California Sheriff Chad Bianco on the PBD Podcast

I used A.I. to pull some significant points from this morning's podcast

Straight Talk from California’s Law-and-Order Governor Candidate

Source: LA Times

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco joined Patrick Bet-David on the PBD Podcast (#808) for a candid discussion about California’s 2026 gubernatorial race. As a Republican candidate with a strong law enforcement background, Bianco pulled no punches on the state’s crises, his primary rivals, and the failures of Democratic leadership—particularly under Governor Gavin Newsom.

Steve Hilton vs. Sheriff Chad Bianco: Who’s the Better Choice to Run California?

Last week PBD hosted Republican Steve Hilton one of the two leading candidates for California governor. This week, we get the other prominent Republican in the mix: Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco.

With the June 2, 2026 jungle primary fast approaching, this race is heating up. I’m embedding the full interview with Sheriff Bianco below. If you’re up early or following the blog, this is a good one to watch when it drops. [VIDEO]

PBD Podcast: Steve Hilton candidate for California Governor

Steve Hilton is one of two prominent Republican candidates for Governor of California, alongside Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. With the jungle primary set for June 2, 2026, there had been serious discussion on the right about the possibility of two Republicans advancing to the November general election.

On the PBD Podcast this week, Hilton broke down the latest polling — showing him narrowly leading or tied near the top — and warned about the real risk that two Democrats could squeeze into the top two spots. That outcome would shield lame-duck Governor Gavin Newsom from full accountability for the state’s failures. He even suggested Sheriff Bianco should consider dropping out to consolidate the Republican vote and prevent a Democrat-only general election.

Hilton is an unusual figure in this race. A former Fox News host of The Next Revolution, he previously served as a top political strategist and aide to former UK Prime Minister David Cameron. He moved to the United States in 2012 and became a citizen. He has cited a major falling out with Cameron over immigration policy — an issue the UK continues to grapple with.

Now a recent immigrant from England, Hilton is running to lead the Golden State. California has elected an Austrian-born movie star with a thick accent as Governor — so why not a sharp-minded Englishman with a concrete plan to fix the mess? I could get behind that.

Here's the podcast in question [VIDEO]

Marathon Pundit discusses "pink slime" newspapers

John Ruberry makes reference to some newspapers sent to residents in some parts of the Chicago area published by a printer in association with the suburban Daily Herald. I somewhat know about this because it has been reported on the Capitol Fax.

The person who is responsible for this "pink slime" pieces is longtime conservative activist and one-time gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft who also is running TV ads in this election cycle paid for by People who play by the rules PAC. Ruberry's thesis is that:

With occasional exceptions, the newsrooms of Illinois’ major newspapers are woke echo chambers. They still claim to be the watchdogs for the public, but these so-called journalists are mostly interested in protecting and advancing leftist narratives. Contemporary reporters are a toxic combination of “the cool kids” in high school, with all of their arrogance, and the false ethical superiority of Iran’s morality police. Community newspapers usually only report on petty crime, but if you need to locate the nearest bake sale, well, you know where to find that information. These weekly papers are in fact weakly ones.

If the Illinois media performed their jobs honestly and capably, there’d be no need for “pink slime.”

So allow me to talk about the governor's race in Illinois. Once the primary election was settle in June for the most part most of the focus of the ads I've seen on TV or online had been abortion. I can't say I've seen many ads from Darren Bailey who is the Republican nominee for gov. The Pritzker campaign and I'm sure other  PACs were running ads regarding abortion and certainly using those ads to highlight Bailey's stance on abortion. Basically they emphasize that be doesn't believe in allowing for the exceptions of life of the mother or rape/incest.

Of course at the same time what are the issues of these pink slime papers. The Safe-T act, which has been derided online primarily as a PURGE act. Ever heard of The Purge movies, I have it seems so depressing and dire that a law was written to effective allow almost anything. I've seen the defenses for this act and they seem reasonable.

However, one good point to be made is that politicians from Gov. Pritzker to Attorney General Kwame Raoul are talking about making some tweaks to that law. And Ruberry notes that the law would be effective after the general election in November. So perhaps the Democrats who control this state are worried that this law could affect their electoral prospects.

So basically aside from abortion crime is an important issue. People want to be safe from the criminal element and especially true in Chicago.

Time will tell if this "pink slime" rags are in anyway effective in influencing the results of the 2022 race.

Capitol Fax: Gary Rabine picks up Charlie Kirk endorsement

 I'm not that familiar with Charlie Kirk other than knowing he's one of those social media right wing personalities. I did catch a livestream not long after the 2020 race and I see that he's waded into the 2022 IL Governor's race. He endorsed the campaign of one Gary Rabine who hopes to defeat J.B. Pritzker in his bid for a second term.

Rabine picks up Charlie Kirk endorsement https://t.co/Szn1R5AvUb

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) September 29, 2021

As I see the comments to CapFax many of them whether Republican or Democrat thinks this will be a problem.

Historically in Illinois I've seen that this state tends to elect moderate to liberal Republicans - I think Rockefeller Republican works in this instance. Being a conservative is considered problematic in this state, especially a conservative Republican at a time currently when conservatives are being badly demonized.

Personally I try not to nitpick over these labels. The last Republican - who hardly governed even as he Bruce Rauner was running for re-election - was not effective and tried to govern at least towards the middle.

I'd say this state needs a decent administrator with good political skills. Hopefully a Republican who wins the nomination to run against Pritzker is able to show how they would run a state during a pandemic. 

I would also say that Pritzker has actually been effective. I don't agree with his pandemic policies or any of his more "progressive" agenda. However, can't argue with how this state's finances improve even during this pandemic and he's had some accomplishments since he became governor in 2019.

I have a hard time seeing any Republican showing that they would be a better choice than Pritzker.

Mancow for Governor

 I didn't know until reading this that Mancow is no longer on WLS-AM and it amazes me that Erich Muller would even consider a run for office. The premise of this post from the Capitol Fax is that Illinois couldn't be nuts enough to consider Mancow. But then again are we....

Thanks. I really needed that https://t.co/nM1UqGkDOb

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) December 2, 2020

2014 election in Illinois

To be honest I haven't really written about the elections coming up next Tuesday. There hasn't been much interest on my part this year primarily because of other priorities.

In 2010, I certainly built that election up as an important election. Of course that's not to say all elections aren't important and important could be said of this year.

Just like the 2010 gubernatorial election neither candidate looks great to me. I chose one regardless as I will this year.

I'm still not sure Pat Quinn deserves another term this year as I knew he shouldn't have a full term in 2010. He won and it was a close election as I suppose most people in this state wasn't feeling Quinn and they really weren't feeling his then Republican challenger Bill Brady.

This year another wealthy Republican Bruce Rauner - Brady was portrayed as a wealthy central Illinois businessman in addition to being a state senator - is running to be Governor of Illinois. He's looks much better than Brady, but I get the sense that most people in this state aren't feeling him either.

It's often stated - and very true - that where Chicago goes so does the rest of Illinois. The Chicago area is where most of the votes are. And you definitely have to cut into totals in Chicago in order to win statewide as a Republican. And look no further than the 2010 election totals for Governor and US Senate to see how true it is!


I'm learning in Rich Miller's recent column that some ads were shown in Chicago that wasn't shown in the rest of the state. That lets us know that in this state candidates will target the voters they seek.

Either way, I've already decided this will be a close election. Neither Rauner nor Quinn could possibly run with this election and I'd be surprised if either did. Time will tell if Rauner's reaching out to "minorities" in this state will gain him any benefit or that Quinn will actually barely pull out another victory.

See you on Tuesday!

Really? Rauner has the support of Black Democrats...

If I may explain this story posted on Twitter before going to bed last night. Bruce Rauner won the GOP nomination for Illinois Governor on Tuesday beating out three other candidates. Barely eking out a victory over state Senator Kirk Dillard who was largely boosted by money from teacher's unions who endorsed him. If not for that it's entirely possible that Mr. Rauner could have ran away with the recent primary election.

So Gov. Pat Quinn, who only faced token opposition by anti-violence activist Tio Hardimon although it seems he'd have gotten support in downstate Illinois. All the same Gov. Quinn still isn't very popular in this state and his last election - 2010 where he got his full-term as Governor - barely eked out a victory against his Republican opponent Bill Brady. As a matter of fact what probably saved the Governor was overwhelmingly winning the stat's most populous county - which is Cook County.

So, let's not count Quinn out it's already predicted that this campaign could get nastier probably nastier than any past gubernatorial campaign. Rauner is a wealthy man who made his money as a venture capitalist - that is he provides money for small firms. Also it's reported that he hired Mayor Rahm Emanuel once-upon-a-time and they still share a close relationship. In spite of the report you see above, I'm sure Quinn - who in the past was reported to not be able to get along with the Mayor - could use that against him.

Why is because Emanuel currently isn't very popular in the Black community. It doesn't help when you close 50 schools in primarily Black & Latino communities in Chicago to start with. To be sure, I'm sure Rauner's Republican opponents have brought up his relationship with the Democratic Mayor of Chicago.

So it appears from the above story and this list of Democrats backing Rauner this year that he may have some support in those communities who generally doesn't support Republican candidates. The question we should ask is whether or not Rauner and his new allies can deliver significant votes to him in November to beat out the incumbent Governor.

AP: 2014 candidates for gov. to choose running mates

Not long after the 2010 elections the rules were changed with regards to the top gubernatorial ticket in Illinois. It helped that back then, an unknown man was the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor and then it came out that he had beat his girlfriend up years before that election. He later resigned however he decided to mount an unsuccessful independent campaign for Governor.

Anyway what about next year:

For the first time, candidates for governor - who until now have run separately from candidates for lieutenant governor - must select running mates and be on a ticket with them. Several campaigns say they'll announce their 2014 picks on or around Sept. 3, the date when candidates may begin circulating petitions to get on the March primary ballot. Others plan to wait until later in the fall.

Just as in a presidential election, the choice will have the potential to help or hurt a campaign, so candidates say they're considering their options carefully. They also say running as a ticket will help them better define their priorities for voters and cover more ground as election season gets underway.

"Two voices are stronger than one," said state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, one of four Republicans seeking the GOP nomination.
...
The new way of doing things gives candidates a chance to round out their ticket by choosing someone who could appeal to a certain demographic or who brings a particular expertise they may be lacking. That could mean several of the all-male field of candidates will choose women as running mates, or that downstate candidates could look for someone from Chicago's suburbs, and vice versa.

But the candidates or their spokespeople all insisted that those kinds of political calculations weren't driving their decision-making. They said they're looking for balance and someone who can help run the state and step in and replace him if needed.

Well back in 2010 Gubernatorial and Lt. Gov. candidates ran separately in the primary and then run as a ticket in the general. When the Lt. Gov Dem nominee removed himself from the ballot Gov. Quinn had to choose a new nominee however she's elected not to run again with the Governor and is running for another office. I'd be very curious to find out who the Democrats and Republicans in the Governor's race would choose as their running mates for next year.

Ward Room: Odds On Your Next Governor

Looking at this post by blogger Ed McClelland, there are some good choices here. Perhaps Lisa Madigan shouldn't go for it this time around. She seems adverse to moving from state attorney general. She wouldn't run for any other office but the one she held in 2010.

It's safe to say State Senator Bill Brady has had his turn to be governor and I think it's agreed he blew a certain thing in 2010 against our current Governor Pat Quinn who became Governor of Illinois after Blago was removed from that position. Whoever on the Republican side wants to run for Governor next year - whether conservative or moderate - need to avoid making some of the same mistakes he did two years ago. So Rutherford and Dillard - Dillard himself lost the 2010 gubernatorial primary to Brady - seem like good possibilities. Brady and Billard are currently serving in the state Senate. Rutherford a former state Senator is now our state Treasurer.

For 2014 I'm not feeling Lisa Madigan, but I could deal with a Governor Rahm Emanuel. It just must hinge on how he does as Mayor of Chicago. Although since he campaigned for Mayor starting in 2010 it was always speculated that his ultimate goal is the Presidency of the United States. We'll have to see about that!

BTW, McClelland does make one mistake. Our 22nd & 24th President of the United States one Grover Cleveland served as the Mayor of Buffalo before becoming Governor of New York and eventually President of the United States for two non-consecutive terms. That being said a city mayor serving as President is still very rare!

All the same while the Quinn of this year seems to be a lot more take charge about the various issues affecting our state it seems the consensus is that he shouldn't even attempt to run again in two years. I do believe he indicated in interest in running for another term as governor.

Been wanting to write a post about Bill Brady over the weekend

Obviously it's old news that the Republican nominee for Governor, Bill Brady, has conceded the race for Governor on Friday. Brady who is a State Senator from Bloomington, IL (home of Illinois State University) was expected to win this election and it has been said his campaign was already planning a transition.

Either way Pat Quinn our incumbent Governor who took over for Rod Blagojevich - Ousted governor - since his removal from office in 2009 was able to eke out a victory. I had expected Quinn to lose this election based upon what he's done the past almost two years since he ascended to our Governorship. He's an honest man who has the tendency to not follow though and change his mind quickly about how to settle our state's fiscal problems.

I though Brady was a better choice for Governor, but neither he nor Gov. Quinn were the most ideal candidates at all. Both had their issues, but it was Brady's for the taking apparently and if Brady hadn't starting planning for the transition who knows if Brady could've eked out a win on Election Day. He needed workers on the campaign trail all the way through Election Day.

This election was close at last count it was around 20,000 votes separating Quinn and Brady. Both men had 46 and tenths of a percent of the vote. It's almost like maybe Bush v. Gore in 2000 perhaps that type of percent and even worse Bush didn't run away with it in the popular vote. Remember the Electoral Vote counts more than the popular vote. If Bush won the most popular votes in certain states as he had in Florida for example he could win the election without a plurality of American voters casting a ballot for him.

In 2010 Illinois, it appears that Brady won most of the state, but Cook County carried it for Quinn. It's often true if a Republican is competitive in Cook County not merely win, but is competitive he might have a shot. Let's not forget that Chicago at the very least is a very Democratic town.

I've got to say however, I almost saw this coming. One day I wrote a comment at the Capitol Fax that someone is going to call for a state electoral college because of what happened with Brady. Not that I support that, but it seems someone did call for one. We haven't yet figure out what to do with a federal one let alone create one for the state. And Rich Miller was right, counties and such don't vote people do. Even if you created a delegation from the 118 counties to cast their votes for a Governor. And at that do we choose electors similarly to what is done in practice around the nation.

Another thought I had. I would've had no problem with Brady prolonging the inevitable if it had to be verified. Of course I was of another mind of it. With the problems that this state is having currently who would want to be Governor. I did believe Brady would've been better, but that's not to say he'd have been more successful than Quinn. My advice to Brady is to just let Quinn have this one, because then he'll have to deal with the many issues instead of Brady himself.

Reading the cynical comments at the CapFax many believe that whoever won this year wouldn't have a chance in four years. Speaker Madigan who maintained his majority in the state House of Representatives this year wants to see his daughter (state Attorney General Lisa Madigan) ascend to the governorship in four years (even if many are expecting her to run for Mayor next year even if she had appeared to had denied interest in a race for Chicago Mayor). The cynics think that Madigan won't do everything it takes to solve Illinois' issues if it may impact the political future of his daughter.

Either way even if the economic picture will have changed by 2014, Brady could learn from this year and try again. He had run in 2006, but was behind Judy Baar Topinka (our then state Treasurer) for the GOP nomination for Governor.

While running multiple times and losing is never a good thing. Besides Quinn lost a couple of big time elections himself. He had lost a race for Attorney General and another for US Senate. Then he came back as Lt. Governor to find himself as Governor himself.

Even more in Brady's favor or any other potential candidate for Governor in four years is the fact that Quinn signed into law changes that allow Gubernatorial candidates to choose their own Lt. Governor running mates. Thus future nominees won't have the issues that Quinn had originally with Scott Lee Cohen and then the issues when it came time to select Sheila Simon (many Black politicos in this state wanted to see State Rep. Art Turner to be the Dem. nominee for Lt. Governor). Of course Brady had to deal with the baggage of his running mate Jason Plummer with his inexperience on the statewide level and those dreaded tax returns.

Well let's see what happens in these next four years.

I want you to read this piece by a Republican activist from downstate who wanted Brady to stand up for his conservative values. For many that was an issue especially in his stances on abortion and gay-marriage. I may largely agree with those stances however I also recognize that those aren't the most pressing issues right now.

Mechanics : Cohen mailer

Gapers Block : Mechanics : Chicago Politics - Cohen mailer

Well, um I just posted this at Gaper's Block earlier. You can find it at Capitol Fax as well. Cohen sent this mailer out and it wasn't long after allegations of him attempting to buy the support of Black ministers in his independent bid for Illinois Governor.

Quinn v. Brady debate in Chicago

Union League Club Debate: Quinn vs Brady from Alan Cottrell on Vimeo.

Hat-tip to Capitol Fax. This debate took place at the Union League Club of Chicago today.

Just to remind you that in about a month we have an immediate election before we even consider the mayoral contest in February. We have seen that there has been a lot of focus on who's going to replace Daley or whether or not the Presidential Chief of Staff will run for Mayor of Chicago and leave the Obama administration.

Next month we will elect a Governor and a US Senator.

I hope we will see more debates preferably on TV.

Word on the Street: Brady is under Quinn's skin

PJstar:

Quinn is clearly annoyed when Brady, who voted against the state funding a capital bill, shows up at ribbon cuttings, ground breakings and such to take a bow. "He's showing up in Bloomington at the ribbon cutting of the high speed rail depot there that he had nothing to do with."

The CapFax has a video of Gov. Quinn rambling.

Perhaps the Pat Quinn of the primary, when he faced our current Comptroller Dan Hynes, is starting to come out again!

Illinois 2010 resembles 1980

On Monday Rich Miller wrote his syndicated column where he compared the governor's race to the 1980 presidential race. He says that Gov. Quinn is similar to Jimmy Carter and State Sen. Bill Brady is similar to Ronald Reagan. He reiterated those points on the new Chicago Public Radio program, Best Game in Town.

The comparison is valid. To be sure I had high hopes for Quinn and he has been a marked change from Ousted governor. I believe Quinn is an honest man, but as far as governor he doesn't seem much different from his predecessor and running mate. He has left a lot to be desired as far as governing.

Of course it isn't entirely clear that Brady will govern better. So far he's ran a better campaign as Miller notes that the Governor, "wouldn’t recognize a campaign theme if it was bleeding to death on his front lawn".

Speaking of Jimmy Carter he is said to have had a very successful post-presidency. In fact he recently secured the release of an American citizen who was sentenced to prison in North Korea for crossing into their territory. It just had to be brought up his failure to bring home hostages from Iran during his presidency!

At least in Quinn's case the issues he face will not involve any foreign affairs with the eyes of the world upon him.

Impact of "ground zero" mosque on Illinois governor's race

Rich Miller made note of Bill Brady's (the Republican nominee for Governor) comments on this particular issue. Cited it as evidence of Brady's growth as a candidate & leader:

Republican candidate for Illinois governor Bill Brady says he thinks there's a "lack of sensitivity" regarding the building of a mosque near the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City.

Brady on Tuesday wouldn't give an opinion on whether he supports or opposes the mosque site near Ground Zero. He said he hopes "sensitive minds will deal with this in a sensible way."

There here's Democratic incumbent Pat Quinn's comments on this particular issue from the Post-Dispatch:

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Wednesday said he believes proponents of building a mosque near the site of the 9-11 attacks in New York City should respect a ``zone of solemnity'' and move it further from the site.

The comments were surprising because Quinn is the state's top Democrat and a staunch supporter of President Barack Obama, who has said the mosque has the right to locate near ``ground zero'' as a statement of American principles of freedom of religion.

Quinn, surprisingly may have handled this issue better than the Democratic nominee for US Senate. ;)

Charles Thomas: Pat Quinn's Week to Forget

Umm, well things went a little downhill after the Governor signed a bill in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. Well Rev. Meeks and other ministers at that signing didn't indicate that they would support Quinn in his re-election bid. Then three days after that those same ministers who were in Roseland met with his Republican opponent Bill Brady in Bronzeville:

Then I found out that three days later, on Thursday, some of the same ministers who attended the Roseland bill-signing joined others in a secret meeting with republican gubernatorial candidate Senator Bill Brady.   The breakfast at Pearl's Restaurant at 39th and Indiana included an estimated two dozen black clergymen and was described as the "opening of a dialogue" with the Bloomington conservative.


Several of the ministers described Senator Brady as "nothing like the right-wing extremist" described by Governor Quinn and his operatives.

I would've like to add the previous paragraph in his post. There is a concern that Pat Quinn is taking the support of perhaps specifically Black ministers (more broadly Black voters) for granted in his campaign. In a private session, Quinn was said to be disconnected.

As for that last paragraph in that excerpt, could that spell trouble for Quinn. You know what else, this doesn't come too long before Brady made his appearance at the Bud Billiken Parade this past weekend. You saw a clip where ABC7 talked to Brady during that parade in a previous post.

Hmmmm, what's next Brady will make an appearance next month at the Chicago Football Classic? Will we see him offer his own greetings to Black College Football fans as Governor by next year? Time will tell!

Heard that Bill Brady was at the Bud Billiken Parade....

So I had to find any media coverage I could of that. Ran across this blog, the lady here seemed so excited to meet the Republican candidate for Governor she describes him as really cool and approachable. Apparently Mark Kirk was at the Billiken as well, and she got a picture with him. She also embedded video from ABC7 and points out that she was in this video at the 17 minute mark!

Even better, she said that she was supposed to walk with Scott Lee Cohen, but Brady made it to the Bronzeville neighborhood to take part in this parade.

You may want to know why this is significant. Honestly I've rarely paid attention to this tradition. This parade has been held for better than 80 years and is a signal that the school year is about to start again. The audience is primarily black and Bronzeville is a predominantly black neighborhood.

Another major significance to this event is for the politicians. Years ago Rod Blagojevich in running for re-election was running around shaking hands during his time in the parade. Let's not forget that Blacks make up an important base for mainly the Democratic party. Even then it might be a very important thing to show up in the Billiken if you want to seek black votes.

In this election for Governor (I do wish I knew how to create odds) I feel that this will be a squeaker by election day. Every vote will count in this one and perhaps Bill Brady from downstate Bloomington, Illinois may have made a smart move. Hopefully this will count in November!

Rich Miller: No escaping the goofiness

I missed this yesterday. Rich Miller of the CapFax published his latest syndicated column yesterday talking about the Governor's race. He compares Gov. Pat Quinn and state Sen. Bill Brady to the Harlem Globetrotter's inept longtime foes the Washington Generals:

A Washington Generals split squad game would surely be a sight to behold. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to imagine such a spectacle. We’ve got one right here in Illinois.

Last week, Gov. Pat Quinn spoke to throngs of angry union members at the site of a factory which is being retooled in part by out-of-state workers. Unions have been quite unhappy about the use of nonunion employees from other states and have been protesting for weeks.

“When there’s a job to be done,” Quinn told the union members, “look to Illinois workers because they are second to none.”

The very next day, Quinn finally announced the hiring of his new campaign manager - a young out-of-stater who has never run an Illinois campaign. His main claim to fame is that he works for the Wisconsin lieutenant governor. Before pursuing that guy, Quinn tried to hire someone from Kentucky, but was politely turned down.

If this “Factories should hire Illinois workers but I don’t have to” gaffe was an isolated case, then it would be no big deal. But Quinn has stumbled time and time again, to the point where he nearly lost his Democratic primary race after leading by more than 30 points. Like the Generals’ rare victories, Quinn lucked into his win.

And then there’s Bill Brady, who earlier this month challenged reporters to “find the tape” of him even once supporting a 10 percent across the board budget cut. Brady insisted he’d never said it. My intern Dan Weber found the tape quickly because Brady has made the across the board cut proposal literally dozens of times. Only a Washington General wannabe could make a goofy mistake like that. It almost looked like he did it on purpose, kinda like how the Generals stood around listlessly while the Globetrotters performed their awesome comedy routines.

Again, this is no isolated case. Brady, like Quinn, has a history of giving his opponent sweet little gifts, like introducing a puppy and kitty mass killing legalization bill right after he won his primary by 200-odd votes. A few months ago, Brady spoke in favor of a massive pension borrowing scheme. This month, he lobbied hard against a much smaller version supported by Gov. Quinn, claiming it was the wrong thing to do.

Kind of depressing don't you think?

I've followed Bill Brady somewhat in 2006. Who knows if the outcome would've been different had he run against Blagojevich. Of course we know Blagojevich had the ability to do what it took to win back then anyway.

I can't get with the idea of Pat Quinn as Governor and Bill Brady well he needs work! In Bill Brady's favor is that Quinn in the incumbent and he barely put to rest a primary challenge in the form of outgoing state Comptroller Dan Hynes. On top of that Gov. Quinn still has to contend with the continuing brewing controversy with regards to the state's Department of Corrections.

From what I can gather Quinn has been making all the bad moves since he replaced Blagojevich last year. In his favor, however, is the fact that I generally consider Quinn an honest man unlike his immediate predessor. It could've only been hoped that he would manage the state in a much different manner than Ousted governor.

Tough election in a year where we just know there might be some sure victories for Republicans. Might the possible wave of Republican victories skip Illinois?

Listening to audio of Dan Proft and Kirk Dillard on WVON this week

You can listen here. Courtesy of the Dan Proft 2010 campaign.

Let me be honest here. I have flirted with outright declaring myself a Republican. You can go back far enough on this blog and there will be some evidence that I have attempted to align myself in that fashion.

It's very unlikely that you will find that these days. I may still hold views that are considered conservative or even libertarian. Most of the time I just attempt to be practical with a certain does of common sense. That's the way to tackle most issues but most look at it with an ideological viewpoint.

Perhaps the reason why I would never go through with being a member of the GOP is the fact that they aren't particularly aggressive in pursuing black supporters. They aren't in the community espousing their message and sometimes their message to the black community may leave a lot wanting. That is what could the Republican Party offer to blacks that the Democrats couldn't offer.

That message is missing. In fact I think I tried to explain that position on a mostly conservative board once and I got shouted down. I became a whiner and a supporter of welfare and I'm the last person who supports that.

Dan Proft is probably close to a message that should resonate with Blacks. His message of reforming the public schools (especially in terms of funding) or otherwise unfixing Illinois to allow for economic opportunity for everyone (especially for entrepreneurial efforts) is a good message for Blacks. The only question is whether or not the Black community could listen, especially to a Republican.

With all due respect to Kirk Dillard, I'm sure black school children are responsive to the history lesson. Ultimately it's their parents who are doing the voting and also whether or not they would listen to the fact that for many years Blacks voted for the party of Abraham Lincoln (who was a Republican). I have my doubts that they would and I would say that state Sen. Dillard and other Republicans should be very mindful of creating a message that will resonate with blacks.

This audio was very good because Dillard and Proft talked about a variety of issues. As I type this Proft & Dillard are talking about CTA, certainly an issue that many blacks are keeping an eye on if they don't drive. Either way the GOP should be talking about issues of concern to at least urban Blacks and go from there.

Yeah talk about all the history that is necessary, but also focus on the here and now! If the Republicans can ever do that and eventually gain a foothold in Black communities. Indeed even find ways to elect Blacks as Republicans to office in Illinois they can count me as a supporter one day. At this moment, it's very unlikely.

Also the other Republican candidates, especially Bill Brady who paid a visit to the nearby Chatham Market during the fall on a jobs tour, need to come to WVON and talk directly to the station's predominantly black listeners!