Quoted:
Bob, you've known me awhile. I assure you everything in that story is true. The quoted conversations come from the transcripts created by the AG investigators themselves at the time, and I got them from the story done by John O'Connor of the Associated Press in December of 2001.
I did not mean to imply your story was false. Only that it is not really something I have personal knowledge of. In any case, LE uses this kind of entrapment technique on an almost routine basis, so its not as if it is strictly something related to firearms.
The thing to remember about Jim Ryan is that we've got so many other options. We aren't stuck with him unless he wins the primary (and that only if you're a Republican, although I don't think I'd care to vote for Pat Quinn or Dan Hynes, either.)
I agree there are far better options from an issue stand point.
We have Kirk Dillard . . . he sat down with some concealed carry advocates the other night and, without going into too many details, he'd stump for concealed carry and sign it. Last time concealed carry had a chance in Illinois, he sponsored the bill, and it came within two votes of passing the legislature in 1995 (his later-boss Edgar would have vetoed it––but Edgar won't be the Governor this time.) I believe the entire Executive Branch from the Governor's office on down through DNR and the State Police would be a lot less hostile under Dillard, and it's not like anyone can dismiss him as some fringe candidate.
of the republican candidates he seems to be the best one that has some chance of pulling it off.
I heard Bill Brady is having trouble with funding, but if anything, he's more pro-gun than Dillard. Same deal with Dan Proft and Adam Andrzejewski (An-jee-EFF-ski)––both very long shots to win anything, but both staunch pro-2nd-Amendment guys.
Agreed. But its not about the perfect candidate. its about winning. And while Brady has an outside chance at it, the other two you mentioned have no chance at all.
In the Senate race, Illinois GOP leaders are going to claim that we have to accept Mark Kirk because no one else can win.
And they are right.
In the Governor's race, if anything, Jim Ryan is the underdog. He had his shot in 2002 when he'd been Attorney General for years previous and wasn't coming out of nowhere (as most voters will see it) and he failed then. This month his own polls said 19% of the respondents thought he was either George Ryan or closely related. The only stinkers in this race on the Republican side are Jim "No, Baby, It's Perfectly Legit" Ryan and Andy "The Outsider" McKenna.
Ryan has a long time to convince the voters he is not G. Ryan. I find McKenna's ads claiming to be an outsider just this side of ludicrous. However, both of them are long time insiders with access to what is left of the IL GOP. If anyone can make enough of the shambles of the party in IL, its not going to be an outsider. Its going to be someone with a long history of political experience that can convince the money men it is possible for him to win. otherwise, the phone banks and hordes of lawn signs just won't exist. It may not be the most desirable way to select a governor, but it is the way it works.You cannot win the race without a lot of support from the party and a lot of money. No way around that.