Morning Spin: Rep. Lipinski warns Democrats of ‘tea party of the left’

March 05--Welcome to Clout Street: Morning Spin, our weekday feature to catch you up with what's going on in government and politics from Chicago to Springfield. Subscribe here.

Topspin

Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski says his party is risking creating a "tea party" faction as it drifts leftward and fails to support a "big tent" of contrasting ideas.

Lipinski is a social conservative who opposes abortion, and he's facing a serious primary challenge from the left via political newcomer Marie Newman. She has the backing of abortion rights advocacy groups, as well as Lipinski's colleagues U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Luis Gutierrez of Chicago.

"Right now there is a battle for what the Democratic Party is going to be, going forward," Lipinski, who has represented the Southwest Side and suburban 3rd Congressional District for seven terms, said Sunday on WGN-AM 720.

"Four years ago we were at our lowest point in (Democratic seats in) the U.S. House since Herbert Hoover was president. We've come up slightly since then, but we're still in a big hole, and there are those who want to have a 'tea party of the left' in the Democratic Party to match, unfortunately, what's happened to the Republicans," he said.

Lipinski said Hillary Clinton's loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election represented a failure of Democrats to demonstrate the party's classic values.

"We need to have a big-tent party. We need to rally around those issues that can bring all Democrats together, and that's what I've always done," he said. "First and foremost, we have to be for working men and women, for being champions of the middle class and taking care of the bread-and-butter issues that people really care about and restoring the American Dream. That brings all Democrats together, and I think that's what we should focus on."

Asked if the district had become more liberal, Lipinski said it had not and that it remained a "pragmatic district."

"I still have about a third of my district in the city, but a lot of people in the suburban areas grew up in the city and they see the purpose of government is to help people and to help them out, make their communities better, stronger, good jobs, good schools, good transportation, that's why I sit on the (House) Transportation Committee," he said. "Those things have not changed." (Rick Pearson)

What's on tap

*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will deliver remarks at a Pulaski Day event and make a business announcement.

*Gov. Bruce Rauner will attend a Pulaski Day event in Chicago and tour a business in Aurora.

*Early voting opportunities expand. (More on that below.)

*U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin will hold a Chicago news conference to talk about "Dreamers" and immigration reform.

*Republican governor candidate Rep. Jeanne Ives will hold a Chicago news conference along with 41st Ward Ald. Anthony Napolitano to discuss a proposal to ban Mayor Emanuel's municipal ID program from being used as a valid voting ID.

*Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker will be campaigning with U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez.

*The Illinois Senate and House veterans committees will have a hearing at the Bilandic Building about the ongoing Legionnaires' disease problems at the state-run veterans home in Quincy.

*The week ahead: On Tuesday, The Illinois House returns to Springfield. The Senate won't be at the Capitol this week. And the City Club of Chicago will hold a panel discussion called "Exodus from Illinois." On Wednesday, Ald. Ed Burke, 14th, will be at the City Club. On Thursday, it's asset manager and Cook County assessor candidate Fritz Kaegi at the City Club.

From the notebook

*Pritzker now at $63.2 million for campaign: Democratic governor candidate J.B. Pritzker has upped his already record-setting total for self-funding a campaign to $63.2 million, State Board of Elections records show.

Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune, added an additional $7 million on March 1, a campaign finance report filed Saturday showed.

The latest out-of-pocket donation put Pritzker's fundraising more than 10 times ahead of Kenilworth businessman Chris Kennedy. Kennedy has raised $6.2 million since entering the contest in February 2017, including more than $1.5 million of his own money.

Another rival, state Sen. Daniel Biss of Evanston, has raised around $4.6 million since entering the race nearly a year ago.

Before the most recent campaign filing, Pritzker was asked about the role of money in the campaign after voting early Saturday in the Loop with his running mate, state Rep. Juliana Stratton of Chicago.

"I think we've tried to get our issues out, talk to people about the issues that are important to working families," he said. (Rick Pearson)

*The response: Biss issued a statement calling Pritzker's latest deposit "a new level of absurdity."

"Absurdity is when an inexperienced billionaire businessman spends more than $63 million on a primary campaign trying to convince voters he's a regular guy who can relate to the struggles that middle-class and working families endure," Biss said. (Rick Pearson)

*Ives ad compares Rauner to Obama: Republican state Rep. Jeanne Ives' campaign said Sunday it is up with a new TV ad that compares Gov. Rauner to former Democratic President Barack Obama.

"Bruce Rauner lies so much he reminds us of another Chicago politician," a narrator says. The ad then cuts to a June 15, 2009, clip of Obama talking about a concept of the Affordable Care Act that didn't happen. "If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor. Period," Obama says.

It's unclear how widespread Ives' ad will appear. No new advertising contracts for Ives have been posted by Chicago TV stations or cable since last month. (Rick Pearson)

*Berrios says he's getting bad rap over endorsement: Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios said he's being portrayed as an "evil guy" because the county Democratic organization that he leads endorsed Pritzker for governor.

Kennedy has been harshest in his criticism of Berrios, who faces a primary challenge from asset manager Fritz Kaegi. In December, Kennedy called for Berrios to resign in the wake of "The Tax Divide," a series published by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois.

The series concluded that county assessments tended to make property taxes lower than they should have been on more expensive homes and higher than warranted on less expensive ones, with minority communities being hit particularly hard.

"All three (Pritzker, Kennedy and Biss) of them came to the (Cook County) Democratic Party for the endorsement so when (Kennedy and Biss) didn't get it, all of a sudden it was Joe Berrios -- the evil guy who stopped them from getting the endorsement," Berrios said on WGN-AM 720 on Sunday.

"The evil guy because they didn't get the endorsement. But in reality, it's not my endorsement to give. It's the endorsement of the party and that's all of 80 committeemen that meet together to make the endorsement," he said.

*Vote early, if not often: Early voting opportunities expand across Illinois on Monday, offering voters many more locations to cast ballots before the March 20 primary election.

Now, Chicago has one polling place open in each ward, plus a "Loop Super Site" downtown. Cook County will have locations scattered throughout the suburbs; other counties expand their offerings Monday too.

Early voting gives people a chance to bring some personal closure to the long primary season, even though casting a ballot won't remove the slew of TV ads from their screens for the next two weeks. Election officials bill early voting as a way to avoid lines, traffic or work conflicts on March 20.

But there's a downside. You can't change your vote if your chosen candidate says or does something you find distasteful in the next two weeks. In voting, there are no takebacks.

Early voting started in a limited way weeks ago, but that start was delayed in Chicago and Cook County because of multiple court fights over candidates in danger of being kicked off the ballot.

*On the "Sunday Spin": Chicago Tribune political reporter Rick Pearson's guests were Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery on the Janus v. AFSCME lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court; Lipinski on his re-election race; and Berrios on his re-election contest. The "Sunday Spin" airs from 7 to 9 a.m. on WGN-AM 720. Listen to the full show here.

What we're writing

*As Ives hits the road against Rauner, her firebrand reputation precedes her.

*North Shore congressional candidates split on Trump, gun control. With some bio info here.

*Democratic debate: Kennedy wouldn't want daughters interning in Springfield, cites sexual harassment culture.

*American Airlines' late opposition unlikely to halt O'Hare expansion plan.

*Emanuel doesn't say whether he'll apologize to LeGrier's mother, whom city lawyer asked about prostitution.

*Chicago fills 108,000 potholes this year in "normal" season, but one crater shows gap in how city handles them.

What we're reading

*The dilemma of development: Will Obama center hurt those it's supposed to help?

*REI to halt sale of CamelBak, other brands because parent company also makes assault-style rifles.

*Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer disappointed with Joe Maddon's dye job.

Follow the money

*Former Gov. Pat Quinn reported giving his attorney general campaign $100,000.

*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.

Beyond Chicago

*Trump trade adviser says no exceptions on tariffs.

*How sweeping is Mueller probe?

*Trump tells jokes at annual Gridiron dinner.

*Italians go to the polls.

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