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Gorman gives Rauner some added ‘Big Mo’
By RAY HANANIA
Southwest News-Herald Newspaper Friday, December 27, 2013
Winnetka Businessman Bruce Rauner may be new to politics, but he apparently knows more about Republican politics than his rivals.
Rauner won the endorsement of the Cook County Republican Party over GOP rivals State Sen. Kirk Dillard and Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford, apparently because Rauner understands Cook County better than the rest.
Dillard, who is considered a moderate Republican, received only 10.3 percent of the Cook GOP leadership vote. Rutherford won only 5 percent. Bill Brady, who beat Dillard out in the gubernatorial nomination four years ago, but who then went on to lose to Democrat Pat Quinn, received no votes.
Rauner, the “novice,” won 63.3 percent of the County vote, giving him a big boost in the race for the
Republican nomination for governor in the March 18, 2014 primary.
Some might brush it off, but the truth is that Cook County accounts for 21 percent of the total Illinois Republican vote.
Rauner’s secret? He didn’t turn his back on Cook County Commissioner and Orland Township Committeeman Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman, who over the past five years has risen to become one of the Republican Party’s smartest leaders.
Gorman might have backed Dillard, but Dillard turned to Gorman’s rivals in Wheeling Township for support. They’re losers up there, old fashioned Republicans who have made losing a career.
But Gorman represents the future. And her strength comes from her ability to stay in tune with the needs of voters and taxpayers.
When former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger increased the sales tax by one penny —
Stroger’s ally Commissioner Joan Patricia Murphy wanted to boost it up incredibly two cents — Gorman
opposed it and launched a repeal vote. When the repeal lost the first time, she wouldn’t give up and did it
again. The third time was the charm and it was repealed in two-steps saving taxpayers a huge amount of money in tough economic times.
That single act of standing steady with taxpayers has paid off for Gorman, who defeated one of the toughest Democratic challengers to her county office, a relative of the powerful 19th Ward Hynes clan, and pushing the election of a young bright mind, Aaron Del Maras, the County’s new GOP Chairman.
The fanatics and the Tea Party goofs don’t like it but Gorman has been able to bring the moderate, reasoned minds of the Republican Party to see politics in a more realistic and successful light.
Gorman has done more for the Republican party and for taxpayers than anyone.
Dillard made a critical error by not turning to Gorman. Had he, she would have endorsed him and he
might have had a shot at Gov. Pat Quinn in November next year.
Quinn’s popularity has soared on the backs of several key issues from his marksmen-like play to push for pension reform and his undying support for Illinois’ military veterans. Quinn is popular, and running as an incumbent with a good track record makes him a tough rival to beat.
But making political mistakes doesn’t make it any easier. Rauner, however, seems to be making all the
right moves to position himself in that tough contest. His biggest problem is his website, which is more about looks than substance. It’s difficult for the average voter out there to get basic information on Rauner from the site, which seems to appeal more to 16 year olds on Facebook.
His deep wealthy pockets are evidenced by his hard-hitting TV commercials that are resonating with Republicans. Gorman’s endorsement is just one more step in his “Big Mo” moving towards winning the March GOP primary.
(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist. He is the managing editor of The Arab Daily News online at www.TheArabDailyNews.com. Reach him at www.TheMediaOasis.com and follow him on Twitter at @RayHanania.)
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Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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