Democrats ‘naturally get nervous’

Happy Monday, Illinois. The Republican National Convention kicks off a week from today in Milwaukee.

TOP TALKER

ABOUT BIDEN: In Illinois, the talk has shifted from protests outside of the Democratic National Convention to worries about mutiny inside the United Center.

The big question: Will delegates back Joe Biden for president? Some Beltway Democrats have outright called on Biden to abandon his election bid, via POLITICO.

But it’s a mixed bag in Illinois: We contacted 55 Democratic delegates and superdelegates from Illinois, and most said they’re backing Biden. A few others are doing so simply because they’re worried a brokered convention could be detrimental to the Democratic Party. And some haven’t decided or aren’t talking, a signal they’re worried.

“Some Democrats just naturally get nervous,” said Mark Guethle, who is the newly elected chair of the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association and “100 percent” behind Biden. “Look,” he said, “I’ve been around politics for 40 years. We all know Joe Biden has a speech impediment. We all know that he was tired [in that debate]. And I don’t care how old Joe Biden is. He is fighting for the middle class. He has always fought for the middle class. If anybody should drop from the race, it should be Donald Trump.”

Not everyone’s as enthusiastic: Congressman Mike Quigley says he believes Biden should step aside, via an interview on MSNBC. As a member of Congress, Quigley is a “superdelegate” who only votes if a second ballot is taken. It’s about “who controls the House and Senate,” he said of his concerns.

Two questions must be asked of Biden, according to state Rep. Fred Crespo. “Can he defeat Donald Trump, and can he serve four years?”

Crespo is sticking with Biden because he “pledged to” — and because he worries that not doing so could fracture the Democratic Party. “It’s not just about the next four years. It could affect the country for another 10 years,” he said. “And given we’re on the brink of war in so many different places, that worries me.”

Echoing that: “Democrats are sort of all across the board, and I feel like there would be so much, there would be a split as to who to choose if it was so open. I think it would be maybe even chaotic,” Chaundra Bishop, an Illinois delegate and Urbana councilmember, said in our POLITICO home page story about delegates across the country.

Still mulling it: State Sen. Dave Koehler and Chicago Ald. Pat Dowell aren’t ready to commit either way. Dowell said she’s talking to constituents “before I put my hand on the scale.”

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi is a House member “who wants to consult with his colleagues before making a decision on what to do,” reports the Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet.

Firmly in Biden’s court: U.S. Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Robin Kelly, Lauren Underwood, Danny Davis and Jonathan Jackson are all backing him. Schakowsky talked about it on MSNBC, and Kelly posted on X.

Also with Biden: Attorney Gen. Kwame Raoul, Comptroller Susana Mendoza, state Reps. Jehan Gordon-Booth, La Shawn Ford and Margaret Croke; state Sens. Elgie Sims, Adriane Johnson and Javier L. Cervantes; Chicago Alds. Walter Burnett Jr. and Gilbert “Gil” Villegas; Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering; Cook County Commissioner Monica Gordon; Illinois AFL-CIO chief Tim Drea; delegates Desiree Rogers, Beth Penesis and Chris Dunn; and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun. “I just think that the chatter should stop,” Moseley Braun said on CNN.

Taking action: State Rep. Hoan Huynh is backing Biden, and he’s launching a federal political action committee to increase Asian American and Pacific Islanders’ turnout in swing states, he told Playbook. “AAPI turnout will be the margin of victory for President Biden.”

Answering circumspectly: state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz and state Rep. Norma Hernandez said they hope Biden will “do what is right” for the country. And state Sen. Robert Peters said the election is about “saving democracy” not about personalities.

A big name keeping quiet: Gov. JB Pritzker hasn’t commented since Biden’s interview Friday on ABC, suggesting he’s concerned about the president’s chances. Earlier last week, Pritzker spent 13 minutes on CNN offering carefully worded support, saying he’s “100 percent on board” with Biden “unless he makes some other decision.”

What we heard instead. On Saturday, Pritzker’s Think Big America nonprofit sent out a text message promoting the governor’s work “to provide the blueprint for protecting abortion access,” a key talking point in the election.

Opinion: David Axelrod calls it ‘Biden’s defiant delusion,’ saying, “If he does not [step aside], it will be Biden’s age, and not Trump’s moral and ethical void, that will dominate the rest of this most important campaign and sully the president’s historic legacy,” via CNN.

Opinion: Biden’s survival plan: Decry ‘elite’ critics and appeal to his base: “Black voters and organized labor have been the president’s key backers and they’re going to have to carry him now,” by POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin.

THE BUZZ

PICKING A POOBAH: The Illinois Republican State Central Committee is scheduled to meet Friday, just a few days ahead of the Republican National Convention, to elect a new party chair “on an interim or permanent basis,” according to the Illinois GOP.

Behind-the-scenes: Party leaders are grappling with how to manage the friction between its establishment and more conservative members, who are also divided regionally with moderate Republicans near Chicago and conservatives living downstate.

The search for a new leader follows current Chair Don Tracy’s announcement last month that he’s stepping down.

Names in the running (so far): State Rep. John Cabello, who represents Winnebago County and parts of Boone and Stephenson counties up north; state Sen. Jason Plummer, who represents the Edwardsville area near St. Louis; and Aaron Del Mar, a former Cook County GOP chair.

The deadline to apply is Wednesday.

If you are John Cabello, Playbook would like to hear from you. Email: [email protected]

WHERE'S JB

No official public events.

WHERE's BRANDON

At CPD headquarters at 9 a.m. for a Chicago Police Department Public Safety presser.

Where's Toni

No official public events.

Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or (heaven forbid) a complaint? Email: [email protected]

CONVENTION ZONE

— ‘Evolving’ but no credible threats before RNC and DNC, Secret Service says: “The environment that we’re dealing with today is certainly different than it was four years ago,” the director said, via POLITICO’s Isabella Ramírez.

— The Democratic convention’s deadbeat Chicago landlord, by the Sun-Times’ Tim Novak and Robert Herguth.

— Records show at least 8 groups applied for permits to protest at the Democratic convention, by NBC 5’s Bennett Haeberle.

— Republican convention delegate says issues, not personality matter in her support for Donald Trump, by Northern Public Radio’s Maria Gardner Lara

THE STATEWIDES

— Illinois ends fiscal year with nearly $5B cash on hand, by Capitol News’ Jerry Nowicki.

— Illinois switching to ACT exams for state assessments, by Capitol News’ Peter Hancock

— The state expands production tax credit program to cover talk shows, game shows and unscripted TV formats, by Variety’s Jack Dunn

— Shaboozey, Keith Urban, Lil Wayne and the full list of Illinois State Fair headliners, by State Journal-Register’s Steven Spearie

CHICAGO

— CRIME REPORT: 17 killed, 83 wounded in shootings during extended Fourth of July weekend in Chicago, via the Sun-Times Wire

— Ald. Raymond Lopez pushes for harsher penalties for crimes committed wearing facemasks, by The Center Square’s Glenn Minnis

— INVESTIGATION: How one man uses Facebook to frighten his children’s mother and why police do nothing, by the Tribune’s Stacy St. Clair and Joe Mahr

TAKING NAMES

— Ken Griffin gives $500,000 to back Miami-Dade’s Democratic mayor, by Bloomberg’s Anna J. Kaiser

— Illinois judge: Judge Jonathan Hawley is set to be nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, via the White House.

— Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese surpasses Candace Parker for the WNBA all-time consecutive double-double record, by the Tribune’s Julia Poe

— Patrick Bertoletti of Chicago ate 58 hot dogs to win the Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest, via The Associated Press,

Reader Digest

We asked about your memorable road trip:

Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering: “One spring break, we took our four boys from Cubs Spring Training to the Grand Canyon, the Hoover Dam and Las Vegas, and then Disneyland. As we headed into Las Vegas, my then 7-year old asked why there were so many tushies on billboards — we couldn’t get to Disneyland fast enough.”

Graham Grady: “Our 1972 family trip to Mexico City and back, with a border crossing at Laredo-Nuevo Laredo.”

Carlton Hull: “Campaigning for Democratic candidates in Louisiana!”

Charles Keller: “Chicago to Fort Lauderdale in 1977. Two cars, five guys, 24 hours driving and lots of insanity once there.”

Bob Kieckhefer: “Driving my 2003 Mustang Cobra the length of U.S. 41, from Copper Harbor, Michigan, to South Beach in Miami.”

Jim Lyons: “A trip to visit friends in Boise, Idaho, and then a wedding in Seattle.”

Ed Mazur: “A college drive from Selma, Alabama, to meet Civil Rights marchers. Our car crashed along the way.”

Steven McKenzie: “The April 1989 Women’s Rights/Women’s Equality Rally in D.C., went with three friends in my car from Michigan State. Leonard Nimoy (Spock) marched near me.”

Steve Smith: “In 1974, my best friend and I hitchhiked to all four corners of the U.S — New York, Miami, LA and Seattle.”

Claude Walker: “A cross-country solo drive for the 2023 eclipse in Oregon — 8,200 miles, 26 states, eight state capitols.”

Patricia Ann Watson: “A three day drive from San Diego to Cabo San Luca — inspiringly beautiful, but never again.”

Judith Weinstein: “I’m on it now, driving from Los Angeles to Chicago with the dear friend who taught me to drive a stick shift 40 years ago.”

NEXT QUESTION: In a sentence, what’s your take on the Biden age debate? Email [email protected]

THE NATIONAL TAKE

— The world wasn’t ready for Trump in 2016. It’s not making that mistake this time, via POLITICO.

— Wisconsin Supreme Court changes course, will allow expanded use of ballot drop boxes this fall, by The Associated Press

— Congressman Brad Schneider’s Capitol Hill office is vandalized on July Fourth, by USA Today’s Amaris Encinas

TRANSITIONS

— Pam Monetti of Macoupin County has been appointed Illinois director of USDA Rural Development, by RiverBender’s Dalton Brown.

— Lamar C. Brown is now VP of external affairs at Alex Sims-Jones’ APS and Associates. An attorney, Brown held an executive role in external affairs at The Business Leadership Council.

— Rob Muriel is now a partner at Williams, Bax & Saltzman P.C. He was a partner at Hoke and earlier was director of the Illinois Department of Insurance.

TRIVIA

WEDNESDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Michael Marsh for correctly answering Cahokia was the first permanent European settlement in Illinois.

TODAY’s QUESTION: What’s the newest national park in Illinois dedicated to Black history?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Former state Rep. Helen Satterthwaite, former Ald. Patrick Daley Thompson, Illinois House Dems’ Executive Director TaQuoya McConnico, Cubs EVP Michael Lufrano, businessman and political fundraiser Raj Fernando, Cook County Assessor’s Office exec Kelwin Harris, Abelin Strategies President Hector Villagrana, former SEIU Healthcare President Keith Kelleher, SEIU Healthcare government relations exec Alex Paterakos-Figueroa, Zephyr Government Strategies principal Michael Cassidy, Democratic political consultant Steve Sheffey, Razorfish Senior VP Jerry Lawrence, Mill communications exec Molly Spaeth, WTTW reporter and “Week in Review” host Amanda Vinicky, WBEZ political reporter Dave McKinney and Wall Street Journal reporter Doug Belkin.

-30-