Part of my assumption is that the JJJr district is very carefully and beneficially drawn for a Dem. And if polling shows even a slightly positive situation for McKinley, my imagination is boundless in the actions, especially illicit, that the Machine would take.

      Juba Doobai! in reply to casualobserver. | February 17, 2013 at 11:45 pm

      Well, you’re likely right. The living and the dead do vote as many times as they are inclined. However, it is possible that McKinley might prevail cuz he’s a black guy (never forget whose district it was) who is saying things that are resonating with the constituency. But then, the Machinery.

[…] has narowed the Democrat primary to Robin Kelly, with lots of other candidates dropping out, via LegalInsurrection.com. The choice becomes […]

Feeling sorry for one’s self is the root of Liberalism. And, Liberalism is the opposite of transparency. In fact, liberals are obscurant with their projection.

Conservatives understand that life is hard and unfair. We make wise tradeoffs to make life better, more palatable for ourselves and others. We work hard and do right by others.

As a Christian conservative I make tradeoffs that help others who are poor and needy. I have never needed government to tell me to do this. It comes with the territory of the Kingdom of God.

    Henry Hawkins in reply to Sally Paradise. | February 17, 2013 at 8:12 pm

    Liberals know just as well that life is hard and unfair for some, but extrapolate that life must therefore be easy and fair for others – ‘too’ fair, in fact, and couple this with the illogic zero-sum computation that if one person is doing well, it came at a cost to some other poor unfortunate victim. They seek to rectify this by redistributive mechanisms, placing themselves on a moral throne of superiority for doing it, a self-enobling assessment that allows their ‘ends justify means’ practices.

Subotai Bahadur | February 18, 2013 at 12:08 am

From what I have been hearing, the prime talk in Il-02 is not the criminal conduct of JJJ; but rather the horrendous possibility that *gasp* they might end up being represented in Congress by a white [okay, that is not the actual description used]. The fact that the white is a typical Democrat does not count more than skin color.

The chance of Debbie Halvorson winning the primary are non-existent if the Chicago machine can trim the field. And they will do it. The district is drawn to be Democrat, of course. But also racist Black Democrat.

As far as the Institutional Republicans coming out to support Paul McKinley; can you seriously see them coming out for a) an insurgent outsider who, b) wants to take on machine politics [remember the Institutionals are as much a machine as the Democrats, and closer to them than they would have us believe]?

Subotai Bahadur

It doesn’t do Toi Hutchinson’s political career any good at all to finish third in the primary. Third place does her even less good if the Machine’s preferred candidate finishes second.

Ms. Hutchinson presently has a pretty good day job as a state senator. If the time isn’t right this time to move up to Congress, it will be at some other point. Or another opportunity will arise. Dropping out of the IL-02 primary now simply means she can keep the Machine sweet on her for that future.

A McKinley v Hutchinson general election would have been interesting. A McKinley v Halvorson election would have been more interesting pitting a white Democrat against a black Republican. That’s a contest I would have liked to have seen. But we’ll get Kelly v McKinley and Kelly will swamp him. The Machine will congratulate itself and move on, and Ms. Kelly will jump every time Rahm calls her.

In a town with folks like this ..

Appearing on a Chicago Sunday morning talk show, [Chicago Police] superintendent Garry McCarthy expressed his conviction that firearm owners who lobby their elected representatives or who donate money to political campaigns are engaged in corruption that endangers public safety. McCarthy went on to express his belief that judges and legislators should rely on public opinion polls when interpreting our Constitution.

After dismissing the citizen’s right to redress grievances, McCarthy focused on the 2nd Amendment. Despite recent court decisions to the contrary, McCarthy opined that the 2nd Amendment limits citizens to owning smooth-bore muskets. McCarthy went on to say that he believes the 2nd Amendment supports mandatory liability insurance for firearm owners and the mandatory application of GPS tracking devices to civilian owned firearms.

So this is Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s man. Ouch.