Scott Lee Cohen 'Wants To Get Out' Of Lieutenant Governor's Nomination, Says Source

CBS 2 Chicago:

Under increasing pressure to step down, Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Scott Lee Cohen is reportedly considering stepping aside. A source told CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery Friday that Cohen wants to drop out and is "trying to figure out how to do it"

Cohen has resisted calls from top Democrats -- including Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) -- to step aside in light of explosive allegations of domestic abuse and drug use.

Read the whole story: CBS 2 Chicago

Comments

[PJsmith]

07:41 PM on 02/06/2010

I hope that Cohen does not bow to pressure from the other Dems to step aside. Yes, if he stays in it will be uncomfortable, but frankly that's what he signed up for when he ran: to have his personal life vetted in the media. Now that the going is rough he ought not back out.

At the same time, I say Pat Quinn deserves a smack upside his fool head. He's spent months trying to distinguish himself from his predecessor, failing miserably at the task. The gubernatorial pendulum has swung from dirty but effective to (presumably) clean and inept. Great choices for the
people of Illinois.

Cohen, past worn on his sleeve for all to see, doesn't present a plan for fixing the jobless rate; he doesn't commission a study; he doesn't propose a program. He simply goes out and does something about it.

This is either a selfless act by a guy who has the type of independent motivation Springfield hasn't seen in decades, or it's a total political ploy by a guy who outsmarted and outpoliticed career politicians and campaigners. Either he has a better plan or he is a better messenger. In either case, better is better.

Quinn should have kept his mouth shut. Cohen could have given his campaign interest, flair, and something to talk about.

[bleeplander]

06:44 PM on 02/06/2010

Cohen, are you new? We don't need you and you're lame excuses right now. Showing up with a liability isn't good for you, me, the state, the party. Show us a little respect and step aside. DNC, dude? Really.

[BurtR]

02:27 PM on 02/06/2010

without a heroic effort from Quinn, a tiny minority of voters have just chosen the next Gov.

[SGFoxe]

12:27 PM on 02/06/2010

I think a Quinn/Cohen ticket would be both brilliant and funny & SNL would prosper thereby -- strange bedfellows indeed; very Joycean with a neat Bloom/Daedelus reversal. Cohen has an appealing sincerity about him, and he is an idealist ... Hinky Dink & Bathhouse John HAD to be worse

[mratcheson]

04:58 PM on 02/06/2010

Maybe they were worse, but the heyday of 1st Ward politics was a century ago.

[johnnygoodwud]

10:49 AM on 02/06/2010

we don't need a liet. gov. anyway, abolish the position. think of all the money we could save, staff, housing, etc. etc.

[ejhickey]

12:44 AM on 02/06/2010

Approximately 820,000 people cast votes in the Democratic Primary election for Lieutenant Governor . Scott Lee Cohen received the largest number of votes - 212,902. this was about 40,000 more votes than his closest rival.

In the Democratic primary for Governor , about 910,000 votes were cast. Pat Quinn won by 8,000 votes.

Looks like Mr. Cohen is a better vote getter than Mr. Quinn. While I did not vote for Mr. Cohen, he won this election the old fashioned way - by getting more votes. he played by the rules and won. To force him off the ballot now AFTER the election is hypocrisy and makes a mockery of the democratic electoral process. Why bother to have elections if the politicians can substitute their hand pick candidate after the fact?

This is not a kids game of T-Ball where the players get do overs. Every one of the Democratic politicians complaining about Mr. Cohen had an opportunity to speak out about the LG candidates BEFORE the election. They said nothing. They should live the results and embrace Mr Cohen for who he is and do the best they can in November. They should act like grown men and not children.

I vote for Pat Quinn but now I am sorry I did . I wish I had voted for Mr. Cohen. Whatever his past he seems like the most honorable person in this mess.

[calmerheads]

09:53 AM on 02/06/2010

Cohen's win was due to smart commercials. They featured everyday people who attended a job fair that Cohen had something to do with. The ads had nothing about Cohen himself or about his opponents. Just people saying "I attended this job fair, I'm voting for Cohen." It was brilliant for the ads to focus on jobs, and jobs only.

It is also a major failure of the Chicago news media. The day after he was elected they decide to tell us that he is a questionable character.

[calmerheads]

09:56 AM on 02/06/2010

I'm a Dem and I will not vote for Quinn if Cohen is Lieutenant Governor and I'm sure I am not alone. Cohen will bring down the Democratic Party in Illinois - he needs to step aside.

[Z2a]

11:28 PM on 02/05/2010

Why would an individual with such a past history even consider running. There is absolutely no way this kind of information wouldn't come out eventually, why put yourself and your family through this?

[mratcheson]

04:59 PM on 02/06/2010

I keep wondering that, too.

[Chicagofan1]

10:51 PM on 02/05/2010

It is like IL is a country on its own. Not enough fingers on both hands to counts crooks that are in power or been in power not long ago. Dems and Reps. Sickening

[crookedcountyillinois]

10:38 PM on 02/05/2010

Don't Democratic voters lose if Scott Lee Cohen drops out? After all, that is the person THEY chose to represent them as Lt. Governor. And it seems a bit unfair for Quinn, and others, to push him out because they don't like it...

People first. Elections second. Parties last.

[roald]

10:44 PM on 02/05/2010

The democratic voters of Illinois were not aware of this man's history and would not have chosen him to be the candidate had they known. Shame on the party and the media for not vetting him.

[ChiTownMike]

11:59 PM on 02/05/2010

I have commented on this several times in the past few days and I am a little surprised that this has not received more attention.

Voter turnout for the primary this past Tuesday was very low. It was reported to be "embarassing" low. Downstate, it was reported to be as low as 15% in some areas. In Chicago, I do not believe it cracked 30%. When voter turnout is low all sorts of crazy things can happen.

In a sense you are correct - of the people who bothered to vote, the majority of the votes went to Cohen. Had the Chicago media and the Illinois Democrats been doing a better job, Mr. Cohen's past would have been better known on primary day. To his credit (we have to give him some credit for this) Mr. Cohen was very forthcoming about his history and had people taken him a little more seriously, all of this could have been avoided. So, yes people voted for him but I would argue that they did without much (if any) knowledge of his background.

In 1986, lower voter turnout led to the election of LaRouche candidates to Lt. Governor and Secretary of State. This necessitated a third party run by Adlai Stevenson who had won the primary for Governor as a Democrat. History shows that the confusion this caused did not serve the Democrats well at all. Therefore, I believe the people of Illinois would be better served by Mr. Cohen's withdrawal.

[mratcheson]

01:39 AM on 02/06/2010

Well stated.

[Kenneth Breden]

01:13 PM on 02/06/2010

I spent time on line and decided on Terry Link. I voted for Quinn, but didn't think if elected he would finish out his term. So when looking at Terry Link I ask myself would he make a fine governor.

[MiguelFromTheBoondocks]

09:55 PM on 02/05/2010

These guys got potential, if they keep at it soon they will end up like South Carolina, the land of political baggage.

[gemini2]

08:45 PM on 02/05/2010

Cohen's girlfriend got a job from him but then she had to move out. What a guy!

[VOTER]

08:25 PM on 02/05/2010

http://www.scottleecohen.com/

[Chicagofan1]

10:45 PM on 02/05/2010

What is your point? Still promoting Cohen? Proud liberal?

[VOTER]

11:35 PM on 02/05/2010

No.

I'm nothing like S.C. Rethugs hanging onto to King Sanford.
Actually, that statement applies to Rethugs in general.
Dems go after their bad pols.
I want Cohen out and provided a link for others to send him
their comments. You may want to invite him to become a GOPer.

[Kingfrog]

07:39 PM on 02/05/2010

Personal financed election......A good argument for LETING IN CORPROATE MONEY LOL,,,

I love Chicago politics, Its no wonder they have issues in Ill.

[DemFem]

12:30 PM on 02/06/2010

How about government funded elections? Everyone gets a certain amount to work with & that's it. That would put an end to the political TV commercials playing over & over again ad nauseum, the intrusive recorded phone calls during the dinner hour & in the evening, etc. Then require media outlets & TV stations to provide on-air time for all candidates to present who they are & what they believe in. Case closed.

Wouldn't that be more fair? Why is it that the public allows the rich to buy an election, as this one did? Illinois (& I live in IL) needs to tread lightly here in view of our past problems with corrupt politicians. We need to be squeaky clean or be deserving of the tarnished reputation of voting idiots into office.

Right after Blago was forced out, the state government was vowing to pass stricter legislation to regulate campaign donations, etc. All that fell by the wayside after the public furor over Blago subsided. We deserve what we get if we don't follow through on these things. We need to better research our potential leaders BEFORE elections. The shame falls directly on us.

[WhitestarLounge]

07:24 PM on 02/05/2010

300 people to work during his campain for office. Are you kidding me. Jason plummer got all his money from daddy and put noone to work. . Scott put his own money in and his dirty laundry. We are not focusing on the ball people. I don't care what Scott does in his private life. What I do care is how are people getting back to work. If Quinn has any brains he should learn from this Job Fair and the other ideas Scott Lee Cohen has. They are asking him to step down. Scott got more Jobs for people than every single person running Democrat or Republican combine during their campain.

[alfo]

07:39 PM on 02/05/2010

admirable,now step aside

[Chicagofan1]

10:53 PM on 02/05/2010

Just like a God father. LOL