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Posted on 11.29.07 by dancurry @ 1:27 pm
Henry Hyde was the perfect prototype of a Congressman: smart, articulate, distinguished, polite. I wrote that once at the Daily Herald when I covered one of his races in the 1980s. Later, I moved into his district and have been there since. Upon his passing today, the national and local media will focus today on his legislative accomplishments, his abortion position and his role in the impeachment trial of Bill Clinton. They will give scant notice of one of his greatest attributes—his ability, as a conservative, to counteract the mostly liberal press. Until the impeachment mess, which turned the national media against him, Hyde was treated with much more respect by the media than the average conservative. I’d say in some cases his coverage was in the vicinity of fair. Hyde was served well by capable aides—Patrick Durante and Sam Stratman—among them. But his good press largely flowed from Henry’s combination of smarts and disarming style. I have had conservative clients listen to Hyde’s radio interviews to pick up a few pointers. When the media invariably asked their pointed questions on abortion or another social issue, Hyde never demonized his opponents or the media. He acknowledged their point of view and treated them with respect. He always never pandered, standing firm on his principles but expressing them in non-aggressive language. He was always more informed than his interviewer or adversary so he came out ahead on both substance and style. He was without peer, among conservatives, in dealing with the press. His frequent appearances throughout his career on the WBBM AM 780’s half-hour public affairs show “At Issue†should be required listening for conservative candidates. His successor, Peter Roskam, has watched Hyde closely over the years and displays some of the same rare skills. He also never wavers on his principles but communicates in a dignified, soothing, thoughtful manner. Henry Hyde, the great disarmer. That is what I’ll remember most about my congressman.
Technorati Tags: Chicago media, Illinois, journalism, pr |
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Posted on 11.11.07 by dancurry @ 7:38 pm
For those who like to rate the Chicago news media’s biggest mistake over the years, it just may be the over-the-top boosterism for expansion of O’Hare International Airport. The Chicago Tribune’s corporate chieftains decided a few years ago to push the project by harassing every politician who opposed it. Many buckled and switched positions in favor of expansion. One who didn’t, U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald, explicitly warned that nearly every aspect of the expansion was unwise and unworkable. He was particularly harsh on the economics. Over the weekend, the Tribune revealed that the FAA wasn’t inclined to lift flight caps at O’Hare, a huge blow to those who still insist the plan can work. Within the story is the Tribune’s narrative about the shaky economics, stated exactly as Fitzgerald predicted several years ago.
But, if increased flights are allowed at O’Hare, how could United and American survive after tacking on large ticket price increases? I guess only after continuing to squeeze out discount carriers who would undercut those high prices. The entire plan is built on a shaky house of cards that is crashing down.
Technorati Tags: Chicago media, Illinois, journalism |
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Posted on 01.02.07 by dancurry @ 10:01 pm
Continuing a legacy of appointing political hacks as head of McPier, Governor Rod Blagojevich appoints a man who raised money for him and who recently described new U.S. House member Peter Roskam as racist for opposing illegal immigration. So much for appointing a true professional to the $195,000-a-year position.
Technorati Tags: Chicago media, corruption, Illinois, immigration, Peter Roskam |
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Posted on 11.06.06 by dancurry @ 6:54 pm
Because it is likely that DuPage County returns will be pivotal in the 6th District race for Congress between Republican Peter Roskam and Democrat Tammy Duckworth, expect a lot of shouting and screaming if Roskam wins. That’s because a group that calls itself non-partisan but is run by partisan Democrats has already been laying the groundwork for a cry of vote fraud. I wrote about this group previously and took the Tribune to task for sanitizing the group’s partisanship. Overall, the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project pines for the good old days when Democrats could steal elections at will. I heard an official for the group say on WBBM’s At Issue recently that he would prefer old-fashioned paper ballots. Despite the massive vote fraud problems in the city of Chicago and indictments in the East St. Louis area for vote fraud, one-half of the articles posted on this group’s website are focused on DuPage County. It’s curious that the group is targeting the county with the most spotless record of running elections, that, oh, happens to be the center of Republican power in the state. Anyway, here’s what the group thinks about the election ahead. This is posted on its website.
In other words, the election will be screwed up no matter what the results. How convenient for those looking for a built-in excuse for results that don’t go their way.
Technorati Tags: ballot, Diebold, election, Illinois, Peter Roskam, Tammy Duckworth |
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Posted on 11.06.06 by dancurry @ 6:16 pm
The national media has been foaming at the mouth for weeks about a Democratic takeover of Congress. My general consumer advice is to discount the MSM’s optimism. There will be Democratic gains, but the GOP will hold the Senate and maybe the House. The most level headed information and opinion can be found here. One of my favorite analysts, Jay Cost, says that well-known prognosticators Stuart Rothenberg and Charlie Cook are overstating their own data fairly dramatically. His theory is that they’d rather make sure they catch any big wave and if they miss, they’d rather err on the Democratic side. He has the numbers to back up his theory. If you think Cost is blowing smoke, consider this — on election night 2004, I stopped watching network news and instead went to Cost’s blog, which was correctly predicting Bush victories in Ohio and Florida and was saying why based on the early returns. Cost had predicted wins in those states days before the election by analyzing new registration patterns. While most of the MSM was waffling on those two states, he was very sure of himself and was spot on.
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Posted on 10.24.06 by dancurry @ 3:57 pm
94.97%———95%———–94.4% As we mentioned last evening, Democrat Tammy Duckworth loves to repeat the phrase “rubber stamp” when referring to her Republican opponent in the 6th Congressional District, Peter Roskam. But how do Tammy’s biggest supporters among Illinois Democrats compare? According to the Hill Monitor (via Marathon Pundit), U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Dick Durbin and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel epitomize Ms. Duckworth’s prize phrase. Durbin and Obama rate #3 and #4 most partisan Democrats in the Senate and Emanuel is at #58 among Democratic congressmen. You’ll rarely if ever see the Illinois media referring to Durbin, Obama or Emanuel as “liberal” or “partisan.” If we had Republican senators with that kind of rating, do you think the media would refrain from calling them “conservative?”
Technorati Tags: Chicago media, election, Illinois, liberals |
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Posted on 10.23.06 by dancurry @ 9:35 pm
Just watched the WTTW-11 debate between Tammy Duckworth and Peter Roskam, who are vying to replace Henry Hyde in the 6th Congressional District. Duckworth repeatedly and robotically said that Roskam would be a “rubber stamp” for a Republican Congress and would give the President a “blank check.” After that performance, I’d say there’s one “rubber stamp” candidate in the race and she repeats whatever Rahm Emanuel and the national Democrats tell her to say. Technorati Tags: election, Peter Roskam, Tammy Duckworth |
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Posted on 09.28.06 by dancurry @ 11:28 pm
I just listened to the WBBM podcast of the 6th District debate last Friday between Peter Roskam and Tammy Duckworth and one thing is clear — outside liberals are at it again. With at least one local left wing anonymous blog putting out high-pitched liberal shrieks across the blogosphere, some of the national punditry has predictably responded with mindless propaganda like this and this. They are trying to whip up a media frenzy over Roskam’s use of the term “cut-and-run.” They are saying that since Duckworth lost both of her legs in Iraq, the phrase was offensive. It’s a bogus argument, as the podcast undeniably shows. Roskam said in the debate that the national Democratic party leadership was running on a strategy of cut-and-run and the Sixth District is not in favor of that position. He never directed his comments at Duckworth and in fact made mention of national Democrats like Nancy Pelosi. It’s a perfectly valid argument because if Duckworth and a few other Democrats are elected, Pelosi and other far left Democratic members would ascend to leadership positions in the House. The Tribune’s John Biemer, the Daily Herald’s Eric Krol, and WBBM’s Craig Dellimore apparently agree with my assessment because each wrote or aired stories afterwards that didn’t make an issue over the reference. Only the Sun-Times’ Scott Fornek, who wasn’t at the debate, bit on the story a day later after the Duckworth camp tried to make it an issue. It’s too bad the Duckworth camp can’t just try to debate the issues without trying to manufacture a slur. It cheapens the performance of its candidate, which was quite credible. Both Roskam and Duckworth performed well and sharply defined their differences in mostly civil tones. Roskam never will get the credit he deserves from the media because he is a social conservative. He is a graceful debater — sharp, soothing and respectful. He’d be a star if he were a liberal. Duckworth did a good job, too, as a political newcomer, largely holding her own. It’s disturbing, however, that for the second time her campaign has tried to play the patriotism card in a false manner. The voters of the Sixth will not be fooled so easily.
Technorati Tags: al-Qaeda, blogs, election, Iraq, Peter Roskam, Tammy Duckworth |
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Posted on 09.21.06 by dancurry @ 12:30 pm
In this election season if you are a liberal journalist you must do your part in order to stay in the club. You must bash Peter Roskam. Eric Zorn is trying for a gold membership card with his second column criticizing a congressional candidate in a district far from his own. He has the right of course to write about what he chooses. Yet he pulls out the local card himself while chiding a Roskam mailer that quotes a Nevada newspaper.
OK, so what the LasVegas Review says about immigration is not relevant to Illinois, but what Chicago resident Eric Zorn says about my congressional district miles away is relevant? Read for yourself, but the column contains the weak argument that it is unfair to characterize Duckworth’s position on immigration as being in favor of “amnesty.” That certainly is a matter of opinion that is widely debated. In the realm of political argument, Roskam’s mailer is hardly a stretch. Zorn had nothing to say about an earlier Duckworth mailer that was flat-out wrong. She accused Roskam of mailing a piece he didn’t mail and said he questioned her patriotism when not a word of that mailer came even close to doing so. I’ll just have to get used to outsiders who are keenly interested in who represents me. The “A” list of hard-core Hollywood liberals already have given Duckworth money and they live thousands of miles away. They are backed by the “A” list of Democratic consultants, who live hundreds of miles away in the other direction. Heck, the candidate doesn’t even live in the district. It’s nice they all care so much about my well-being.
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Posted on 09.07.06 by dancurry @ 9:34 pm
Sixth Congressional candidate Tammy Duckworth already has gone to the Rahm Emanuel school of political fabrication. In her first mailer to my home, she said that state senator Peter Roskam was “lying” and “questioning her patriotism” in an earlier mailer saying her position on illegal immigration amounts to amnesty. First, Peter Roskam didn’t mail the piece she was referring to. The House Republican Congressional Committee did. Second, I’ve read the piece three times and it doesn’t come close to questioning her patriotism and many reasonable people believe her position does constitute amnesty. Hmmmm. She doesn’t live in my district. She is funded mostly from California and New York. Her first mail piece falsely accuses my state senator of lying, mailing a piece he didn’t mail, and questioning her patriotism. Just the type of person I want representing me in Congress.
Technorati Tags: Illinois, Peter Roskam, Tammy Duckworth |
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