Redstate

Posted at 5:04pm on Jun. 26, 2008 "I didn't go around wielding a bunch of clout."

Not The City of Chicago He Knew

By Dan McLaughlin

...and the entire city of Chicago goes under the bus, along with the whole Illinois Democratic Party. Barack Obama never really knew you:

"You will recall that for my entire political career here, I was not the the endorsed candidate of any political organization here," the Democratic presidential hopeful said at the Westin Hotel downtown. "I didn't go around wielding a bunch of clout. My reputation in Springfield was as an independent. There is no doubt I had friends and continue to have friends who come out of the more traditional school of Chicago politics but that's not what launched my political career and that's not what I've ever depended on to get elected, and I would challenge any Chicago reporter to dispute that basic fact."

Well, so much for Obama touting his experience as a significant player in the state legislature. Of course, Obama's managed to make his records as a State Senator disappear, and aside from his war speech and his first book, it's awfully hard to find any evidence of his public statements before 2004. Presumably, his Illinois record on guns will be next down the memory hole.

Aside from his own record, it's not hard to see why Obama wants nothing to do with his old friends and allies, now that even Illinois Democrats are talking about impeaching their own governor (more here), among the many scandals and fiascoes surrounding the Illinois Democrats. (Maybe the socialist New Party will still have him). Of course, the Chicago Sun-Times isn't fooled enough to avoid mentioning this:

Obama friend Tony Rezko was convicted of corrupting state government, but Obama was never implicated and has returned contributions Rezko made to his Senate campaign. Obama did run as an independent Democrat but worked closely with state Senate President Emil Jones, an old-school organization Democrat. Obama runs for president with the full blessing of Mayor Daley.

"Worked closely" is, I guess, a euphemism for Jones basically creating most of Obama's legislative record by adding Obama's name on other people's bills, and bringing home a whole lot of Obama-directed pork ever since. As Jones once said, I'm gonna make me a U.S. Senator":

Read On...

Posted in 2008 | Barack Obama | Corrupt Democrat Watch | Obamabus | Obamafiles | The Chicago Way — Comments (6)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 8:47am on Jun. 23, 2008 Patrick Gaspard chosen as Obama's new political director.

The title is a test. If you know enough about this race to wince at the name, you pass.

By Moe Lane

OK, let's walk through this one.

The very short version (and hat-tip to Gateway Pundit for this): Obama's new political director Patrick Gaspard, while national field director for the group America Coming Together, used felons for GOTV canvassing functions in the 2004 national election. His organization also ended up having to pay three quarters of a million dollars in fines - excuse me: "civil penalties" - to get the FEC off of their back for election finance rules violations. And, very amusingly, up until he got hired he was a registered and current lobbyist for 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (as well as being its Executive Vice President).

Did all of that get your attention?

Excellent. Read on.

Posted in 2008 | Business as Usual | Obamafiles | The Chicago Way — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:36am on Jun. 15, 2008 Geez, Senator Obama. Are the May/June fundraising numbers *THAT* bad?

You usually don't start flinging around the raw meat to the acolytes like this.

By Moe Lane

Anyway, that's what I'm guessing, based on this report by Captain Ed. I seem to remember somebody around here noting something to the effect that the prerequisite for having a fight is to have both parties actually show up: presumably, this includes gun-fights. That should scupper the Senator's plans nicely.

I'd comment further, except that as a Republican I'm not actually permitted to make use of metaphors involving firearms when talking about my opponents. Such is life.

Moe Lane

PS: To be fair, while The Untouchables was a generally bad film, I can see why Obama would try to evoke Sean Connery, and Connery's character did call his strategy "The Chicago Way." Perhaps we should substitute "He's in the car" for "Obama threw him under the bus..."

Posted in 2008 | A Child wearing an adult's clothes | The Chicago Way — Comments (5)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 11:34am on Mar. 16, 2008 Matthew Yglesias: Barack Obama no different than any other cynical politician.

No, that's not a direct quote. What do you think he is, mad?

By Moe Lane

[Sorry: spelled his name wrong.]

They'd bring out the Jeeps in a heartbeat if he said it so baldly. As it was, he went pretty close to the line:

But of course they're right that it'll hurt him electorally because Obama's going to have a hard time explaining that I take to be the truth, namely that his relationship with Trinity has been a bit cynical from the beginning. After all, before Obama was a half-black guy running in a mostly white country he was a half-white guy running in a mostly black neighborhood. At that time, associating with a very large, influential, local church with black nationalist overtones was a clear political asset (it's also clear in his book that it made him, personally, feel "blacker" to belong to a slightly kitschy black church). Since emerging onto a larger stage, it's been the reverse and Obama's consistently sought to distance himself from Wright, disinviting him from his campaign's launch, analogizing him to a crazy uncle who you love but don't listen to, etc. The closest analogy would probably be to Hillary Clinton's inconsistent accounting of where she's from (bragging about midwestern roots when trying to win in Iowa, promptly forgetting those roots when explaining away a loss in Illinois, developing a sporadic affection for New York sports teams) -- banal, mildly cynical shifts of association as context changes.

(H/T: Glenn Reynolds)

What a marvelous race this has become.

Read on.

Posted in 2008 | Obamafiles | The Chicago Way — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:24am on Mar. 9, 2008 Two grand? *Two* grand?

As in, [the integer between one and three] grand?

By Moe Lane

What? Oh, it's like this. About two and a half years ago I got married. My wife and I had about 100 people at the reception, which we had catered with a very simple, straightforward Sunday brunch theme. The site was nice, but not elaborate; the wine and beer was not only donated, it was homebrewed (by people who could walk into any microbrewery and/or winery in the country and be hired on the spot); the DJ was a CD player with four preloaded CDs of songs we wanted to hear. We, in fact, were absolutely ruthless in cutting out every expense that we didn't see a need for, and went with the economical choice whenever possible. It still cost us six grand.

Clearly, I should have gotten Tony Renzo to do my party planning. From " Rezko cash triple what Obama says" (Via Instapundit):

At the time of the party, the state was in the process of foreclosing on a low-income apartment building Rezko's company rehabbed in Obama's state Senate district -- a rehab project on which Obama's law firm worked. Rezko had also abandoned many other low-income apartments, leaving numerous vacant units in need of major repairs.

[snip]

Between 75 and 80 people attended Rezko's cocktail party, according to Burton, but he said the campaign has no list of the guests.

More than half a dozen people who were there said between 100 and 150 guests were treated to an open bar and food served by Jewell Events Catering, run by renowned Chicago caterer George Jewell. Valets parked cars for the guests, who each were asked to donate at least $1,000.

Rezko picked up the tab. The exact cost of the party has never been disclosed to the Federal Election Commission, which allows hosts to pay up to $2,000 for fund-raisers held in their homes and not report the expense. If a party costs more than $2,000, the candidate must tell the FEC about it.

Burton said, based on a conversation a former Obama staff member had with Rezko, that the party didn't cost more than $2,000.

I mean, don't get me wrong: we had a fine time in Tuscany as-was. But we'd have had an epic time with four grand more to play with.

Posted in 2008 | Obamafiles | Rezko | The Chicago Way — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:07pm on Feb. 2, 2008 McCain vs Romney Open Thread

There's Only One Way To Beat The Clintons

By Dan McLaughlin

If you have something to say about this race today - a thought, a link, an argument - try to say it here unless you are absolutely certain that it justifies doing a separate diary. We've had way too many short diaries that were really just extended comments.

Have at it.

Posted in 2008 | 2008 Presidential Campaign | John McCain | Mitt Romney | The Chicago Way — Comments (302)/ Email this page » / Read More »