McHenry County Blog

April 14th, a pollster called one of McHenry County Blog’s friends in Algonquin.

Here’s my contact’s description of the phone call:

She said she was located in Asia and representing Western Wats. I tried to jot down her questions, not word for word, for you;

1. Will you vote in the Republican primary for IL governor?

2. Is IL heading in the wrong or right direction?

3. Approve or disapprove of the job state legislature is doing?

4. Who would you likely vote for governor? This was her list to choose from;

• Joe Birkett
• health care
• Kirk Dillard
• Bill Brady
• Doug Whitley
• Dan Proft
• Tom Cross
• Bob Schillerstrom
• Ron Gidwitz

5. What issue(s) concern you or you think legislature should focus? She
quickly read off this list;

• abortion
• lowering taxes
• reform and ethics
• improving education
• reducing crime
• family values
• wasteful state spending
• Second Amendment rights
• protecting the environment
• creating jobs/improve state economy

6. Do you subscribe to cable or satellite TV?

7. Who is your provider?

8. How often do you watch:
MSNBC; daily, few times a week, once a month, etc.,
Fox News; daily, few times a week, once a month, etc.,
CNBC; daily, few times a week, once a month, etc.

9. Do you listen to the radio?
How often do you listen to Hannity?
Limbaugh?

10. What year were you born?

11. Are you Evangelical or born-again Christian?

12. Support or oppose abortion?

You can pretty well guess that the person paying for the survey research is listed among the names read.

If anyone else gets a political polling call, please make notes and let me share them with McHenry County Blog readers.

= = = = =
Seen on top are Joe Birkett on the left and Kirk Dillard to his left. Next comes Bill Brady. Under him is a photo of Ron Gidwitz. Dan Proft is to the left. Below him is Tom Cross.

Freshman State Senator Dan Duffy, a businessman from Lake Barrington in Lake County, was touted for governor in Chicago Sun-Times columnist Steven Huntley’s column yesterday.

In an piece entitled,

Duffy’s name pops up in the middle of the column, right after the self-dismissals of

• Illinois Supreme Court Justice Bob Thomas,
• Bush HUD Secretary Steve Preston (who?),
• Chicago equity fund chairman Bruce Rauner,
• Congressmen Mark Kirk and
• Peter Roskam, and
• U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald.

Here’s what Huntley wrote:

“State Sen. Dan Duffy of Barrington, a Legislative newcomer, impresses many in the party. He acknowledges hearing suggestions he run, but no one in the party leadership has approached him.

“The party is now evaluating a lot of people and that’s a good thing,” he says. “If party leaders aid, ‘You’re that person,’ I’d have to have a serious conversation with my family and find out if this is the right time for me. Bit we’re not there yet.”

“A jump from newly minted legislator to governor in just two years would be quite a challenge.”

The column continues with former candidates for governor, State Senator Bill Brady, who ran third in the 2006 gubernatorial primary, Ron Gidwitz (4th) and Jim Oberweis, who ran second.

DuPage County Board Republicans, Chairman Bob Schillerstrom and State’s Attorney Joe Birkett, they of the tripling of the RTA sales tax.

Doug Whitley is also mentioned…more favorably than others actively seeking the office.

Here’s the fifth installment of my photos of Republican notables I found at the 2008 Illinois Republican Party Convention in Decatur.

After taking some pictures of a relative empty front of the convention floor before the convention started, I walked to the back of the room, where the McHenry County delegation was relegated.

I saw State Rep. Raymond Poe, who sought the Lt. Governor nod in 2006. It turns out he was talking for former gubernatorial candidate Ron Gidwitz. Gidwitz was bold enough to suggest that a ticket of Gidwitz and Poe would have been better than the candidates who lost to Governor Rod Blagojevich.

8th congressional district Republican Party candidate for congress was the next in my view finder. Here Steve Greenberg shakes hands with Michael Livshutz with Dr Michael Menis looking on.

Looks like State Senator Bill Brady gets a twofer. Here he is talking to Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson. In the Democratic Party’s reapportionment effort to defeat Watson, he was given the least Republican part of the Decatur area, while Brady got the Republican part. Watson is on the right, Brady on the left.

State Representative and State Central Committeeman Skip Saviano was also standing in line waiting to be introduced to the convention.

16th congressional district State Central Committeeman and State Senator Dave Syverson was talking to Saviano, so I got his picture, too.

More Republican Convention notables tomorrow.

Here’s the fifth installment of my photos of Republican notables I found at the 2008 Illinois Republican Party Convention in Decatur.

After taking some pictures of a relative empty front of the convention floor before the convention started, I walked to the back of the room, where the McHenry County delegation was relegated.

I saw State Rep. Raymond Poe, who sought the Lt. Governor nod in 2006. It turns out he was talking for former gubernatorial candidate Ron Gidwitz. Gidwitz was bold enough to suggest that a ticket of Gidwitz and Poe would have been better than the candidates who lost to Governor Rod Blagojevich.

8th congressional district Republican Party candidate for congress was the next in my view finder. Here Steve Greenberg shakes hands with Michael Livshutz with Dr Michael Menis looking on.

Looks like State Senator Bill Brady gets a twofer. Here he is talking to Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson. In the Democratic Party’s reapportionment effort to defeat Watson, he was given the least Republican part of the Decatur area, while Brady got the Republican part. Watson is on the right, Brady on the left.

State Representative and State Central Committeeman Skip Saviano was also standing in line waiting to be introduced to the convention.

16th congressional district State Central Committeeman and State Senator Dave Syverson was talking to Saviano, so I got his picture, too.

More Republican Convention notables tomorrow.