Edgar reunion, not campaign announcement
Twenty years ago a downstate Republican named Jim Edgar announced he was running for governor. This weekend Edgar is assembling friends and members of his administration in Springfield.
Could it be the comeback announcement many Republicans have coveted?
"I don't believe so," the former governor said Friday. "I think that'd be quite a surprise."
Edgar basically wants to hang out with his old pals, talk politics and reflect on the past two decades.
The exact 20-year anniversary of his campaign kickoff was in August, but he said it was too hot to have a reunion then. He'd consulted the U of I football schedule to find a weekend without a home game.
He recalled his 1989 fly around announcement with eight stops through out the state including a big rally in the Capitol rotunda.
"If I ever got back again that'd be one of the reasons, to have a rally at the rotunda," Edgar said.
But to repeat, no, Jim Edgar is not running for governor.
"It should be a fun day," Edgar said, describing the reunion as a collective "sigh of reflief we made it through."
"The longer out," he said, "the better we look."
Let's see:
Since 1990, we've elected these guys as Governor:
Edgar
Ryan
Blagojevich
Can anyone argue that Edgar was the best of the group? Throw in Thompson and the accidental governor, Quinn, and we still have to pick Edgar.
Lots of people, Democrats and Republicans, have campaign events at the Statehouse. Get a clue. It's the people's property.
We need someone like Jim Edgar back. He said no to the Chicago Democrats. What a concept.
So the highlight of his career for Jim Edgar was having a campaign event on state property. That says it all.
Nothing sums up the Edgar years better than the arrogant attitude that the law only applies to other people.