Progress Illinois

The Tribune's John Kass rips to the heart of what's so disgusting about the Republican embrace of Hillary Clinton and her "disavowed" supporters:

But this week's Republican appeal to resentful Clinton voters through the symbolism and language that liberal Democrats have used for decades suggests some confusion in the GOP. If the Republicans truly love Hillary, why not put her on the ticket with McCain?

Kass came to the conclusion while talking with McCain operative Carly Fiorina in Denver, who denounced the Democrats for purportedly abandoning it's vision of women's equality during the primary:

"I think a meritocracy demands that you treat everyone with respect and you value their contributions, and you give them every opportunity to make the maximum contribution. That's what a meritocracy is," Fiorina told me. "And Hillary Clinton was not respected to the extent she had earned. And her contributions, according to many of her supporters, have not been honored. John McCain has long honored and respected Hillary Clinton."

Where was that respect in November, Sen. McCain, when you chuckled and chortled after a town hall attendee asked "How do we beat the bitch?" And where was your respect for women when you skipped the vote on the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would have made it easier for women and other workers to pursue pay discrimination claims?

McCain's posturing on women's rights is nothing more than dirty politics. Kudos to Kass for pointing out the obvious.

By calling 70 percent of Americans "get-out-of-Iraq-right-now zealots," Dennis Byrne's column in the Tribune today starts off on the wrong foot. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't really recover. Here's the thesis:

But if Obama's affiliations with the likes of Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., Rev. Michael Pfleger and ex-revolutionary Bill Ayers are legitimate issues, so is his political apprenticeship in the bowels of a political process that has sent governors, aldermen and countless other public officials to the pen. Has Obama picked up any bad habits by hanging around with these gents? Is he susceptible to the pressures that the "guys back home" will undoubtedly bring? The conventional wisdom among the Chicago punditry is that Chicago and Illinois pols are smacking their lips at the thought of installing an associate in the Executive Mansion.

As Dan Johnson-Weinberger noted, the Tribune's John Kass raised similar concerns yesterday in a column subtly titled "Obama's mettle was forged in city's dubious furnace":

These days, with vague Orwellian slogans like "change" and polling and a national media obviously in thrall with him, there seems to be an effort to ignore Obama's Chicago political connections, to consider him as having been hatched, perhaps immaculately from a floating soap bubble, spotless and clean to the world.

But Chicago was where he was boiled down and honed, where the community organizer was rendered, where the politically independent junior senator began cozying up to the Daleys and their machine and the new presidential Barack was formed.

Both of these columns are heavy on one thing (insinuation) and light on another (evidence). Neither Byrne nor Kass give any legitimate support for their contention that Obama is stained by the Illinois political scene. The only specific issue they raise is Obama's relationship with Tony Rezko. But of course, they don't offer any evidence that Obama was improperly influenced by the now-convicted fundraiser.

So rather than simply wonder about what Obama may do as president, let's take a look at what he's done. Obama emerged from the doldrums of Chicago and Springfield as a true clean elections reformer, not a politician beholden to his party bosses. And as Johnson-Weinberger pointed out, Obama has furthered this record during his time in Washington. There's little reason to believe he'd let any dirty players "slip through the back door" now.

If Byrne and Kass are so worried about connected associates, perhaps they should shift their focus over to McCain's economic advisers. They may know a thing or two about backroom deals.