Monday convention redux

Blago-a-no-sho
Gov. Rod Blagojevich did not show up at the convention Monday, instead choosing to stay in Chicago and rewrite ethics legislation that lawmakers negotiated for months and then sat on his desk without action until the last minute. Needless to say, those involved in crafting the deal are not pleased. State Sen. Debbie Halvorson, a Crete Democrat, is running for Congress and took a high-profile role in working the deal in the Senate and has faced criticism from her Republican opponent whenever there was a hint of it sinking.
The governor is giving her rival plenty of ammunition for the campaign.

Four years ago, House Speaker Michael Madigan, also the state party chairman, chose not to show up for the first day after a grueling series of Capitol sessions that led right up to the start of the 2004 Boston convention. Some Democratic Party officials took issue with his absence. Suprisingly, Blagojevich was not one of them.

Here's what he told us four years ago about Madigan not being there:
"There's a lot of love in my heart. I can't wait to see the speaker when he gets here."

I showed that 2004 article to Madigan today.
"He'll feel the same way this year," Madigan said.

Back row?
Rob Olmstead covered Blagojevich's news conference in Chicago and sent along some of the Q-N-A with reporters.

Q: Does he feel snubbed at the convention
A: “Not at all”
Q: Even though people who want his job will be speaking there? Will that give them an advantage?
A: Blagojevich points out he’s spoken at the convention in 1996 before and no one remembers it. “I think the convention is rightfully focused on the nominee and his or her vice presidential candidate.”
“My view of the convention is … it should be all about Barack Obama and Joe Biden.”
Q: But isn’t there a concentrated effort to not have you next to the candidate?
A: “I don’t think that’s true at all.”
“Those of us who really genuinely want to see Senator Obama elected president should be eager and happy to stay out of the limelight and take a seat in the back row, get up and applaud and more than that, go out and speak on behalf of the ticket, knock on doors if necessary … and then do the things in government that Sen. Obama stands for like fundamental ethics reform.”
Q: If you should stand in the background, why, on the day of the start of the convention are you here highlighting Illinois ethics problems and putting that on Obama’s back? If you’re supposed to be in the background, why are you calling this press conference today when the focus is supposed to be on the convention and saying ‘Illinois has a huge ethics problem. The candidate for the United States comes from a state that is a cesspool of bad ethics?
A: “Are YOU saying that? Here, it’s a scheduling issue, pure and simple.” The goveror said he's spent recent weeks working on health care expansion plans.

And finally, regarding the news conference: “If I just do this quietly, then the public’s not going to know that we have a chance to ban double dipping, we have a chance to ban this phony pay-raising system.”

Quite Frankly
Flamboyant Blagojevich critic Jack Franks, a Woodstock Democrat, enjoyed the governor's absence.
"I think it's proper that he's not here. He's no help to the ticket," Franks said. "He'd probably do better not showing up at all."

Emil Snub
Senate President Emil Jones Jr., a Chicago Democrat, gave a brief speech at the convention, one of several Illinois officials. CSPAN ID'd Jones as an Illinois state senator, omitting the president title.
And the convention Web site has yet (8:26 p.m. Denver time) to post his speech. Those before and after are posted but not his.

Convention flashback
1992 Democratic National Convention
Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley uses his time at the podium to attack the Bush administration on crime and drugs, blaming the Republican president for an unsafe America and blasting the president's drug czar for declaring victory in the war on drugs.
“Victory? No wonder the American people are frustrated and angry. We don't need any more tough talk. We need tough leaders,” Daley said in delivering the 1992 keynote address.

Snark Attack
The set up: Organized labor gave a sneak peak Monday of two ads that will air over Labor Day. The closing kicker in one is: Every day is labor day.

The bad joke: Wonder it that means they want time-and-a-half every day.

Thanks, I'm here all week, try the Denver omelet.