Interview with IL's newest Senate candidate Nancy Skinner

ZORN: You're a radio talk show host from Michigan with no legislative experience, no political organization and not much money. Why should people take you seriously as a candidate for the United States Senate in Illinois?

SKINNER: I went into radio because the left had no voice on talk radio. Against all odds, I changed that. I decided to run for the Senate because the left has lost its voice in national politics. I intend to change that.
When Senator Hillary Clinton was considering a run for the Senate seat in New York, she went on a "listening tour" to hear what people were concerned about.
As a radio and television talk show host, I have been on a "listening tour" for more than 6 years now. I've been on the air in Chicago since 1997 and have been doing a nationally-syndicated show, including a half dozen Illinois stations, for almost 2½ years. I talk to people from all walks of life and all political persuasions, six days a week, about the issues that are most pressing to them personally, and their deepest concerns about our country.

more.....
http://ericzorn.com/extra/skinner/

Senator from Illinois!

And it sounds like she's using Hillary as somewhat of a role model.

"It's a brave new world in national politics these days. Traditional campaigning strategies are no longer applicable. The Republicans enjoy a huge fundraising advantage and have used it to master the media and the message. They run roughshod over the Democrats, time and again, out-shouting them on cable news shows, out-sloganing them in the PR game, and snake-oiling them with their policies."


"As a result of my national TV exposure, I'm also the only candidate with a national following through the Internet. As Howard Dean has done, I appeal and will reach out to proud progressives across this country who are tired of watching one assault after another on the Constitution and the U.S. Treasury, and who want to do something about it. With the help of the leading progressive web sites on the Internet, we are launching the first ever effort to elect a U.S. Senator with the help of the Internet"

forgot about that

here's his column in today's paper

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0307220061jul22,1,7453736.column?coll=chi-news-col

"I'm not a radio host who's going into politics," she said. "I was a citizen who went into radio. I've been studying the key issues--foreign policy, national security, Social Security, defense, education, taxes, the environment--for many years."

snip

"WLS gave her a tryout, and she showed the knack. Early on she mounted an on-air crusade demanding answers from U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde (R.-Ill.) about his still-unexplained role in a failed suburban savings and loan, an effort that made news here and in Washington.

But WLS officials have always offered tepid support at best to lefty hosts, and Anderson and Skinner were no exception. Management did not promote their show, ordered them off the Hyde story and cut them back to one time slot a week from two, even though their ratings were respectable. In the ultimate exhibition of craven stewardship of the public airways, WLS pre-empted "Ski and Skinner" the weekend after the bombing started in Iraq in order to replace them, temporarily, with yet another cheerleader for the war."

I remember that Hyde fiasco. they had him sweating, big time. he was PISSED, and they immediately cut their show from two days to one.

WLS is one of the WORST large stations in the country.

wall to wall wingnuts, all day, every week day, with a four hour semi-exception in the afternoon. ten hours on weekend of SandS, Nate Clay, and Dean Edell that's it

It was almost inevitable after she announced on the show Sunday, apparently without telling her winger bosses first. Frankly I'm pissed with Nancy. We have at least one terrific liberal candidate in Barak Obama already, plus several other good Democratic candidates. We should be able to win handily without her. On the other hand, losing her Sunday show on WLS will be a great loss.

Who is Barak Obama?

She speaks out with authority. And she must read everything, with all the facts she has??

He is an African American from Chicago. He seems pretty liberal from his website. He went to Harvard Law and and is a law professor at the University of Chicago so I guess he is pretty smart.

Bobby Rush, his own constituent, just backed Hull, the white gambler guy.

it's going to be Hull, most likely, cause he's committed to spending forty MILLION, according to a Tribune story a month or so ago.

could be Skinner, cause of name rec/media savvy.....and.......looks!

just a matter of her getting any kind of exposure, and quickly

wonder what will happen with her TV appearances.

if she was a pug, it wouldn't matter, but we all know the applicable corollary

Obama had the nerve to run against him for US Rep. Obama is a rock star, I love Nancy but she does not have the Illinois network to run. She can do well in the Chicago area, but she will not do well downstate.

Ethics Reform. Working with former U.S. Senator Paul Simon, Obama was a chief architect and sponsor of the first state campaign finance reform legislation in 25 years, and has helped toughen rules governing government contracting and procurement.

Obama graduated from Columbia University with a degree in political science and a specialty in international relations. He worked as a community organizer in some of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods, helping church groups create job-training programs, reform area schools, and improve city services.

He went on to Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude and served as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. After law school, Obama organized one of the largest voter registration drives in Chicago history to help Bill Clinton's election, and worked as a civil rights lawyer on cutting edge voting rights and employment discrimination cases in federal and state courts.

Currently a law professor specializing in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School, Obama has served on the boards of some of Chicago's leading foundations and chaired the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a $50 million philanthropic effort to reform the public schools.

Others:
Hynes has downstate union support, Chico probably has Daley, Obama has Rush, Hull has money. My choice (so far) is Obama, but I'm open to ANY Dem....