As was reported here, and by the TeamAmerica blog, Keith Turner broke with the Lake County Democratic Party to endorse Republican Keith Gray over Terry Link in their 2008 contest for Senate District 30. Given the spate of news items about Turner and the Lake County Board lately, your LakeCounty Eye had assumed there was no more mileage to be had from this angle of the story.So it came as a surprise yesterday to see a letter to the NewsSun penned by Keith Gray, and in support of Turner:
How disappointing that seated Democratic County Board officials won't support a Democrat to fill an empty seat for fear that they might not run for re-election as a Democrat! These people, like Blagojevich, Burris, Link, and countless others, can't even see the narrow-minded partisan perspective that has consumed them. What happened to looking at the person and what they've done, or what their position is on key issues affecting the county when deciding whether to endorse a nominee or not?Gray diplomatically doesn't mention Keith Turner by name. But anyone following the soap opera over Bob Sabonjian's vacant County Board seat knows it is Turner.
Given the events of the past week, loyalty of this nature from a politician on either side of the aisle is rare and uplifting. Your LakeCountyEye salutes Keith Gray, the politician with the mettle to stand by his man.
What happened to looking at the person and what they've done, or what their position is on key issues affecting the county when deciding whether to endorse a nominee or not?What happened indeed.
14 comments:
Why do I get the feeling that Terry Link is a pivotal character in this drama?
Isn't there scuttle-but that Turner had a criminal record?
Why is Mr. Gray concerned with the Dem's anyhow unless he's considering another run for office? Given his support of someone who withdrew their own nomination to County Board, good luck with that Mr. Gray. Besides, besides 'I'm not Terry Link' what platform did Mr. Gray have? Who is Keith Gray?
Hi Nicki
Judging from my perch, politics in Waukegan is largely an insular & internecine affair. I get the feeling everyone there is a pivotal character. lol
Hi Anon
Link is not up for re-election in 2010. I'm not sure who Gray is carring water for now?
Nicki, in my opinion, Terry Link is not a pivotal character. The decision on Turner's nomination is in Suzi's court. Suzi is certainly not known for stepping to the wishes of Link. If anything, she at first went with Turner in order to stick it to Link. Maybe at first she was following the wishes of Sbonjian and then later something surfaced about Turner. Link telling her what to do seems unlikely to me. But what the hell do I know?
Keith Gray proved once again why the voters in eastern Lake County rejected him. Not only does his letter give the appearance of being uninformed, which it most certainly was, but it also came too late to have any meaning. Is Gray really standing up for a man the voters in the 8th District thrice rejected, the members of the school board rejected, and the courts have convicted? The Turner appointment was clearly and only a failed attempt by Bob Sabonjian and Suzi Schmidt to slap down Terry Link and the Lake County Democratic Party. It was the Democratic members of the Lake County Board who stood tall and rejected, unanimously, the appointment of an individual who in no way represented the wishes of the voters of the 8th District and who was proffered solely for negative and disruptive political purposes. Republican members of the Board now feel duped; used as pawns in a political drama that was ill-conceived and produced with no regard to the people of the 8th. Gray obviously failed to consult with those members before offering his two-cents worth. Had he done so, the GOP members, already embarrassed at having been so close to ramming a felon like Turner down the throats of the Lake County Board and voters, would have told Gray what we've all been saying for quite a while: "Just shut up, Keith."
Actually, all voters see is a is a Democratic Party so bent on furthering their own agenda that they'll throw a fellow Dem under the bus. Throwing rocks at a Turner for his past is hypocritical, espcially considering that Terry Link, Lake Co Dem Party Emperor, hires felons as his campaign staff and to circulate his petitions.
When it benefits them, the Dems altruistically and whole-heartedly support convicted felons' attempts at becoming productive members of society by hiring them for campaign work (though usually for less-than minimum wage) and when they're caught forging petition signatures, Link turns his head and his workers are convicted.
The Dems don't have a problem with Turner's record being less than perfect; they have a problem with his refusal to be one of their political puppets.
What a double standard. The voters think you're a joke.
Anon 10:52 - Well, the voters in the 8th certainly don't feel that way. They see a Mayor who they first elected as a Democratic County Board rep interject himself back into county politics by offering up someone who he knew was unsupported by those same voters. You keep missing the point. It's not about Link. It's about honoring the intentions of the voters in the 8th. Offering Turner in no way gave credit to the votes those people cast in November of 08 but instead was a ploy directed at another elected official. This charade was orchestrated by Schmidt and Sabonjian and was conducted to the exclusion of those voters. Turner was not supported because the people of the 8th didn't want him. That it turned out he has a spotty past was just a clear indication of how ill-conceived their plan was to begin with.
Keith Gray is a wanna be that got his butt beat by Link and can't get over how much it smarts. He has no record to stand on, has never been heard of by most people and is a sore loser. Whaa, whaa, whaa...he cried all the way home.
1. Terry Link is not even a background "character" in this tale of Waukegan woe. What you feel Nicki could be just a delusion or a bit of "undigested beef" with Terry.
2. Suzi Schmidt nominated Keith Turner because she asked Mayor Bob whom he would suggest to fill his vacancy and Keith was his answer. Simple, okay?....
3. Suzi S. probably served on some obscure vetting committee for Sarah Palin as she did the same fine vetting on Keith--only to find out at the eleventh hour that Keith Turner has a prior felony for CAR JACKING. Yes, that's correct--car jacking. Suzi received a phone call tipping her off to Keith and FINALLY did her own due diligence, much to her embarrassment.
4. Suzi Schmidt is really just a silly, bloated cud-chewing schadenfreude who has been gorging at the tax dollar trough all of these years (while voting herself huge salary increases) without having to answer to criticism of her bully pulpit tactics. Suzi wants us to believe that she'll really "make a difference" running for Illinois Senate when in fact it just gets her an economy size bag of tax payer funded pension dollars to gorge on after what will be a short, lackluster senate career (modeled after on her lackluster Lake County Board performance).
5. Suzi--you are wearing NO CLOTHES. Okay?
Lincoln- the voters elected Sabonjian to the 8th, therefore putting their trust in him to make future decisions about that district, which includes endorsing a replacement candidate should he vacate that seat. Suzi was going off who Sabonjian recommended rather than caving to the Dem party pressure. I'm no Suzi supporter, but how would it have looked had she chosen a candidate that Sabonjian didn't endorse? I think she gave her former fellow Board member the benefit of the doubt.
As a continue to mop up my wet basement from all of the rain last night I am seething. Went out to try and by a shop vac last night and saw homeowners trying to clean out the drains on the street corners in their neighborhoods. No city workers helping and entire streets flooded. A large tree limb had been hit and was laying in the street on Grand avenue and there were no barricades to prevent an accident. What a mess. Nice work Mayor Sabonjian. Hope this isn't a sign of whats to come under your administration. Waukegan residents are used to the best city services and you aren't even coming close.
Anon 10:23 - I'm sure the voters of the 8th are soooo reassured that their Mayor took their trust and utterly abused it by attempting to have appointed a completely unqualified individual of dubious character. Sabonjian repaid the trust of those voters by turning his back on them in April and then slapped them again by offering up a felon for his replacement. The people that voted for him were Democrats. Sabonjian needs to consider that those same people will be mighty angry that their need for quality representation to second place to Bob's childish need to slap Terry Link.
And I love it that now Bob REQUIRES that people in City Hall address him as "Mr. Mayor." He doesn't even understand the difference between mandating respect and earning it. Bob is beginning to look a lot like Waukegan's version of Kim Jong Il!
Keith Turner was the campaign director for Bob Sabonjian. Keith Turner worked with Eddie Washington,Keith Gray and Sabonjian to dirty up Link in the last election. The Democrats took out four of the Republicans last time around. Suzi Schmidt is losing control of the county board and wants to payback Democratic party chairman Link for the thrashing the Republicans took. Suzi Schmidt was going to appoint Keith Turner to Bobs county board seat claiming she wanted to work with the mayor.
She never worked very well with him when he was on the county board. Seems Suzi is in cahoots with Sabonjian, Turner, Washington and Gray. Politics makes for strange bedfellows.
It is a common tactic of the Wauekgan Democrats to cast disparaging lies and rumors about candidate that don't tow the party line.
Wayne Motley ran for MAyor and they told lies about his personal lief
Sam Cunningham ran for Mayor and they told lies about his personal life too.
Eddie Washington ran for reelection and they told lie about him haviong a criminal past
Patricia JHones ran for reslection and they told lies about her conduct in offe
Keith Turner sought to be appointed and now there are lies ebing told about him too.
Noticde that there are no specifics or details about his supposed criminal past. No individual puts his ore her names onthe allegatiosn.No one offes any proof.
THe same scenairo over and over again. Nothing offered to proove the anonymous allegations. Just lies and rumors.
It's been almost a month since the rumors about Turner surfaced. If there's proof of this, where are the public records? Who was the victim? What was the sentence? and when?
See what I mean? No details just anonymous rumors and lies jsut like with the other candidates mentioned above.
Think about it!
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