McHenry County Blog

My computer problems have been my excuse for basically ignoring the 8th congressional district’s Republican primary election.

It’s time to start paying attention to what the candidates are saying with the election just five weeks away.

Here’s an invitation from Maria Rodriguez reminding folks of her rally tomorrow night in Long Grove. I think I attended a shower at the Long Grove Village Tavern where this event is being held. Nice place.

Reminder – Come out to the ‘Countdown to Victory’ Rally Tomorrow Night!

As we prepare the countdown to the new year… join us in counting down the 35 days to Maria’s Congressional primary victory!

Tuesday, December 29 at 6:30 p.m.

at the Long Grove Village Tavern
135 N. Old McHenry Road in Downtown Long Grove

Hors d’oeuvres provided by the Tavern

Cash Bar

Melissa Bean’s solutions to the 8th district’s problems are higher taxes, runaway spending, and a government takeover of health care.  While she claims to be a pro-business moderate, Melissa Bean votes with Speaker Pelosi’s radical job-killing agenda more than 90 percent of the time.  For all the right reasons, we need Maria in Congress.

As the village president of Long Grove, Maria knows how to balance a budget and make government live within its means.   As our Member of Congress, she’ll rein in wasteful spending, hold the line on taxes and support a legislative agenda that is pro-job creation.

= = = = =

Along side of the invitation is a list of those who have endorsed Rodriguez.  I think you might find them of interest:

• Illinois Federation for Right to Life PAC
• Libertyville Township Republican Committee
• One of Two Preferred Candidates by the Schaumburg Township Republican Committee
• Christine Radogno, State Senate Minority Leader
• Pam Althoff, State Senator
• Dan Duffy, State Senator
• Ed Sullivan, State Representative
• Joanne Osmond, State Representative
• Bill Peterson, Former State Senator
• Mike Adelizzi, Schaumburg Township Republican Committeeman
• Brent Paxton, Lake County Board Member
• David Stolman, Lake County Board Member
• Linda Pederson, Lake County Board Member
• Aaron Lawlor, Lake County Board Member
• Arlene Mulder, Mayor – Arlington Heights
• Peter Breen, Thomas More Law Center
• Daniel McConchie, Americans United for Life

So far, McHenry County Blog has published four articles on Paul Caprio’s August Family PAC cruise.

The first was about U.S. Senator and Dr. Tom Coburn’s take on the health care debate. The rest are full of pictures of participants:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Below is Part 4.

As I continued wondering around the boat, I found Peter Breen and Chris Sullivan near the bow on the upper deck. Sullivan is one of Kathleen Sullivan’s sons. Breen is one aspirant to replace State Rep. Bob Biggins. Breen is Executive Director & Legal Counsel of the Thomas Moore Society, which bills itself as the “Pro-Life Law Center.” He is currently working on the Aurora Planned Parenthood case. Breen has a good button/sticker on his web site, but he wasn’t wearing it. I always preferred to have a really large button announcing to the world that I was a candidate.

The last time I saw my former and now deceased colleague’s twin sons was in San Diego at an ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) conference. That was at the Hotel del Coronado beach over ten years ago when my son was mainly interested in looking at the turtles and fish on the first floor of our hotel. My Matthew has grown. I never met former Cook County Board of Review Murphy’s oldest son, but he was on the cruise, too. 29-year old Shaun, on the right, is running for the post his mother held. They were talking to Chris Sullivan.

Maureen almost always made me laugh. I wish I could repeat her interactions with her arch-foe House Speaker Michael Madigan, who lived in Lincoln Towers, where she stayed during legislative sessions. They apparently had similar morning schedules. Some of the conversations, started usually, I gathered by Maureen, were bizarre. If you would like to sample her how she could make little piggies and blueberries hilarious, click here.

I didn’t get a great shot of Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman talking to Peter Breen, but I guarantee she would like this one better than the one I took on the lower deck, which included her mother.

Politicians I have come in contact with almost always want to pose for a picture. I tell them I don’t do posed pictures. David McAloon gave me so much grief about the photo I published of him last year, though, I relented and took this one. Note the corn cob architecture on the Chicago River in the background. It’s pretty obviously designed by the same architect who did Marina Towers.

As I was wondering downstairs to get some food, catered by Harry Carey’s, I got this shot of State Senator and gubernatorial candidate Kirk Dillard and State Senator Chris Lauzen.

More pictures and commentary tomorrow in Part 5.