Animal Farm

Illinois Republican officials are bringing state Rep. Beth Coulson along to a strategy meeting with national party leader Michael Steele today, giving the impression the Glenview lawmaker is favored in her seven-way GOP primary for congress.
Yet, GOP leaders who organized the meeting were attempting to downplay the significance of Coulson’s invite this morning.
“It is just a sit-down to get the lay of the land in Illinois,” says Curt Conrad, spokesman for the Illinois Republican Party.

Illinois’ Republican congressional delegation attempted to tone down their rhetoric today over housing detainees from Guantanamo Bay at a state prison by issuing a series of questions to Gov. Pat Quinn.
“As we move forward with a dignified and precise discussion regarding the cost, security and legal issues...,” the delegation’s letter begins.
The letter is in stark contrast to one the delegation sent to President Barack Obama over the weekend that raised the specter of such a move inviting a local terrorist attack.

Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner is going to endorse Pat Quinn for governor on Thursday.

That would be the Tom Weisner Gov. Pat Quinn appointed as a Tollway director three months ago. For the record, Weisner isn't accepting the $31,000 director's pay.

Bob Schillerstrom appears to be one of the few, if not the only one, in the crowded Republican primary for governor to not come out blazing against a plan to bring suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay to a western Illinois prison.
"We are saying we shouldn't have a knee-jerk reaction to this," said spokesman Brad Hahn. "There needs to be some reasonable discussion."
Schillerstrom put out a release just before the close of business today saying he wants more information on the security precautions that will be taken before making up his mind on the deal, which could be a cornerstone to President Barack Obama's plan to close the controversial Gitmo.
The current DuPage County Board chairman says he also believes security should be the top issue in the debate, not jobs.

The debate over whether to move terrorist detainees to a near-vacant state prison in rarely mentioned Thomson is filled with irony.
That prison was supposed to be built on Department of Defense property on the Savanna Army Depot. Then-Gov. Jim Edgar awarded that site the prison late in his final term to help offset hundreds of job losses when the army depot officially closed.
But media-backed environmentalists quickly threw up a challenge. The army depot grounds along the Mississippi River may be home to decades of munitions testing and contamination but they're also home to some of the last native sand prairies.
Candidates George Ryan and Glenn Poshard both voiced their environmental concerns and the sand prairies won.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross says he will attempt to put to a vote Gov. Pat Quinn's plan to sell a western Illinois prison to the federal government to house suspected terrorists from Guantanamo Bay.
Calling the move "a huge mistake," Cross said, "There ought to be a debate. There ought to be a discussion."
So far, there is a debate over whether the deal would legally require approval from the General Assembly. Under the preliminary outline, the federal government would buy the $140 million, near-vacant prison in Thomson outright from the state.

The Daily Herald covers about 32 suburban House and Senate seats up for election next year. With petitions now in to get on the ballot, we have dug behind the names to learn more about what voters can expect this primary and into the general election.

For the primary, several Republicans are facing challenges while Democrats are largely given a pass. The most intense primaries include challenges to state Sen. Chris Lauzen of Aurora, state Rep. Suzie Bassi of Palatine and state Rep. Kay Hatcher of Yorkville.

But the real heat will come in the general election. Remember that 10 state legislative races in the Daily Herald's suburban coverage area drew $11 million in spending last year.

Powerful labor unions have started running suburban TV ads in support of the Democrats' health care reform push.
Two separate ads by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees are now running that support U.S. representatives Bill Foster of Batavia and Debbie Halvorson of Crete, both Democrats who voted for the House measure last week.
Meanwhile, an organization tied to the Service Employees International Union is running an ad against U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, a Highland Park Republican, for his opposition to the proposal. Kirk is running for Senate in a crowded GOP primary.

On Thursday there was a bit of shock in the political world as former state Attorney General Jim Ryan for the first time expressed sorrow for cases he oversaw as a prosecutor that put two innocent men on death row.

In the email from his longtime spokesman, Ryan also staked out his new position on the death penalty, stances that in at least one key area contrast those from his previous run for governor in 2002.

Here’s what Ryan said yesterday about the death penalty moratorium still in place more than a decade after then-Gov. George Ryan declared it.

“If I am elected governor, I will not lift the moratorium on capital punishment until we have created a more limited and accurate system of capital punishment.”

Rolando Cruz, who sat on death row for a murder he didn't commit after being prosecuted by Jim Ryan, tells the Daily Herald he is "shocked" the former attorney general has issued an apology as he runs for governor.
"He manned up," Cruz tells the Daily Herald's Christy Gutowski.
Cruz also now wants a sit-down with Ryan, who is running the Republican primary.