Republicans, Time to Finally Get on the Field—Smoke-Filled Room—Episode 111

Opportunity. It was an unintentional recurring theme from today’s Smoke-Filled Room. Whether it’s JB Pritzker’s failures, increasingly further left candidates, or bad policy hurting working families in the state, there are a lot of opportunities for Republicans to grab onto. But the question is: will they?

State Representative Kevin Schmidt, Chairman of the Lake County Republicans Keith Brin, and Cor’s political experts Michael Butler and Chris Jackowiak join Collin Corbett to break down the opportunities at hand for Republicans.

Pritzker made it official that he’s running for re-election and is now on the second day of his announcement tour. We discuss why he’s running and who might be his running mate. But the real discussion lies around who is going to be the Republican to take him on and what is the narrative we’re going to use to defeat him. Pritzker is more vulnerable than people realize. Republican candidates should be hitting Pritzker for the rising cost of living and the abuse and neglect of our most vulnerable under his watch. But we’re a month away from petition season with barely one serious candidate.

We then shift our discussion to the New York City mayoral race and how Democrats continue moving further and further left. This spurs a good sparring match between Chris and Collin, though they do agree progressives are outworking everyone right now, especially Republicans. While the left is giving us an opportunity, we need to get to work if we’re going to win.

On July 1st, Illinoisans will be hit with even more tax increases on gas, short term rentals, sports betting, tobacco products, and even golf cart rentals. These topics are how we win elections, and Kevin shares how they always come up when he’s going door-to-door. It’s another example of how out of touch Democrats are with working families.

Later, we discuss Democrats actively working to keep your home value from increasing, a new Chicago clinic proudly offering 3rd trimester abortions (despite promises that would never happen in Illinois), and some of the latest Republican campaign announcements.

We close out the episode with news you can use, more opportunities for Republicans, plus we give our OGs and clowns of the week.

00:00: Introductions
03:29: JB Pritzker Announces Gubernatorial Re-Election Campaign...Against Trump
42:07: Yet Another City Votes for a Socialist Mayor As Democrats Lurch Even Further Left
58:00: Cost-of-Living Going Up Even More for Illinois Families on July 1st
01:00:45: Next Round of No Kings Rallies on July 4th to Compete with Independence Day Celebrations
01:04:45: Illinois Democrats Don't Want Your Home Value to Increase
01:13:30: New Chicago Clinic Proudly Offering Abortions Well Into 3rd Trimester
01:22:15: Stephanie Trussell Announces Run Against Homeschool Act Sponsor in HD42
01:25:16: It's 2024 Again as Niki Conforti (IL-6) and Joshua Loyd (IL-13) Announce Campaigns
01:28:37: Illinois Sees Worst Drop in Residents 18-and-Younger, 6th Worst Drop in Working-Age Residents
01:30:06: Instead of Reforming the PRB, Pritzker Makes It Harder to Keep Violent Criminals Off the Streets
01:31:28: IDES Revises Report, Now Admits Illinois Lost 2,400 Jobs in April
01:32:39: Pritzker's Illinois Film Office Taking 22 Months to Approve Film Credits
01:33:56: Brandon Johnson Lied About Conducting National Search for New CTA Head
01:35:20: CTU President Says Taxpayers Owe CPS $1.2 Billion a Year or We're Complicit with the Confederacy
01:36:48: U.S. Bureau of Labor Reports American Workers Are Making More Money
01:37:50: OG & Clown of the Week
01:44:53: Closing Thoughts