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The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“The big takeaway from Buttigieg’s exit is that a huge block of moderate and center-left voters will be looking for a new home. In Illinois, could they move to Biden, fellow technocrat Mike Bloomberg (who he’s bashed on the debate stage), or fellow midwesterner Amy Klobuchar?,” Politico Illinois Playbook wonders.
Huh. Well, let’s take a look at what Buttigieg’s supporters say themselves.


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Huh. Who is this Sanders fellow?
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Nevermind, must be an outlier.
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Oh.
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The Real Irony
Also from Politico Illinois Playbook:
“Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx attacked challenger Bill Conway for running a campaign fueled by his father’s wealth. Conway’s father, Carlyle Group co-founder Bill Conway, just gave another $3 million to his son’s campaign, putting his donations at more than $10 million.
“The irony, of course, is that Foxx’s re-election bid is being aided by billionaire George Soros, who’s backing a super PAC targeting Conway.”
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How is that ironic? One candidate is getting money from a longtime political activist with a longtime interest in criminal justice while the other is getting money from his daddy, who co-founded one of the world’s shadiest investment firms.
What it really is is yet another example of bothsidesing it.
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This item also cites “a poll first released in Playbook,” which was actually a poll commissioned by the Conway campaign.
Playbook says it’s the “first poll revealed in the race,” which is a strange but necessary way to put it because it’s hardly the first poll conducted, just the first one the Conway campaign has deigned to make public. After all, the Conway campaign wasn’t running to Playbook with results of its December poll showing Kim Foxx with a 36-14 lead over their candidate – just three points above perennial candidate Bob “Dock” Fioretti’s 11 points. Congratulations, Playbook, you’ve successfully been drafted into the Conway campaign’s media strategy.
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New rule: Notify every campaign at the start of a race that you will only consider reporting on its polls if all of them are made available – with full methodology. Otherwise, you’re a tool, which I know some journalists don’t mind being, but I do.
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Games People Play
One more from Playbook:
“Gaming operators ramped up their political donations to Springfield lawmakers in recent months, just as gaming legislation gets a foothold in the General Assembly.”
First, it’s gambling, not gaming. You are not obliged to use the family-friendly marketing term conjured by the industry to hide their true business.
Second, it never ceases to amaze me that the bought-and-paid-for nature of our political system operates so transparently. Either these “operators” understand that they must donate money to politicians to increase their chances of getting what they want or they just joined a very long line of business folk operating under the misconception that donations make a difference.
I’d like to see these operators called up and asked what they expect in return for their money. Assignment Desk, activate!
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“The top recipient of gaming donations in recent months is [new] Senate President Don Harmon.”
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New on the Beachwood . . .
Schools Are Spying On Students, But Students Can Fight Back
Here’s how.
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The [Monday] Papers
ICYMI, there was a late post.
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ChicagoReddit

new resource for you hockey players out there from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram


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ChicagoTube
The Sea and Cake at the Empty Bottle on Saturday night.

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TweetWood
A sampling of the delight and disgust you can find @BeachwoodReport.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Shake it like a Polaroid picture.

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Posted on March 3, 2020