Supporters of Judge Patricia "Pat" Spratt have scheduled two October events for their candidate.
First up, on Tuesday, October 13, is a fundraiser at
O'Brien's Restaurant, 1528 N. Wells. Tickets for the event, which runs from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m., are priced at $125 apiece. Sponsorships are also available ($250 - Supporter, $500 - Patron, $1,000 - Sponsor). Co-chairs for this fundraiser are Kevin Forde and Rich Prendergast.
The second event is a free get acquainted meeting on October 22, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the
Good Earth Greenhouse and Cafe, 7900 Madison in River Forest. Julie Bauer and Paul Greenberg and Regan and Tom Cronin are the hosts for this event, which is billed as an "opportunity to meet Pat and learn about her background, experience and campaign for judge."
Spratt was recently appointed to the Rivkin-Carothers vacancy in the 7th Subcircuit by the Illinois Supreme Court.
For more information about either event, to obtain tickets, or to reserve a place at the River Forest event, email
eric@blueprintcampaignconsulting.com.
This has to be one of the strangest posts ever published on this Blog. Why would a Democratic Judicial Candidate have an event hosted by Tom Cronin, a Republican Committeeman? What next, Governor Rauner hosting an event in the 13th Ward promoting no political term limits? I heard a rumor that Spratt was not slated in the 7th. I can see why.
ReplyDeleteLet me see if I understand this one... is consorting with Republicans somehow a disqualification for judicial service? A Tom Cronin is listed as the Republican Committeeman in River Forest... is he the same Tom Cronin who has a law office in Chicago?
ReplyDeleteI'm not a political insider like you... obviously... but shouldn't lawyers... even *gasp Republican lawyers... have an interest in who hears cases in the jurisdiction in which they practice?
Wow.
From my vantage point as an observer I have noticed that there are a significant number of judges in this county, elected as good Democrats, whose campaigns have received significant monetary support from open and notorious Republicans. It used to be the case that the Democratic Party sometimes recruited judicial candidates from the ranks of qualified, but inevitably defeated, Republicans. Was this OK then and not OK now? Or was it always something terrible... in your opinion?
Wow! What a sweet campaign issue for any one of her opponets in the seventh sub-circuit where she clearly does NOT belong.
ReplyDeleteIn case anyone hasn't noticed, it's a heavily Democratic district on the west side of Chicago. Yes, the west side of Cong. Danny Davis, Sec. of State Jesse White, Ald. and Committeeman Walter Burnett, Ald. and Committeeman Jason Erving, Ald. and Committeewoman Emma Mitts.
Boy oh boy, still laughing about this appointment. The Supremes are so out-of-touch. As always, E.P.
Jack, all that jet noise over your house created by the new runway at O'Hare has clearly caused you sleep deprivation and you are not thinking logically, or you have been spending too many late nights in Edison Park at the Curragh Irish Pub telling insurance coverage law jokes. [By the way, that one you tell about Raquel Welch and the Premium to Surplus Ratio is still a gut buster!]
ReplyDeleteFor guidance on this Spratt issue, I turn to the opinion of United States v. Fluker, where the court wrote: "If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is." That opinion was written by Judge Spratt's husband, Judge William Bauer. Judge Bauer is a well-respected, well-liked and cordial man, but Jack while you were in Haight-Ashbury with your shoulder length hair, love beads and tie-dyed shirt listening to Mama Cass, William Bauer was being appointed to the federal bench by one Richard M. Nixon. Nixon, you may recall, was no fan of Commie pinko democrats, and he especially never had many nice things to say about Chicago democrats, who found just enough absentee ballots in 1960 to put Kennedy over the top and in the White House. Dick Nixon never got over that one.
Nixon famously said in that election "Pat doesn't have a mink coat. But she does have a respectable Republican cloth coat. And I always tell her that she'd look good in anything." I'm no conspiracy theorist, but you have to wonder now, given the Bauer connection, whether Nixon was referring to Pat Spratt, and not Pat Nixon.
I looked at Judge Spratt's recent filings with Board of Elections, and the numerous contributors looks like the invite list to Tricia Nixon's wedding at the White House. Almost all are well known republicans, and some of the older ones are still registered as Federalists. Jack, the last time ANY of those donors stepped foot in the 7th subcircuit was when The Three Tenors performed at the old Chicago Stadium.
Like you say, there is nothing wrong with consorting with republicans, and the ones from the Nixon years seem tame in comparison to what we see today, but it doesn't take David Frost or Archibald Cox to figure this one out. No one blames Judge Spratt for turning her red cloth coat inside out to display its blue lining. I’d call myself a republican and move to the 13th subcircuit and run for judge if Richard Cooke would give me a loan. And really Jack, when you are arguing some inane subrogation and stacking clause language from an insurance contract at 2 o’clock in the afternoon at the Daley Center, it really does not matter if the judge is democrat or republican, just as long as they stay awake.
So much has changed since those "Laugh In" days when Bauer was appointed and Nixon famously said "Sock it to me!" on national television. Goldie Hawn and Lilly Tomlin are grandmothers, Flip Wilson as “Geraldine” is now man of the Kardashian house, and Ruth Buzzi Ginsberg is on the U.S. Supreme Court.