I won’t quote much of George Will’s column in support of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner:
In 2018, Rauner will try to enlist voters in the constructive demolition of the “blue model.†It is based on Madigan’s docile herd of incumbent legislators, who are entrenched by campaign funds from government unions. Through them government, sitting on both sides of the table, negotiates with itself to expand itself. Term limits for legislators, which a large majority of Illinoisans favor, would dismantle the wall.
A 60 percent supermajority of the legislature is required for such a constitutional reform. So, next year voters will be urged to oppose any legislature candidate who will not pledge to vote to put term limits on the ballot. And all candidates will be asked how often they have voted for Madigan for speaker — he has a 26 percent approval rating — and to pledge not to sin again.
“I love a fight,†says an ebullient Rauner, whose rhetoric cannot get much more pugnacious. He calls Madigan “the worst elected official in the country†and Madigan’s machine “evil.†The nation has a huge stake in this brawl because the “blue model†is bankrupting cities and states from Connecticut to California, so its demolition here, where it has done the most damage, would be a wondrous story enhancing the nation’s glory.
and I don’t honestly have much to say about it other than to note that it provides a graphic illustration of just how ignorant of Illinois Mr. Will is. There are just two likely outcomes of the next Illinois gubernatorial election. Either Bruce Rauner will be re-elected or he won’t.
If he’s re-elected, he will serve another term as Banquo’s ghost, completely blocked by a legislature with absolutely no intention of enacting anything that Mr. Rauner wants into law. If he’s defeated, he will be replaced by a Democrat who will rubberstamp everything the leaders of that legislature, Mssrs. Madigan and Cullerton, want.
