-
Sep 26, 2005 7:33 pm US/Central
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Edgar To Announce Plans Within Days
Republicans Wait For Word From Former Governor
by Mike Flannery
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Former governor Jim Edgar says the waiting game is just about over. Monday, he told a lunch crowd in the suburbs that he plans to reveal his plans to run, or not, within days.
Cheered on by 500 in the western suburbs, former Gov. Jim Edgar claimed the current governor has failed on the state budget, helping the private sector to create jobs and, most grievously, on leadership.
"This is a great state. It only needs one thing, and that's leadership. And that's what this election is going to be all about," said Edgar.
It was the closest thing to a campaign speech that republican Edgar's delivered since announcing that he might run against democrat Rod Blagojevich. Edgar said he's on the verge of a final decision.
"I would think very soon I'll have some indication," he said.
Another republican running for governor picked up a big endorsement from a man who claimed that he was pressured by Edgar in 1993 to vote for a state budget wasn't really balanced.
"We distinctly remember being called up to the governor's office. We were taken to the woodshed," said Peter Fitzgerald, a supporter for the candidacy of Steve Rauschenberger.
"The governor's dalliance or kind of vacillation about whether he's gonna run or not has got some people kind of on the sidelines," said candidate Rauschenberger.
"We don't need another divisive primary. We don't need republicans shooting arrows at each other. So when Rasucehenberger and Fitzgerald did that today, I think it's a mistake to do that," said Joe Birkett, who may also run for governor.
The Blagojevich campaign has a spokesperson that says what Jim Edgar wants, is to "drag us back to the bad old days, when Illinois state government did not fund schools properly and did not expand health care for working families," both achievements that spokesperson claimed under the leadership of Gov. Blagojevich.
(© MMV, CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)