Russ Stewart 27 February 2014 No Comment

In the 40-plus years that I’ve written this weekly analysis-and-opinion on politics, I’ve never encountered an instance where the lead-up, the information-gathering, is more column-worthy than the actual column. Now I have.

Call this a “pre-column.” It’s a column on the story of getting the story to write the column. And it clearly demonstrates how and why Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan’s “gag-and-spend” strategy maintains his iron grip on his Democratic majority, and his stranglehold on Illinois government.

In the northwest side 40th House District, the incumbent is Jaime Andrade, age 40, a 17-year staffer for Alderman Dick Mell, and, at the time of his appointment in Sept. 2013, the Chicago city council’s $90,000-a year deputy sergeant-at-arms. Andrade replaced Deb Mell, Dick’s lesbian daughter, who replaced Dick as alderman. One salient headline at the time blared: “Mell’s aide replaces Mell who replaced Mell.” So what else is new?

Andrade has four opponents in the March 18 Democratic primary: Aaron Goldstein, was one of the defense attorneys in the federal corruption trial of former governor Rod Blagojevich, Dick Mell’s son-in-law and Deb Mell’s brother-in-law. In the House, occupying Blagojevich’s former seat, Deb Mell voted against his impeachment. Goldstein was “second chair” in the first Blagojevich trial, which was inconclusive; and “first chair” on the second trial, which was conclusive, getting Blagojevich a 14-year sentence. “I can do a lot with a little,” Goldstein told me, referring to his plans for Illinois government. In the Blagojevich trials, he proved the old maxim: A guilty client cannot morph into a non-guilty client. The Mell Clan exhibits no appreciation for Goldstein’s failed efforts.

Also running is Nancy Schiavone, an attorney and 35th Ward Democratic Committeeman. Like Goldstein, her base is Logan Square. I met Jerry Morrison, the ubiquitous, outspoken and very influential political operative of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) at a Feb. 19 fundraiser for the “45th Ward Independent Democrats,” a group run by Alderman John Arena, the ward’s Democratic committeeman. After snidely telling me that I’m “always wrong on my predictions,” Morrison bragged that the unions’ $300,000 cash infusion “elected” Arena in 2011, that Arena “will be re-elected (in 2015) with 70 percent,” that 2011 30-vote loser John Garrido is a “Tea Party” adherent, and that Michelle Baert, who is positioning herself for an aldermanic run as the “45th Ward Mom,” will “go nowhere.”

Apparently Baert took a Republican ballot in a prior primary. “She’s a Republican,” sneered Morrison. And that, apparently, makes her toast.

Morrison also offered to bet me that $5,000 that union-friendly Governor Pat Quinn (D) will beat union-averse Bruce Rauner (R) in the November election. “He’s unelectable,” said Morrison of Rauner. “Does that mean Quinn wins because he is the least unelectable?” I asked. “Or because the unions’ money will make Rauner the more unelectable?” Morrison laughed.

In the 40th District, Morrison said that Schiavone will beat Andrade, and that the SEIU and other unions will dump $250,000 into her campaign. Andrade voted for Madigan’s “pension reform” bill, which the unions find repugnant. They want the scalp of some Madigan minion, and Andrade’s is the most accessible. When I asked Schiavone whether the unions were going to buy the seat for her, she expressed incredulity: “That’s news to me,” she said. Clearly, somebody’s lying.

Also running are Mark Pasieka, a civil engineer, and Wendy Jo Harmston.

A column-creating process is relatively simple: Determine a topic. Gather facts, either from personal archives, which consist of newspaper clippings and texts, or from sources available on the Internet, or from Internet postings. Call the subject(s) or source(s), and get quotes. Get a second opinion, if needed. Then write the column. Piece of cake.

Back in September, when Andrade was appointed, I talked with him before I wrote a column. “I’m always available,” he promised, and gave me his personal cell phone number. On Tuesday, Feb. 18, I called Andrade’s legislative office, to request an interview. That’s “political,” the receptionist said. “The campaign office will call you.” On Wednesday, Craig Willert, who, according to D-2 disclosures with the Illinois Board of Elections, is on the payroll of Madigan’s “Democratic Majority Fund,” earning $1,163 bi-weekly, returned my call. He’s running t the Andrade campaign. “I need to interview Jaime,” I said. “He can’t talk to you,” responded Willert. “He’s too busy campaigning.” I replied: “Not even for five minutes? He can’t be that busy.”

“Put your questions in writing,” ordered Willert. Not a chance. “Write down these questions,” I ordered: What is the theme of the Andrade campaign? How does Andrade differentiate himself from Schivone and Goldstein? Does he vote like Madigan dictates? What is his base? Give me a scenario as to how he wins. “I need answers by the weekend,” I further ordered.

Immediately, the Andrade campaign went into lock-down/shut-up mode, adhering to the precepts of the “Mike Madigan Academy of Political Success,” wherein Democratic members are taught two enduring lessons:

First, do what you’re told, all the time, every time.

Second, you don’t have to explain, apologize or modify what you haven’t said. So keep your mouth shut, don’t talk to “unfriendlies” (meaning journalists like myself), and, if necessary, adhere to the script, and speak in generalities and/or platitudes at public forums.

Andrade graduated from Madigan’s Academy summa cum laude. He has, in just six months, “gone Springfield.”

I called Willert at the campaign office once on Thursday and twice on Friday, getting voice mail. “Am I getting answers?” Rejection can be infuriating. So on Saturday, Feb. 22, I called Andrade on his cell phone 13 times, and Willert at the campaign office six times. Into voice mail. No response. They must be busy. So I tried again on Sunday, the Biblical “day of rest.” Eight calls to Willert went into voice mail, and nine calls to Andrade got a “mailbox full; cannot accept any message” voice-over.

So I accepted the inevitable: Madigan’s flunkies are well-trained. They don’t want to talk to me. Persistence is not rewarded.

Unlike Andrade, both Schiavone and Goldstein returned my calls. Here’s how the contest is unfolding: The year-end 2013 D-2s showed Andrade with $48,768 cash-on-hand, to Schiavone’s $61,518 and Goldstein’s $16,687; Schiavone had loaned her committee $86,500 since 2012. But then Madigan’s magic materialized: From Jan. 1 to Feb. 20, Andrade got 17 $1,000-plus donations, totaling $45,682, including $10,000 from “Equality Illinois,” the PAC supporting gay marriage – after he voted for it. He got $22,009 in in-kind funding from Madigan’s “Democratic Majority,” including payroll, printing, and postage for four mailings. He also got $1,500 from Madigan’s committee, which was paid to the Illinois Democratic Party, of which Madigan is chairman, for “vote builder” lists – which are precinct-by-precinct breakouts of how people voted in past primaries

This is gold. Illinois’ 2010 census population was 12,830,632, which means each of the 118 House districts have108,734 people. The 40th District has 68 precincts in 8 wards, a voter registration of roughly 30,000, in about 35,000 households. In the 2012 primary, in which Deb Mell was unopposed, she received 4,011 votes.

The state Democratic party has a computerized, downloaded, label-ready “voter file,” culled from every county clerk, which pinpoints voters’ history. There are “hard Ds,” households with at least one occupant voted in the last three Democratic primaries; there are “soft Ds,” meaning once since 2010; and there are “Rs” and “non-Ds,” those who voted Republican or don’t vote in primaries. The “voter file” can be keyed to demography: Every Hispanic-sounding name can be isolated. In a primary, every hard- and soft-D gets deluged with mail.

The “voter list” is not for sale. Only “endorsed” candidates get access to it. On Feb. 3, the “Democratic Majority Fund” paid the state party $1,500 for the 40th District list, donated it to Andrade, and then spent $18,183 for printing and postage for mailings on Feb. 10, 14 and 18. Every lucky “D” household will get a mailing every four days until March 18, extolling Andrade’s virtues or Goldstein’s and Schiavone’s vices. That’s another $42,000.

“This race should be about background and qualifications,” said Goldstein, who laments that he lacks Andrade’s “political connections,” whom he dismisses as a “lifetime payroller.” At candidate forums, said Goldstein, Andrade stresses his “immigrant background,” which is relevant in a district with a 50 percent Hispanic population, but “he never mentions Mell or Madigan.” Adds Goldstein: “If you want to keep Madigan in power. If you want to bust unions, then vote for Andrade. I will not be beholden to special interests.”

Schiavone won the 2012 committeeman’s race when Alderman Rey Colon (35th), botched his petitions and got knocked off the ballot. She promised to be “independent,” adding that voters are “tired of backroom deals…and the politics of self-interest.” Schiavone said she was “raised by a single mother, who was a public school teacher for 35 years,” and has been endorsed by SEIU, AFSCME and the IFT. “I oppose charter schools,” she said. “There is no accountability. They’re an avenue of political insiders,” pointing to Madigan, who she slammed for “tampering with pensions.”

Turnout will be under 5,000. Mell’s Machine is in overdrive. Magic Mike will pump $100,000 into the race. But “Energizer Jaime” is doing his best to lose.

E-mail Russ@russstewart.com or visit his website at www.russstewart.com.