I missed my updates last week... so I'm not off to a good start. But it's remained pretty busy. My wife was putting together a major statewide industry conference and trade show, so I needed to take care of the baby more. Spending more time with the kid is always a good thing and gives some nice perspective of what really matters. I also had to take over with the baby goats, which can be fun as well. After about a week, baby goats, or kids(as they are called), get very playful, jumping on and off of everything they can find and play butting each other. Plus, since we've had to be so hands-on with them, they are very tame.

    But enough of that... So obviously now we know much more about Rutherford's accuser, Ed Michaelowski. First things first, the Treasurer has continued to maintain his belief that Rauner is behind this. Michaelowski walked straight from the Treasurer's office to a Cook County job that no one gets without serious democratic political connections. He also moved to the job under an air of controversy. He's known as a Democrat, worked in Jesse White's office before Rutherford, etc. So I just don't buy Rauner having anything to do with this. If there is a political motive behind this, it's coming from the left. I'm not saying there is, but if it's there, it isn't Rauner. I could see Democrats fearing Rutherford, because if he somehow won, he would likely make a tougher opponent. The Governor isn't very popular right now, and Rutherford would be a much more palatable option for moderates and Democrats. Quinn can't scare people away from Rutherford like he did with Brady. The Treasurer is just too moderate and likable.
    All that being said, I think the race is obviously over for Rutherford. Maybe he could have survived the allegations, but now he's refusing to release his outside investigator's report to the public. He claims that would go against the advice of his legal council, but there is no court order barring the release. This report was paid for with taxpayer dollars(which I think was a mistake in and of itself), so the taxpayers deserve the results. He only looks like he's hiding something now.

    This week Cullerton went after Senate Republicans for complaining about the delay in the Governor's budget address. He's saying if they want to talk budgets, bring their specific solutions to the table, and he's painting a grim outlook, including a 2.9 billion dollar budget hole.
     I'm sorry, but this is absolutely, purely, political. He's running cover for the Governor. The only even remotely intelligent reason Quinn has to delay the budget is to do it after the primary. That way he can tailor it to the opponent he will be facing in November. Cullerton got a nice press bump, but he didn't bring out any real action. Then Cullerton invited all the Senators, and all the GOP candidates to an appropriations hearing Wednesday afternoon to present their specific proposals, and then didn't even bother to show up himself.(neither did any of the GOP contenders)

    While I'm on the Governor's race, many people probably saw this today. http://www.illinoisobserver.net/2014/02/19/tactless-moderator-comment-targeting-rutherford-mars-gop-debate/
   I think this is way overblown, and it has nothing to do with me defending my employer or coworker. Multiple skeletons in the closets were brought up about the candidates, including Rauner maybe using clout to get his kid into a good school, Dillard's ad for Obama, etc. Yes, on first pass, most people probably think of Rutherford after the comment is made, maybe there could have been a better choice of wording, but this was not aimed at Rutherford.
    Outside money is starting to be felt in the race, primarily going after Rauner. AFSCME, SEIU, and IFT have all poured money in to Illinois Freedom PAC, targeting Rauner. So what does Rauner do? He just pours more money in to his own campaign. I think people felt like Rauner would just end up being another Gidwitz or Oberweiss. But while those flamed out quickly, Rauner just keeps going, generally on the same message, and there seems to be no end to the cashflow. It's like he just keeps turning on the faucet when the bucket gets low. I still kind of feel like Rauner may scare too many people in November, or Quinn can make him seem scary. But it's hard to argue with the results of the money. Another difference between Rauner and other previous businessman candidates, is that he seems to be really good at the in-person campaigning that can make or break a run. Someone made the comment to me that both Rauner and Blagojevich are amazing fundraisers and in-person campaigners. They added that Blagojevich was a terrible Governor, so what does that say for a Rauner administration? I guess we'll have to wait and see. His pocketbook may be enough to actually get the GOP back in the mansion.