Animal Farm

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.

Former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan released a statement today saying he is "sorry" for the wrongful conviction of Rolando Cruz and Alejandro Hernandez for the rape and murder of Jeanine Nicarico, a young suburban girl, in the early 1980s.
Brian Dugan, who confessed to authorities shortly after Cruz and Hernandez were put on death row, was given a death sentence for the murder by a jury Wednesday. Ryan prosecuted both as DuPage County state's attorney and pursued follow-up prosecutions of Cruz after the Supreme Court repeatedly tossed out the convictions.
It is the first time Ryan - now running for governor in the GOP primary - has apologized for sending two innocent men to death row.

House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego has endorsed Andy McKenna, former head of the state party, in his primary bid for governor.
“This election is pivotal to our future and I am confident Andy McKenna and Matt Murphy are the right team to lead our state out of the fiscal nightmare the Democrats have created,” Cross said in a news release this morning from McKenna's campaign.
Murphy, a Palatine state senator, is running for lieutenant governor in connection with McKenna's campaign for governor.
McKenna - who is trying to brand himself as an "outsider" - is hoping to make the most of the insider endorsement, planning a two-stop tour with Cross beginning in Chicago at 9 a.m. today and ending at the state Capitol.

U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington has faced intense pressure on the health care vote, including near-weekly protests from both activists who oppose and those who support the measure.
In the days leading up to the vote, national Republicans flooded her 8th District in the northwest suburbs with phone calls telling voters to call Bean's office to stop her from supporting a "dangerous, out of control" health care measure that would cost jobs.
As a Democrat who aligns with so-called moderate coalitions, her vote was key for party leaders. In the end, House Democrats had to carry the measure Saturday, coming up with only two votes more than the needed 218.
Bean, along with every other Illinois Democrat in the House, supported it.

During two heated Democratic challenges, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park was targeted by millions of dollars in TV ads painting him as a far right Republican in his north suburban district.
Much of the time, it was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee paying for and writing those ads.
Kirk spent millions of dollars himself on ads to cultivate a moderate, independent brand in the 10th District.
Now it seems the DCCC agrees with him.
DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen said during a C-SPAN interview Sunday that Kirk is a "moderate," contradicting his own organizations efforts to paint him as the opposite and undermining attempts by Senate Democratic opponents to do the same.

Suburban lawmakers in the U.S. House split strictly along party lines in a landmark vote on a major overhaul of America’s health care infrastructure late Saturday night.
Facing protests from both sides of the divisive proposal for months, U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Batavia ended up siding with their party in pushing the Democratic proposal across the finish line with 220 votes, just two votes more than needed. Also supporting the measure was U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Evanston Democrat who has long backed government health coverage expansion.

Gov. Pat Quinn signed a measure today to make a repeal of Cook County's sales tax easier, but the Chicago Democrat walked a political tightrope in doing so.

The legislation will reduce the number of votes required to override a veto by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, who pushed the 1 percentage point tax hike last year to save the county's public health system.

Attempts to override Stroger's vetoes of subsequent repeal measures have come up short under the county's unusually high four-fifths requirement. The legislation lowers the bar to a more standard three-fifths vote to override a veto.

But making it easier to repeal the sales tax puts Quinn between two important constituents as he faces a tough primary challenge now and seeks election late next year.

As Democratic leaders count votes today in advance of a landmark vote on health care reform, U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Batavia are now a “Yes.”
Bean and Foster have been on the fence in the health care debate for months, facing protests from activists on both sides of the issue.
Both have said they could support a public insurance option as part of reform, but they have withheld their commitment until a final measure was written in the House.
Bean spokesman Jonathan Lipman said late this morning that the three-term congresswoman would support the measure. Her 8th District stretches from northwest Cook County into eastern Lake County and northwestern McHenry County.

FreedomWorks, one of the main organization's behind tea parties and the backlash against President Barack Obama's health care reform push, just sent out an urgent e-mail to its very active members to call 21 House Democrats it considers "swing votes."
Suburban residents may be surprised to not find U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Batavia or U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington on the list.
Both have said they are open to voting for a reform package that includes a public insurance option, depending on the details. Both have also been protested against vigorously in the last two months from both sides of the debate.

A key to winning a Republican statewide primary is wooing suburban voters -- both the establishment and the activists.
Several nods from the establishment have been rolling in for GOP candidates for governor and Animal Farm will keep you up to date.
Thursday night, Schaumburg Township GOP precinct captains voted to endorse Dan Proft, a conservative commentator with suburban ties from Chicago. Proft called it a "big win" for his campaign, which so far has lacked the funding and name recognition with voters that other challengers posses.
Meanwhile, former Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna roped in a nod from Lake County GOP Chairman Dan Venturi earlier this week. McKenna said in a statement that the endorsement gives his campaign "momentum.