Paradise Lost: Who Get’s Expelled from Dem Ticket?
Grainger Terry, the political consulting firm is feeling some heat this week. After running a few campaigns this season, including the Scott Lee Cohen campaign for Lt. Governor, Grainger has emerged as a villain of convenience for the self-disgusted electorate. A few posts:
“The people at Grainger Terry better enjoy their million because their reputation is ruined. It makes me sick to think that other Democrats worked for/endorsed this freak. Especially one year after Rod. Amazing.”
“Given the choice of Grainger-Terry vs. a $19.99 Politics for Dummies book, I’d buy the book. Good grief!”
O’ the shame that must be Grainger-Terry for the election of the lout Scott Lee Cohen. Who would have thought that in Illinois, of all places, a candidate with a checkered past could be elected to such an esteemed position as Lieutenant Governor? What devious minds are behind Grainger-Terry could have crafted such a scheme to get Cohen into office?
It was pretty easy to answer that question, as a few of us at the Chicago Daily Observer meet occasionally with Grainger Terry to discuss campaigns and politics, and the fact that Grainger Terry represents one of our advertisers, eVoter, which is very good information service for learning more about the primary candidates.
I called Phil Molfese, one of the principals at Grainger Terry, yesterday afternoon, who explained it this way. “Cohen wanted to run an upbeat campaign focussed on jobs and keeping his negatives down to a minimum. We get paid to win elections, so that is what we did” About his client’s checkered past “We met with the Sun-Times and we met with you and discussed this, but we’re not about to try and play up the downside of our clients. That is up to his opponents”.
Fair enough, prompting this discussion with our editorial board. What if Axelrod played up the negatives of his clients? Hmm..President Obama states in his autobiography, that he scored “a little blow when you could afford it”…isn’t cocaine possession a felony in most states? Should Axelrod and Obama made an issue out of our President’s youthful craving of cocaine so that voters would understand his background more sufficiently? Of course not. Just write it off to bad judgement and go on to talk about the vacuous “Hope and Change”.
How about a more adult indiscretion, buying his family home with the assistance of Tony Rezko, well after Rezko was being investigated for a laundry list of financial crimes? Well, it was just a “bonehead” mistake, per Axelrod/Obama, and Obama was never charged with trading political favors for financial assistance, all the while the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board was being stacked with Rezko cronies. Should Axelrod have persuaded the media to fully investigate insider trading with Rezko? Of course not, Axelrod and ASK Communications fully represented his client, who is now the President of the United States, while Axelrod is Senior Advisor to the President.
“We have a relationship with our client similar to a lawyer. We are his advocate” said Molfese, “Our number 1 job is to get our guy elected”.
As a more generous comment has it
“conventional wisdom in Illinois is that it’s very hard to get elected w/ a Jewish surname. Phil Molfese got someone with a Jewish surname elected, someone who’s a high school drop out, a pawn shop owner and has a DV arrest, involving an alleged prostitute…they did their job incredibly well”
The press, including the Chicago Daily Observer, could have and should have done a better job. I’ll admit to being one of the first people to shrug off the suggestion of one our editorial board members that “this Lt. Governor’s race is really heating up”. But the real blame needs to be pinned to Cohen’s opponents, not to Grainger Terry.
Pat Quinn, and the Democratic Party did not learn the lesson from Adlai Stevenson III on vetting your potential running mates. Stuck with some ludicrous radicals on his ticket, Stevenson was forced to start a new party to distance his campaign from the Democratic Party. Quinn should do the same.
**
John Powers is the President of the Chicago Daily Observer
If there is to be a Third Party divorce from Scott Lee, perhaps it should be called the Brown Party ticket – (Mark) Brown Party.
It is after all his party . . .this Scott Lee Cohen party.
Its not Terry Grainger’s fault. In a sense they did the public a service by demonstrating in the worst possible way why you shouldn’t be swayed by paid political advertising with the voice overs, etc.
The Washington ad, on the other hand, was effective becaue it was him speaking.
And Adlai Stevenson did vet his potential running mates, but unlike Quinn or Hynes he had a runnning mate in the primary, George Sangmeister for Lt. Governor, and also Aurie Pucinski for Secretary of State. Stevenson/Sangmesier ran together in the primary. But the LaRouchies cleverly chose a Mark Fairchild for Lt. Governor and Jannice Hart for Secretary of State and although Aurie particularly urged that there be specific funds used to promote her’s and Sangmeister’s candidacy they did not and relied on the party apparatus. The names Fairchild and Hart were ‘prettier’ names on the ballot and they squeaked through underneath the radar so to speak.
This year Judge Aurelia Pucinski had her final vindication when without party endorsement she won a nomination for Appellate Court Justice by more than 20,000 votes just in Cook County, forever erasing the sour taste from her accidental 14,000 vote statewide loss in 1986.
I am about to release a draft statement I wrote for Art Turner, As they say in Latin, res ipsa loquitur, ‘the thing spinks for itself.’
I believe had Turner done this both he and Hynes whould have been nominated and could have won. Even with Turner, Link or Boland I don’t think Quinn could win. It will now be a great excuse for Quinn to blame it on the pawnbroker. But frankly if I needed a loan I’d rather go to the pawnbroker than to Broadway Bank.
I feel sorry for David Miller and Robin Kelly who stand a very good chance of being collateral damage this year. And I strongly urge Lisa Madigan and Jesse White to immediately launch their campaigns because their opponents are able and classy, and not part of a traditional suicide squad. Fortunately there is no straight party ticket voting, so Madigan and White should be able to win.
What I also advise is that Toni Preckwinkle get ready to run a real general election campaign because Roger Keats is a serious candidate who I thought would have no chance against her, but a good one against her three primary opponents. The dynamic now is that that thiso ffice is in play. I remember 1966 and 1970. It can happen.
Scott Lee Cohen has been asked to get off the ticket. I don’t think he’ll budge, even if they offer to make him ‘whole’, even give him a ‘bonus.’ I do know how they could remove him legally but it is intricate and I would ask for a very large fee upfront before explaining it. But nothing close to Terry Grainger. Incidentally, they didn’t make all that much. Most of the money went for paid mailings and radio time. Gross should nolt be confused with net.
Mark Brown has to be one of the laziest human beings to have a press pass and a regular column. This is not the first time that he has missed the boat in terms of publishing an expose of a flawed candidate. I do not blame the voters. Nobody reading the newspapers learned anything about this man’s background.
Stephanie Kifowit, an alderman from Aurora, was the ONLY elected official in the western suburbs to support Cohen.
She not only was foolish enough to support him, write letters to the editor, send campaign blasts, but turns out she was also a client of Grainger Terry during this time.
Kifowit has been evading the Scott Lee Cohen issue, according to OpenlineBlog.com and they have connected her with several situations where she appears to be using taxpayer funds to promote herself buying tickets to events and so forth.
Grainger Terry seems to really choose the lowest of the low clients.
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