DOWNERS GROVE – Thursday, 6th CD Democrat Congressman Sean Casten flaunted to his Deep Blue followers a quote former IL GOP Chairman Pat Brady made endorsing him against Republican candidate Jeanne Ives.
"[Sean] makes decisions based on facts, never politics … [I'm] a lifelong republican, but I can't support [Jeanne Ives} – Ives makes Trump look reasonable … [she's] on the wrong side of history," Brady quips with a sneer on the YouTube ad.
It's as if Brady – who was chairman of the IL GOP until unhappy Republicans demanded he resign – is using the opportunity with Casten to soothe a vendetta against Ives since she had the nerve to challenge Brady's buddy Bruce Rauner in 2018. Brady's fiery temper is well-known and his reputation for rudeness towards strong women is especially noted.
Brady's ad that hoisted a radical leftist Democrat that could allow the Democrats to keep the majority and Nancy Pelosi to remain US House Speaker and third in line to the presidency stirred a joint response from IL GOP State Chairman Tim Schneider, and Illinois' representatives to the Republican National Committee Demetra DeMonte and Richard Porter:
"Identifying and labeling Pat Brady as a Republican is false and misleading. If you spend all your time attacking and betraying Republicans – whether out of newfound convictions or to continue booking TV appearances – you are a Democrat. Pat Brady is a liberal Democrat and has been for some time," the statement said. "Sean Casten may have the backing of political hacks but Jeanne Ives is supported by hard working taxpayers."
Ives also commented on her Facebook page about Brady's ad:
"… [T]he fact that Sean Casten would dig up a relic like Pat Brady, a lobbyist-for-hire whose most notable accomplishment is tanking the GOP in 2012, shows how desperate he is. We expect the name calling (just look at what Sean Casten's Mob is writing on our signs). But dragging up irrelevant pols and ancient statements is so boring. The fact is you don't have to reach back nearly a decade to drag up Sean Casten's divisive statements. He makes them on a daily basis in real time," the former state rep wrote.
"And now that Pat Brady has endorsed Sean Casten, he owns it. In endorsing Casten, Brady endorsed all that Casten stands for: the misogyny, the vandalism, the lawlessness, the anti-religious bigotry, calling a US combat veteran a 'racist,' referring to US House Republicans as Nazi Sympathizers, and degrading law-abiding gun owners in the most disparaging possible terms."
Ives didn't mention the publicity Brady caused when in 2015 he said in one of his many media spots (identifying as the former IL GOP Chairman and as co-chair of John Kasich's failed presidential campaign) with WGN Radio that "If you're going to take on Donald Trump, you've got to take him out with a head shot."
But that comment wasn't anymore shocking than when he responded to an email from Illinois Family Institute writer Laurie Higgins on the topic of same sex marriage in the IL GOP Platform, "F*** You" (no deletions in original).
In recent years, Brady – now a lobbyist for the ACLU of Illinois – has also donated to Democrats such as Dick Durbin.
Republicans are calling for the party leadership and State Central Committee to not only condemn Brady's comments, but publicly disconnect with him.
