Posted: October 23, 2009

By Doug Ibendahl

 

"The probe included accusations that Cellini's top deputies used IDOT helicopters to swoop down on construction sites to pick up campaign donations for Ogilvie. No state officials were ever charged in the probe that continued after Ogilvie lost his re-election bid in 1972 to Dan Walker, the Democrat who defied Mayor Daley's machine to become governor."

 

"Cellini averaged more than a deal a year with the state before [Jim] Thompson stepped down after 14 years in office. And state officials say there were probably others that no one was aware of."

 

"The hotel is also the place where Cellini throws fund-raisers, like the bash he threw for Edgar the day after Topinka agreed to settle the hotel loan."

 

GOP Pooh-Bah BILL CELLINI

Ah yes, those wonderful salad days for Illinois under Republican Governors.

 

The excerpted passages above are from a 1996 in-depth story by the Chicago Sun-Times entitled: Cellini: State Capitol's quiet captain of clout. It's a must read and you'll find the whole thing here. And kudos to the Sun-Times for keeping such an old story accessible in their online archives.

 

The article contains much interesting history about Bill Cellini and Illinois politics. I was also struck by the clear proof as to how the newspaper business has changed from 1996. You just don't see 3,400-word detailed stories like this anymore from the old line newspapers.

 

Why is any of this relevant? Well because Cellini is a long-time Republican Boss of Illinois - and he's also Rod Blagojevich's co-defendant.

 

Cellini has actually been indicted twice by federal prosecutors. The first indictment came in October of last year, and the second indictment came in April of this year.

 

Most will also recall that Cellini has long been close to fellow Springfielder and GOP Big Wig, Bob Kjellander, the former Republican National Committeeman. Cellini and Kjellander sometimes partnered together as lobbyists. Just this past week Kjellander was mentioned in a federal plea agreement entered into by a Blagojevich associate. Kjellander denies any wrongdoing and has never been charged with a crime.

 

There are some Republican candidates out there who seem to think that victory will be handed to them in 2010 just because Blagojevich is expected to go on trial next year. They've got rocks in their noggins.

 

GOP candidates who ignore the Cellini elephant in the room do so at their own political peril.

 

There is a lot of evidence that many voters are tiring of Democrat rule both in Illinois and at the federal level.

 

But those fed-up voters won't come to the GOP automatically. Especially in Illinois, voters know that the Republican Party has its own problems. Illinoisans have been down the same road with leaders of both parties. Cellini's life history is proof positive that the Democrats have never had a monopoly on insider deals.

 

It's easy to bash Blagojevich. It doesn't take any courage or leadership for a Republican candidate to do that. Blagojevich is bad and likely headed for prison. I think we all get it.

 

But what about Bill the co-defendant?

 

What are Republican candidates going to do to clean up their own GOP house? How will future Bill Cellinis be dealt with?

 

Those are the kinds of questions voters should be demanding answers to from GOP candidates.

 

 

Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party. He is Co-Founder of Republican Young Professionals (RYP).