In their upcoming book on Rod Blagojevich, Chicago Tribune reporters Jeff Coen and John Chase write that the former gov once threatened to fire an aide if he revealed a secret: that Blago had voted for George H.W. Bush. “If you ever repeat this, first I’ll deny it, secondly I’ll wait a little bit, then I’ll fire you,” Rod had told the aide... Read more
Lists just out from Politico ranking donors to the two presidential candidates show that, on the Democratic side, Chicagoan Fred Eychaner ranks number one. On the GOP side, at number nine with $2.3 million for Mitt Romney and other Republican PACs and candidates, is Chicago hedge fund billionaire Kenneth Griffin... Read more
After announcing on Friday that her last column would run on August 6, the Sun-Times’s Stella Foster, who has been writing “Stella’s Column” (the successor to the legendary “Kup’s Column”) since December 2003, told me in a telephone interview Monday that it was her decision to retire... Read more
The Tribune reported last week that Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic challenger in the race for the 8th District, outraised the tea party-backed freshman, Joe Walsh, in the second quarter. Duckworth’s $888,790 total take included almost $50,000 "steered" to her by J Street, a D.C.-based PAC that is finding a stronghold here in Chicago... Read more