“Election Crunch-Time” (Illinois Family Spotlight #085)

The discussion focused on next Tuesday’s primary election, and began with Dave Smith, Laurie Higgins, and John Biver highlighting incumbent Bruce Rauner’s deceitful campaign ads attacking his opponent Jeanne Ives.

Higgins’ recent masterful article outlines the five big lies in “Rauner’s Deceitful Campaign Ads.” The claims are “absurd,” she said in the podcast, and #1 on the list, that “Ives is a career politician,” is just plain silly. As Higgins wrote:

Truth: The 53-year-old Ives began her career in the Illinois State House in January 2013, so she just completed her 5th year in Springfield. Rauner just completed 3 years in Springfield. If Illinoisans are foolish enough to re-elect Pinocchio, will he be a “career politician” in a mere two years?

Three of the lies — that Ives supports Mike Madigan’s 32% tax increase, opposes freezing property taxes, and is supported by “the same union bosses who back Mike Madigan” are so deceitful, Higgins said, that they alone should disqualify Rauner from being reelected.

In the ad’s “half-truth,” the Rauner ad claims that Ives’ courage to vote against a lousy bill put forth by the Democrats to make Republicans look bad meant she was against legislation supporting a narrowly defined property tax exemption. In fact, as Higgins said, the conservative Illinois Policy Institute called the bill a “campaign gimmick,” and the president of the Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois said the bill would have shifted “the burden to other property taxpayers.”

Democrats sponsored this bill for show. It was an attempt to deceive voters, and Ives was the only Republican to stand on principle, refusing to play along with the Democrats’ repellent manipulation of voters.

As Higgins wrote, “Rauner’s half-truth reveals the whole truth that Ives is the best person to be the next governor of Illinois.”

Dave Smith brought attention to the Illinois Family Action comparison piece that pro-family voters can use to help spread the word about the differences between Ives and Rauner. The piece can be found here, and the efforts of pro-family voters are more critical than ever so more voters can learn the truth about Rauner’s lies.

Also discussed in the podcast is the Republican primary for Attorney General, where seasoned lawyer Gary Grasso is running against former Miss America Erika Harold. Smith and Biver expressed disappointment in Harold’s failure to fill out candidate surveys from pro-life and pro-family organizations. While neither candidate was endorsed by IFI, both Smith and Biver encourage a vote for Gary Grasso based on his refusal to use the A.G.’s office to defend Illinois laws that are unconstitutional. (Two examples of unconstitutional can be read about are SB 1564 and HB 217.

Higgins, Smith and Biver also touched upon the decision by some would-be conservative leaders to avoid endorsing Ives over Rauner. Their “cowardice or foolishness,” as Higgins said, show how the Illinois Republican Party is being “corrupted from within.” Higgins’ excellent article detailing the possible reasons for their “outrageous” decision can be read here.

The discussion closed with an overview of a handful of important state legislative primary races.