Democrats vent at Blagojevich in 'a necessary meeting'

[CShine]

SPRINGFIELD -- In a bid to win over the hearts of House Democrats, Gov. Blagojevich instead appeared to further alienate some of them Sunday during a private, three-hour meeting to tout his budget plan and repair strained relationships. More than 50 House Democrats sat through the rare question-and-answer session with the governor, demanding to know why he was singling them out in attacks over the radio and if he was responsible for racist literature targeting Rep. Lovana Jones (D-Chicago) in her South Side district. The governor, whose office denied having a hand in the tactic, told reporters afterwards he thought the closed-door forum was "a good meeting and a necessary meeting." It allowed fellow Democrats to vent at him, he said, and to ask about a budget deal needed to keep government services from possibly being interrupted after Thursday.

"One of the great things about a democracy, you can have disagreements even within your own family, even within your own party," the governor said.

But the fence-mending session included time spent listening to a tape of a recent Blagojevich radio interview in which he called Rep. John Bradley (D-Marion) a "wallflower of Madigan" for supporting House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) in his budget standoff with the governor. Blagojevich also was asked whether he knew anything about fliers put on cars near Rep. Jones' home, calling her one of "Madigan's monkeys." Jones, who is black and an assistant House majority leader, is aligned with the speaker in the budget battle. She could not be reached afterward.

"It's just unfair," said Rep. Constance Howard (D-Chicago), who asked the governor specifically about the fliers targeting Jones. "I don't see any reason why the governor couldn't speak out and say he had nothing to do with that."

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-leg28.html

[eface]

1. Madigan is the issue.

It seems strange that the Il. senate was able to pass all of the budget, while Madigan(still mad at IL. Demos) wants to make all those who did not endorse his daughter, suffer. The state is in trouble and Madigan will and has dug in his heels on this. Blago has tried to no avail. Madigan is wheeling his power over the house and will continue until Blago backs off. The Illinois Democratic party is in real trouble right now and if someone does not give an olive branch there will be hell to pay come November.