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Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Other Politics
Posted on Sat Nov 12, 2005 at 07:43:03 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

I was in Chicago doing a CLE for the Federal Defenders of Northern and Central Illinois and the Illinois Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on computer searches. I was picked up Thursday night by a friend in Chicago on the NACDL Board who took me out for real Chicago pizza. The conversation: Chicago politics. Always fascinating. It ran the gamit from the former Governor Ryan trial (not going well for the Government) to Mayor Dailey tearing up the downtown airport runway in violation of a court order in the name of national security, to Barack Obama and Keyes ("inevitable Obama"; when will Obama run for President? '12?), what the 2005 gubernatorial races mean for Republicans, to 2006 for Illinois Republicans.

And this bombshell: The only Republican that stands out in Illinois is Patrick Fitzgerald, because of what he is doing in Washington.

Does Fitzgerald have any political ambition? I doubt it. He wouldn't have taken on the Special Counsel's job if he did. If there are rumors of his political viability, it is the people saying it, not him, and not his handlers, because he doesn't have any handlers.

I've been gone awhile. My day job has been hell lately. I haven't been keeping up, and I don't want to post anything without being fully informed.

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    • Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#1)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    I thought that Patrick Fitzgerald was not with anty party.
    And this bombshell: The only Republican that stands out in Illinois is Patrick Fitzgerald, because of what he is doing in Washington.
    Perhaps he wouldn't mind running the FBI. Other than that, it seems that he loves his work, I can not imagine he would choose to do anything else. Was the Pizza any good?

    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#2)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    If there were some way to convince people like Fitzgerald, and others who have no political ambition, to run for governorships or higher offices, we might get principled leaders for a change. Who knows, perhaps Fitz, or someone like him, will at some point be moved to take on even bigger challenges than the one he is currently working on, maybe even seeing such a path as a logical extension of what he is doing now...

    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#3)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    edgar-I think that some people are not wired to be politicians and Fitzgerakd may fall into that category. In order to play one has to first sign on to corporate money. The people represented by a politician are not the master, the paymaster holds the strings. Having integrity would be a liability, because being honest to the people would cut off the corporate cash that provides a platform, stage and auditorium, not to mention voting machines.

    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    I agree with squeaky. How Fitzgerald can be associated with any party is beyond me, since he has taken every step to disassociate himself with any party. There is that story that when he was in NY and registered as Independent, then found that Independents were a party unto themselves, he re-registered as No Affiliation. Where has it ever been reported that he's a Republican? Maybe these people are grasping at the only apolitical, squeaky clean guy they can think of to be associated with themselves.

    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#5)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    Squeaky: I think that some people are not wired to be politicians and Fitzgerakd may fall into that category I agree with you completely on that point Squeaky, and I also agree that in MOST cases "in order to play one has to first sign on to corporate money." And Maggie notes that : How Fitzgerald can be associated with any party is beyond me, since he has taken every step to disassociate himself with any party. But, you know, the more I read about Fitzgerald, and watch his careful, meticulous, and almost (I shudder to use the word here) fanatical attention to detail in pursuing this case, the more I get a funny feeling in my gut that he just might be playing politics his own way, and on his own terms. I hope so. He certainly may have some interesting motivations, and reasons to be the "pit bull": From a sourcewatch article on Judith Miller:
    On April 6, 2004, Josh Marshall reported how U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago "had quite aggressively investigated another Bush White House leak in late 2001 and early 2002. Fitzgerald had been investigating three Islamic charities accused of supporting terrorism -- the Holy Land Foundation, the Global Relief Foundation, and the Benevolence International Foundation. But just before his investigators could swoop in with warrants [on December 14, 2001], two of the charities in question got wind of what was coming and, apparently, were able to destroy a good deal of evidence. "What tipped them off were calls from two reporters at the New York Times who'd been leaked information about the investigation by folks at the White House. One of those two reporters was Judy Miller," he wrote. The other was New York Times reporter Philip Shenon. Marshall's point in April 2004 wasn't that "the White House did something else wrong," in fact, he wrote, he was "told that in this case the White House really hadn't done anything improper at all." However, "Fitzgerald was pissed and apparently went after them very aggressively -- and this for a case in which," he was told, "there really wasn't much to go after," which "might be something to keep in mind when figuring how the Plame investigation might play out."


    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#6)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    edgar-We all play politics, the politics of social interactions, and Fitzgerald is an extremely talented virtouso at that, for sure. Being a Politician, the elected type, is an entirely different thing.

    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#7)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    Squeaky: Being a Politician, the elected type, is an entirely different thing. True enough, certainly... I wonder, though whether, at some point in this anti-corruption career he seems to be pursuing, seeing that he would have no trouble attracting popular support, he may come to the conclusion that the most effective way to achieve his apparent goal of disinfecting politics of corruption is to become a politician himself? If he does, he would be formidable, and probably unstoppable. I know I'm dreaming out loud here. But Sunday morning is for dreaming I think, and as John Lennon said: "You may say that I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one"

    Re: Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly (none / 0) (#8)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:01 PM EST
    Even on Saturday... ;-)

    Fitzgerald for Governor? Hardly | 8 comments (8 topical)