Illinois DUers... Profile of DemSen Candidate Blair Hull...

[chiburb]

From today's Chicago Sun-Times:

Snip:

The affable Hull, 60, a commodities millionaire and former blackjack king, is waging the most expensive campaign in Illinois history. Even though his candidacy has yet to break out of single digits, there is a growing perception among Democratic officeholders that Hull has a good chance to win their party's nomination.

He is leaving town today on a bus trip to Canada with 25 senior citizens to purchase cheaper prescription drugs. The people on Hull's tour have obtained their doctors' presciptions and must also provide birth certificates to obtain the low-cost medicine. "Some seniors just can't afford these drugs," said Hull, who is seeking to change federal law to allow imports of cheaper drugs.

A former Army lieutenant, Hull was an early and outspoken critic of President Bush's war against Iraq. Among the Democratic senatorial contenders, only state Sen. Barack Obama has been as forceful as Hull in opposing Bush's decision to intervene. State Comptroller Dan Hynes and Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, both of whom supported the war, now find themselves in the difficult position of defending a policy that is unpopular among Democratic primary voters. Hull, the only veteran in this race, has credibility on this issue.

Like most Democratic primary voters, Hull comes from a working-class background. He is a former union member who worked in a factory and is also a former teacher. Before making his fortune, he briefly had to go on food stamps to support his family.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/neal/cst-edt-neal12.html

(Full disclosure: Obviously, I will vote for whoever the Dem candidate is. However, my preference right now is Obama. But I can certainly support Hull...)

[Cocoa]

1. thanks

I haven't started paying attention yet, but I notice that Hull is the first to start running ads.

I think it's too bad that his money gives him such a big advantage, but Hull seems ok. He's one of the few candidate that as far as I know is independent of the corrupt dem machine. Obama I guess is the other one, I'm looking at him too.

[GinaMaria]

5. Fitzpuppet proved

a senate seat could be bought. That senate seat will likely be won by the Democratic candidate. I'm grateful the one with money is one that speaks out about the war.

Any word on Illinois repubs? Are they still eating each other alive?

Speaking of... I saw George Ryan at the medical center I go to a week and a half ago. You can take the man out of politics but you can't take the politician out of the man. You'd think he was running for office the way he was smoozing everyone on the elevator.

[terrya]

2. My preference is for Obama, also.

Very progressive on the issues. But I could support Blair Hull as well.

We have a very good shot at reclaiming this Senate seat. The only Republican who could have had an easy chance of winning this seat was Jim Edgar...who declined to run for it (in spite of Karl Rove's urgings)

[madrchsod]

3. well i guess nancy doesn`t rate a mention

and she has been out spoken about the war and everything else bush has done. plus she`s gone toe to toe with every right wing slug on national tv but she`s a nobody.oh well it`s il. what mell wants- mell gets

[davsand]

4. That bus trip is GENIUS!!!

I'm working hard for Obama down here in my little corner of Illinois, but I gotta admit Hull's bus trip is absolute GENIUS on somebody's part. Kudos to whoever came up with that one!

I'm not hip on Hull simply because he stood up and announced one day that he'd made money in Vegas cheating. I know it sounds petty, but I simply can't get around it. Casinos are parasites, they are big business, and they are also legal in Nevada... He's admitting to having taken something illegaly from a business--and that bugs heck outta me. Call me small minded--I dunno, maybe I am.

I see where Pappas finally announced. I dunno any dirt on her from the Chicago circles, but her web site is pretty warm and fuzzy with no real substance to it.

I do know she has not set foot in Champaign County except for yesterday with a fly by. Strategiclly that is a mistake given the fact that this county went Gore and this county went Schmidt in the primary with Poshard. Skinner has not been here at all to my knowledge, either. Washington and Chico were both here for out last dinner, Hull has been here several times as have both Hynes and Obama.

If you look at the labor money and energy it is split right now with Obama and Hynes the two winners on that sweepstakes. last word I had as af a week ago, was that Obama has the endorsement of AFSCME, SEIU and UNITE while Hynes is carrying the hard labor trades endorsements. (BTW, those endorsements have not all been formally annnounced yet, so Shhh! I don't think I'm leaking anything since the buzz has been there for a while, but even so--it is not for me to annouce anything for anybody!)

Hull may give the perception of being outside the Dem machine, but he's been feeding cash to key Dems for a while now--getting positioned for some kind of run. How much that will give him in actual votes is really a crap shoot. If his people keep up with ideas like this bus trip, however, he's got a better chance than I gave him credit for after the first time I met him. I am blown away with that one. It's a VERY smart move.

Laura

[hedda_foil]

6. Nominating Hull would be a recipe for disaster.

Blair Hull has all the charisma and speaking ability of a shaved mackerel. The Republicans are going to nominate young, handsome, charismatic, rich and biographically compelling Ryan. If we really want to lose this election, Hull is the one. If we want to win, the ONLY real chance, imho is Obama. I like most of the candidates personally, they're good guys and gals, but they're bland.