McHenry County Blog

It’s Saturday and I found my fourth mailing from Independent gubernatorial candidate Scott Lee Cohen.

This one has an endorsement by National Taxpayers United of Illinois President Jim Tobin.

The side with the endorsement is so “busy” that I didn’t notice the endorsement until the second look. I can’t figure out what, no, looking at it the third time, I see the graphic has the shape of the State of Illinois on it. I guess it’s supposed to be a patient with an irregular heart beat.

It probably will resonate with medical types, but, being only on the patient side of the machine (and not this machine), I’m unfamiliar with it.

The address side has a clearer message: Vote early for Cohen.

As I was writing the article about early voting in McHenry County, I went to the mailbox.

There I found a third Scott Lee Cohen for Governor piece. He is the only one making mailings this month for that or any other statewide office.

I looked at the address side first.

When I looked at the other side, it was obvious that Cohen hoped people saw the money changing hand side first. The address side is a follow-up to it.

In my early voting article, I suggested that Cohen was positioning himself as the “None of the Above” candidate.

It appears backing Independent Scott Lee Cohen over Democratic Party nominee Pat Quinn for Governor has consequences.

The name of District 4 County Board candidate Jeff Thirtyacre has disappeared from the McHenry County Democratic Party’s web site page listing local candidates, even though the heading says,

“This is a list of candidates for county offices for the November general election.”

Thirtyacre endorses Cohen in mid-August.

The wheels of party discipline apparently turn slowly in McHenry County.

Party discipline in the suburbs.

Timed to hit mailboxes in at least McHenry County just as early voting is starting is a second mailing from Independent candidate for Governor Scott Lee Cohen.

Here it is:

Yesterday, a fancy mailing arrived from Independent candidate for Governor Scott Lee Cohen.

The best side is one with the headline

There is a Better Choice…

Above the headline are six stick figures holding signs saying,

CAREER
POLITICIAN

On the address side, one can see why it arrived so early:

Early Voting Begins October 11, 2010!

“New Leadership for a New Direction” appears above the address.

On the left are all sorts of ways to contact the candidate.

Inside the candidate’s name is in the largest print, right at the top.

Beneath is “NOT a Career Politician.”

You can click on any of the images to make them large enough to read.

Below is what is inside:

Here’s what the CNN-Time poll is saying about the Governor’s race:

Well, glory be.

The Chicago Tribune has decided to include third party and independent candidates in its political poll.

Rick Pearson, power party acolyte called “reporter” by the Tribune, wouldn’t even mention my name when I ran as the Libertarian Party candidate against Rod Blagojevich and Jim Ryan in 2002…not even the Sunday before the election.

How things have changed.

In Sunday’s edition, he writes,

“(Bill) Brady collected 37 percent to (Pat) Quinn’s 32 percent support, while another 19 percent were undecided in the poll of 600 likely registered voters conducted Aug. 28 through Wednesday.

“Former Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen, who’s now running as an independent for the top post, had 4 percent, and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney and Libertarian Party contender Lex Green each had 2 percent. The survey’s error margin was plus or minus 4 percentage points.”

I heard my first radio ads for Scott Lee Cohen today on WBBM-Radio. They were focused on jobs, the same strategy he used when he won the Democratic Party primary election. Next time around, I precinct Cohen will have more that 4%.

Jim Tobin, the 1998 Libertarian Party candidate for Governor, whom Secretary of State George Ryan sent government employees on state time to keep off the ballot, has endorsed Scott Lee Cohen for Governor. Cohen won the Democratic Party nomination for Lieutenant Governor, but party leaders forced him off the ballot.

In a letter to his Tax Accountability mailing list, Tobin writes that Cohen has “signed our Taxpayer Protection Pledge” in which he promises to “oppose any and all efforts to increase state or local taxes.”

Tobin points out that Democrat Pat Quinn and Republican Bill Brady “have refused to sign.”

Tobin goes on to describe Quinn and Brady as “the tax-raising twins.”

Tobin was also the Libertarian Party candidate for Lt. Gov. when I ran for Governor in 2002.

A phone number of 312-441-0300 is listed in the letter for those who would like Cohen to speak in their communities.

Click to enlarge the images.

It worked for Scott Cohen when he ran for the Democratic Party nomination for Lieutenant Governor.

Will it work for John O’Neill in his campaign against State Rep. Jack Franks?

At the McHenry County Fair, the Republican candidate was handing out black and white versions of the leaflet you see below.

This time the job fair will be at the McHenry Township Hall in Johnsburg on August 24th from 10 until 1.

In this email comment to one of my articles, District 4 Democratic Party Board member Jeff Thirtyacre demonstrates the problem that Pat Quinn has winning the election this year:

Jeff Thirtyacre says:
08/18/2010 at 5:43 am (Edit)
Between Quinn and Brady, I believe the only clear choice for Governor Is Scott Lee Cohen.

He was targeted from the people who wanted they elite people.

He was voted in by the people and that was tampered with by those who see him as an outsider and were afraid of what he might do once in office. They were afraid their empire would crumble.

Brady has had a long list of programs that he took away from IL taxpayers and residents to protect his special programs and he has not voted for one program to help the people of Illinois.

He has stood by and allowed the corruption to continue knowing what was going on.

When I saw this, I remember thinking, “It worked for Democratic Party candidate for lieutenant governor Scott Lee Cohen, why not for John O’Neill?”

O’Neill is running against veteran Democratic Party State Rep. Jack Franks.

So, if you are looking for a job, The Bell Tower Place at the Church of Holy Apostles is the place to be from 10 to 3.

Here is O’Neill’s press release:

With 1 in 10 McHenry County residents unemployed we are reminded of President Reagan’s words,

“A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose your job.”

Government bureaucrats spend a whole lot of time paying lip service to the plight of the unemployed but one area resident is actually doing something about it.

John O’Neill is running for State Representative, however, he is not waiting until he is elected to start working for the people of McHenry County. John has organized a Job Fair to help match local residents with local jobs.

“After having been unemployed for several months during 2009, I know what people are going through.” John says, “McHenry County has offered so much to my family and me, it is a pleasure to give something back and I can’t think of a better way to help people right now.”

The job fair will feature numerous businesses and entrepreneurs that can help local residents who are unemployed or under-employed replace the incomes lost during this time of economic troubles.

If you or someone you care about is out-of-work or struggling to pay their bills, please plan to attend the Job Fair sponsored by the John O’Neill for State Representative campaign.