Stroger Blames Zell, Bad Data For Low Poll Numbers

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger downplayed his dismal approval rating in a Tribune/WGN poll Thursday and alleged that the low numbers were part of a "smear campaign" waged by the paper and its owner.

A story on the poll published in Thursday's Tribune pegged Stroger's approval rating at 10 percent. The Board President wasted little time trying to discredit the results.

"I'm not surprised by the ongoing smear campaign this paper mounts against me in their editorial pages," Stroger said in a statement. "This paper's owner, Sam Zell, after all, poured over $75,000 in the final weeks of the last primary into the campaign coffers of Forrest Claypool, and has made no secret that the Stroger name is loathed by the editorial pages."

Zell contributed $75,000 to Forrest Claypool's 2006 run for Board President.

The Tribune/WGN poll surveyed 300 registered voters in Cook County. It was conducted Aug. 27-31 by Market Shares Corp. and has an error margin of 6 percentage points.

Stroger spokeswoman Chris Geovanis took aim that validity of the poll numbers, saying too little information about the respondents was provided. The Tribune did not release the raw data behind its numbers.

"We don't know the income breakout or the geography of the people polled," Geovanis told the Huffington Post. "We don't know if it was likely voters or just registered voters, and those are very different constituencies. And a 6 percent error margin sounds a little sketchy to me."

Stroger's statement referenced internal polling data that "severely conflicts with the so-called 'data' that the Chicago Tribune is publishing in this poll..." However, Geovanis would not release that poll or elaborate on the details.

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Scandals and a controversial sales tax increase have marred Stroger's run as board president. Cook County has the highest sales tax rate in the country, and Stroger has successfully beaten back three Board efforts to roll it back. He argues that the tax hike is necessary to fund essential County services.

Stroger's personal hiring of Tony Cole, a former busboy who was given a lucrative administrative job then fired after he was found to be a felon, damaged Stroger politically. So did forcing the resignation of his cousin Donna Dunnings, formerly the county's chief financial officer, in part for bailing Cole out of jail, which hurt his popularity and led Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez to open an investigation.

Stroger faces several challengers in his bid for re-election. Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District President Terrence O'Brien and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis -- all Democrats -- have announced their intention to oust Stroger from the seat his father, John H. Stroger Jr., held until his death in 2006.

Particularly troubling for Stroger, who in the past has relied heavily on support from African American voters, are the Tribune/WGN poll numbers that find only about 1 in 5 African American voters approve of the job he is doing or want to see him re-elected. More than half, the poll found, oppose him.

Geovanis contested those numbers, as well, arguing that the only 81 African Americans polled was too small a sample from which to draw definitive conclusions.

Three of Stroger's challengers are African American -- Preckwinkle, Brown and Davis -- and all are actively courting the black vote.

Stroger, Preckwinkle, Brown, O'Brien and Davis appeared in front of Democratic committeeman Thursday seeking to be slated as the party's nominee for Board President. Read lengthy excerpts of Stroger's remarks here.

Comments

[TMc73]

I thought I had already read this article when I realized this one was about Stroger, not Daley, blaming someone / everyone/ everything else for their plumeting poll numbers.

Seems as if the top members of the Cook County Democratic Party are hopelessly out of tune with their constituancy.

I think it is safe to say that a majority of people in Cook County have finally gotten sick of the patronage system, the nepotism, the cronism, the ineptitude, and the utter incompetance of their elected officials.
Hopefully we change the leadership if we ride this tide all the way to the polling place in the next election cycle.

[winterfield]

The way he got in was disgusting and he's a lousy leader with all his nepotism and business as usual politics that's why his numbers suck.

[rhall]

Only appropriate that his approval rating is the same as our sales tax.

[Lakeview Greg]

Of course, Todd's job performance couldn't have anything to do with his rotten numbers, could they?

ack.

[Precious Harris]

Chicagoans need to just sit down. They keep voting for these people. Stroger isn't in office because of his good looks, people are voting for him. If you want him out of office vote for the other guy. If not, stop complaining because you are the ones that's keeping him in office.

[Lakeview Greg]

Uh, no. He was appointed.

[mratcheson]

Actually, he was appointed to be the Democratic candidate. He ran against Tony Peraica in the general.

[shocktreatment]

The Toddler has demonstrated nothing but malfeasance, misfeasance, and absolute tone deafness. Much of his public life has been spent trying to defend the indefensible, generally from people smarter than him.

Who is he going to blame when he is mauled in the primary?

[TMc73]

I agree with you, but I think that the Cook County Democratic Party itself is part of the problem. They are the ones responsible for Todd's ascention to power the first time around when his father was lying comatose in the county hospital for weeks. That whole episode demonstrated to me that the Democratic party in Cook County has no interest what-so-ever in truly representing the pulic and treats us with contempt at best.

No matter how bad Todd is, there is always a chance that he will secure the primary nomination for the Democrats.

The time has come to look seriously and consider third party candidates as the only way to change to rampant corruption in Cook County.

[ebroadcast]

Hey Todd, have you ever considered the fact that we Chicagoans don't like you? If you haven't; you should.

[ebroadcast]

This guy is a major (and narricistic) tool

[ReesieKitty]

I know many many people who do not approve of the way Stroger was 'grandfathered' into office on his own father's back. Primogeniture is not the way most officials take office, the Daley and Bush administrations aside. I didn't vote for Stroger before and after watching his corrupt ineptitude for the past year and more, I will honestly vote for anyone BUT him. I am an Independent voter and the Democratic party in Chicago should know that I will vote Republican if Stroger is the Dem candidate. Ideologically I have more in common with Democrats, but I voted for Forrest Claypool because I think he has been a decent public servant and had a good track record. I would vote for him again over Stroger in a heartbeat. We live in Cook country and are already driving into DuPage for gas and shopping, etc. because of the taxes. The waste and mismanagement only hurts the majority of people who voted for Stroger in the first place and I hope they are smart enough to finally see it!

[mratcheson]

I agree with you about Forrest Claypool, but for the record he is a Democrat.

He ran against John Stroger in the Democratic primary, and had respectable support, though he lost. When it became clear John Stroger would not be able to serve, the Party annointed Todd Stroger to follow in his father's footsteps, ignoring Claypool's strong resume and strong showing in the primary. Unfortunately for us, Claypool has announced he will be retiring from public service when he completes his current term as Commissioner. Although I'm disappointed, I can't really blame him.

Like you, under no circumstance will I vote for Todd Stroger, although I voted for his father several times in the past. I'm just appalled by his performance. At this point, Preckwinkle looks interesting to me, although I need to learn more about her. If Todd wins the Democratic primary, I'll likely be voting Republican, or maybe Green.

[TMc73]

Good post.

Like you, if Stroger is on the Democratic ticket, I will be looking for another candidate and party. At this point in our history, more people should be looking at third party candidates as viable options in municipal, state, and federal elections.

[thephenomenologist]

your second point may be valid, but the good news is that it's a better ratio of ignorance than we find in the republican party, or in america as a whole for that matter, so i guess we should celebrate

[crookedcountyillinois]

Great. Maybe the Tribune should keep doing the polls with a larger population just so Stroger can see his 10% dwindle each time thereafter.

Considering his performance, 10% is just unacceptable. That means 1 in 10 voters currently lacks intellectual capacity, the ability to have complete thoughts, or make cognitive decisions.