From: Travis Subject: Caglepost: Scandal Waiting to Happen Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2008,
[image: THE CAGLE POST] <http://caglepost.com/> Would you like to reprint our cartoons on your site or in your publication? It's easy! Visit us here <http://politicalcartoons.com/>. * <http://caglepost.com/ticker.aspx>* Cartoon by John Cole<http://cagle.com/politicalcartoons/PCcartoons/cole.asp> Comment on the cartoon<http://caglepost.com/cartoon.aspx?id=10A27A53-787E-45EB-BAF4-E59F6445CB2C> We have a great collection of cartoons called "Senate Seat For Sale" LOOK!<http://cagle.com/news/SenateSeatSale> *Long Path To A Fall In Illinois*<http://www.caglepost.com/column/David+Broder/8908/Long+Path+To+A+Fall+In+lllinois.html> by David Broder <http://www.caglepost.com/c/52/David+Broder.html> - Comment on the column<http://www.caglepost.com/column/David+Broder/8908/Long+Path+To+A+Fall+In+lllinois.html> Rod Blagojevich was a scandal waiting to happen. When he was running for governor of Illinois for the first time in 2002, he had two impressive opponents in the Democratic primary. One was Paul Vallas, a reform-minded intellectual who had been Mayor Richard Daley's choice to take over the troubled Chicago school system. The other was former state attorney general Roland Burris, a leading African American politician who had demonstrated his appeal to white voters. When I went to Chicago to cover their pre-primary debate, Blagojevich, a boyish-looking young congressman who got his seat thanks to the clout of his father-in-law, an influential Chicago alderman, was by far the least impressive candidate. He had made no particular mark on Capitol Hill, and he seemed much less informed on Illinois issues than his rivals. I was inclined to dismiss his chances, but a longtime Chicago reporter friend told me, "Don't write him off. He's a money machine." On a return visit after the primary, which Blagojevich won, a consultant to the Vallas campaign said the congressman had swamped his rivals with hundreds of thousands of dollars of ads on TV stations in downstate Illinois. "Neither Vallas nor Burris could keep up," the consultant said. In the general election, Blagojevich defeated state Attorney General Jim Ryan. He had a rocky first term in Springfield, where he quickly became known as an absentee executive and where his inner circle was rumored to be operating with hands out. An unseemly family feud with his father-in-law fed the gossip mills. But in 2006, the badly weakened Illinois GOP furnished another unelectable opponent, and Blagojevich won without breaking a sweat. During that campaign, a visit with ... *READ MORE<http://www.caglepost.com/column/David+Broder/8908/Long+Path+To+A+Fall+In+lllinois.html> * *OUR NEW BOOK IS OUT! * <http://caglebook.com/> Follow Daryl each day on Twitter at: twitter.com/dcagle<http://twitter.com/dcagle> [image: Visit the newest cartoons by all of our cartoonists!]<http://caglepost.com/ticker.aspx> ------------------------------ *TO UNSUBSCRIBE (Do Not Reply): email [email protected] or CLICK HERE<http://list.caglepost.com/unsubscribe.aspx> . Copyright Cagle Cartoons Inc, Columns and cartoons copyright the respective cartoonists and columnists. All Rights Reserved.* -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
