The rise and fall of Steve Rauschenberger
Eric Krol of the Daily Herald has a great column today discussing what was once the promising political career of Steve Rauschenberger.
What the heck happened to Steve Rauschenberger’s political career?
In less than two years, he’s gone from up-and-coming, new generation Republican hopeful to failed U.S. Senate candidate, failed national committeeman candidate and failed governor candidate. Now he’s running for lieutenant governor, an office considered so irrelevant that one guy who held it quit out of boredom.
Break down his travails, and the answer seems to be that Rauschenberger is what happened to Rauschenberger’s political career: A tendency to play what one former opponent calls “too cute by half” and trying to have it both ways caught up with him.
All of which is strange and disappointing for his admirers, of which there are many in the state Senate and press corps.
His latest move, joining Chicago millionaire Ron Gidwitz as his running mate, was not greeted very warmly by several Rauschenberger colleagues I chatted with this week. The responses ranged from surprised to baffled to disappointed over the perception that the reformer had sold out just to stay in the game.
Also, the Herald’s Editorial Board opines on the Gidwitz/Rauschenberger merger as “odd.”
Lagging poll numbers apparently call for measures that are, if not desperate, then certainly odd.
With neither man showing up well in polling for the March primary, Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Rod Gidwitz and Steve Rauschenberger have opted to team up. Gidwitz will seek the nomination for governor; Rauschenberger will settle for a shot at lieutenant governor.
If this strategy works, it will be almost as surprising as their decision to team up.
The strategy is vulnerable on the fact that governor and lieutenant governor candidates do not even appear together on Illinois ballots. Voters are free to vote for Gidwitz and against Rauschenberger or vice versa.
6 comments:
So far the '06 IL-GOP Primary looks like a Three Stooges comedy skit.
Unless we get it together, I'm afraid the IL-GOP is headed towards another well-deserved statewide, top-to-bottom ass-whumpin'.
Krol has had a hard on for Rauschy for years. Evidently, Krol thinks he is the only guy in state politics cool enough to wear facial hair.
I wish he did use the word "middle class" so much. Class politics is 19th century and seemed that way in the 1930's. It's out of date besides meaningless today.
Who ran Rauschenberger's US Senate campaign? Is is the same people who ran his Governor campaign?
Steve got lucky on one thing. Birkett's move with Judy makes Steve's sell-out look modest in comparison.
But sell-outs they both remain.
When is Steve going to deal with his spokesperson Dan Proft's dealings in the City of Cicero? For one thing, Proft gets paid over 90 grand by the town of Cicero, for who knows what. And at the same time he's working on at least 2 campaigns. Steve's reform credentials are hanging by a thread. What's he thinkin'?
Can Proft be a public employee for the town of Cicero and do campaign work during working hours? I thought that is what got Ryan into trouble.
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