Portend of things to come in the fall in Illinois
As was written on McHenry County Blog on Saturday, the special election in the California 25th congressional district to fill the unexpired term of disgraced Katie Hill (D) would provide a preview for the fall campaign here in Illinois for the 6th and 14th districts.
The first showdown between Republican Mike Garcia and Democrat California Assemblywoman Christy Smith in the May 12th all vote by mail (VBM) special election in the “Toss Up” district would be watched by the campaigns and the major parties to what may work in Illinois and elsewhere around the country.
Republican Garcia’s campaign unleashed what is likely the first attack ad against an opponent on the National Emergency of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the ad titled “Nothing”:
Note, the commercial was paid for by Garcia’s campaign and was not an Independent Expenditure from a 3rd party. Garcia took this attack message to voters himself.
As the National Journal Politics Editor Josh Kraushaar tweeted around 9:25AM CDT:
“Notable: This is likely the first non-presidential campaign ad in the country slamming a candidate on coronavirus.
“It’s for the CA-25 special: GOPer Mike Garcia campaign hits Dem Christy Smith for doing ‘nothing’ in legislature to prepare for pandemic.”
Josh Kraushaar tweet, 4/14/20, 9:25AM CDT
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BACKGROUND: In the California State Assembly, Democrat Christy Smith, as a freshman member from a swing district she flipped in 2018, was given a high profile appointment by the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento, as chair of the legislature’s Emergency Management Committee.
The committee was originally scheduled to meet on March 4, which was the day after the Super Tuesday primary which saw her and Garcia make the runoff election for May 12 and the rematch on November 3. She cancelled the March 4 meeting since it was the day after the primary, and never rescheduled her committee’s meeting.
She initially claimed she didn’t reschedule because the legislature had recessed, but the recess didn’t take place until March 16, which was when schools started to be cancelled both in California and in Illinois.
OBSERVATION: It’s a brilliant ad. It forces Smith to explain her timeline for why her committee didn’t meet, and why it was cancelled due to politics and lack of rescheduling on her part makes her chairwoman appointment look ceremonial, and not substantive. It also applies the “career politician” moniker to Smith, who while serving in her first term in Sacramento, was a longtime local school board member.
On the heels of the positive ratings changes for Garcia late last week, endorsement by Club for Growth and the arrival of the VBM ballots to all 420K registered voters, “timing is everything” in politics and Garcia shows he’s taking nothing for granted in the election.
OUTLOOK FOR ILLINOIS: Could similar ads, from Congressman Sean Casten, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood, former State Representative Jeanne Ives or State Senator Jim Oberweis surface here in Illinois? Absolutely.
In early March, Underwood chaired a meeting on the pandemic of the House Homeland Security Committee complete with her at the head of the dais and a “Chairwoman” title plate under her name, when Chairman Bennie Thompson (D, MS) claimed he couldn’t talk for very long. Think photo ops and TV commercial(s) in the fall.
And Ives has already responded to a Casten Twitter rant on the crisis in late March. Casten has been very vocal in Twitter of his disapproval of President Trump’s handling of the crisis.
And given some of the things Speaker Pelosi wants to include the Phase 4 stimulus legislation, currently being called CARES Act 2, expect Underwood and Casten to defend the Speaker, and Oberweis and Ives to respond.
This is already becoming a game of grabbing credit and slinging blame, on the part of some politicians.
I’m personally going to watch who stays on the higher road and who goes low over the next 6 months.
LOL.
I’m sure if Oberweis called Underwood a “career politician” it would go over very well for him.
John Lopez – serious question.
Do you really think the “she did nothing” theme will play?
We are talking about a global pandemic.
In all seriousness, what is a chair of a state committee supposed to do when a pandemic swept through with the speed and quickness that caught Trump and deBlasio flat footed.
She’s a state chair of an emergency management committee?
This ad fails to state what she should have done or could have done and how she could have helped.
The ad doesn’t answer those questions.
She is supposed to hold some hearing or take some sworn testimony to look at a bill that might go to the state legislature?
I don’t get it.
I give this ad an F.
She balked at going into a hospital, ‘I’m just a fake nurse ‘ she cried.
How about this: Fake nurse lied.
And people died!
Garcia is correct in pointing out the shortfalls and dereliction of duty of his opponent, Christy Smith. As Chairwoman of the Committee on Emergency Management for California, she had a duty and responsibility to convene a number of meetings on the Corona Virus issue. The Committee website shows:
“Committee Jurisdiction: ACR 38 (2011) states that the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management shall be in continuous existence until abolished. Primary jurisdiction includes disaster preparedness, emergency management, and homeland security issues.”
https://jtemergencymanagement.legislature.ca.gov/committeehome
She cancelled the Meeting of March 4th and did not rescheduled. How reckless was/is that? This Committee has responsibility to meet on disasters and emergencies such as the Corona Virus and determine what associated actions and assistance are needed for the people of California. No doubt that she and the Committee could have assisted the Governor and did not.
One positive for this Blog in recent days has been the absence of the Coronaclock virus. However, still a number of leftists and persons posting here who are brainwashed by the mostly left wing media and many Democrat politicians. They keep saying that Trump was slow to respond. Slow to take the advice of the top medical experts in the U.S. So far, no evidence to substantiate that. Just the opposite. Following are some key events and statements since March 3, 2020:
On April 13, 2020, Dr. Fauci unequivocally stated that President Trump had always said “YES”, let’s do it, when he and Dr. Birx had given him their recommendations on 3 travel bans and 2 MITIGATION time periods.
Dr. Fauci did not state when the recommendations were implemented after he and Dr. Birx had given them.
We do not know when Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx recommended MITIGATION and staying home, etc. We do know that he did not think MITIGATION was necessary on March 3rd. This is the date that he testified before the U.S. Senate Health Committee at a Hearing (12 Repubs, 11 Dems) on the Corona Virus. This is what he said:
“Currently, the COVID-19 outbreak response in the United States remains focused on the proven public health practices of containment – identifying cases, isolating patients, and tracing contacts.”
Thus, Dr. Fauci had not recommended MITIGATION at the March 3rd Senate Hearing, only CONTAINMENT.
So, sometime between March 3rd and March 16th, Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx gave Trump the MITIGATION recommendation. When did that happen? On March 16th, Trump announced a 15-day MITIGATION strategy for the U.S. On March 29th, Trump announced the next MITIGATION of 30 days.
After the March 3rd Dr. Fauci testimony before the senate, Virus deaths each day stayed low. March 4 through 8 had 2 or 3 deaths added each day.
Then, deaths started to rise (8 on Mar 13, 11 on March 14, then 16 on March 16, ) along with escalating cases.
Did Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx recommend MITIGATION sometime around March 11 when WHO declared the Virus as a Pandemic. Or on March 12 when the CDC issued a MITIGATION procedures document?
Timeline shown below:
Mar 2 – Total deaths in the U.S. were 6
Mar 3 – 3 more deaths
Mar 4 – 2 more deaths
Mar 5 – 3 more deaths
Mar 6 – 3 more deaths
Mar 7 – 2 more deaths
Mar 8 – 2 more deaths
Mar 9 – 5 more deaths
Mar 10 – 5 more deaths
Mar 11 – 7 more deaths
Mar 11 – WHO declared the Corona Virus as a Pandemic
Mar 12 – 3 more deaths
Mar 12 – CDC issues MITIGATION document and procedures
Mar 13 – 8 more deaths
Mar 13 – Trump declares a National Emergency for the Virus.
Mar 14 – 11 more deaths
Mar 15 – 5 more deaths
Mar 16 – 22 more deaths
Mar 16 – Trump invokes the 15-day MITIGATION for the Nation
Mar 29 – Trump invokes a 30-day MITIGATION for the Nation
April 5 – George Stephanopolous of ABC This Week News program asked Jonathon Karl, ABC White House Correspondent, if the President had a tug of war with his science advisors nearly every day. Jonathon said that it was remarkable that the President “has actually listened to and taken the advice of the medical experts on the big decision points”.
Nice try Bred…but wrong! FACTS!
Lauren Underwood certainly played a huge part in our being unprepared for another pandemic.
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https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1271206296403054&id=100005410864001
Well denbla. Show some facts. If you have any from other than fake news outlets or newspapers.
My dear Political Science, Sociology, and Theology professor still owes his massive readership (probably himself) an explanation on how the great United States led by our six-times-bankrupt, sexual-assaulter-in-chief leads the world in Covid-19 cases and deaths. What happened to “every life is sacred?” What happened to “American Exceptionalism?” He may get started with the profoundly impressive, science-based prediction about the pandemic miraculously disappearing in April. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the never ending, sunshine nonsense display from my republikkklan professor. Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, hug a blogger, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…
Angel is proving that there’s a new epidemic: racist aliens spreading disease rectally on blogs.
C’mon Angel, start using Clorox wipes on you foul rear!
For a few days it seemed that the coronaclock virus had finally left the blog. But, no apparently it’s still around.