Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics

He’s been called the "King of Illinois.” Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan is the most powerful politician in Illinois history, and the longest-serving state House speaker in the nation. This unprecedented documentary explores his reign over the Illinois Statehouse.

Illinois is one of only 14 states without term limits and this documentary highlights the influence an officeholder can wield in the absence of term limits. Madigan is the longest-serving House Speaker in the U.S. Madigan became an Illinois legislator in 1971 and has been Speaker of the House in Illinois for all but two years since 1983. During the time Madigan has been Speaker, Illinois has had six different governors, more than 200 state senators and more than 500 state representatives.

The Huffington Post

The Illinois Policy Institute’s new Michael Madigan documentary,”Madigan: Power, Privilege, Politics,” will serve as a significant historical artifact for generations to come for a couple of reasons.

First, the content of”Madigan: Power, Privilege, Politics” — while often propagandistic in tone (more on that shortly) — at times presents a pretty good picture of the workings of Illinois politics in the 45 years since Madigan stepped onto the state political stage.

Second, the very fact that it was made attests to the intense battle for power that defines Illinois politics at the moment. After decades of primarily Democratic control of Illinois state government, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner brought unprecedented personal wealth and ideological determination to bear upon taking office in 2015. The appearance of “Madigan: Power, Privilege, Politics” will stand as a testament to the resolve of Rauner’s allies to wrest power from Madigan circa fall 2016.

And, obviously, to their belief that Madigan himself is the cause of the fiscal and economic troubles that afflict Illinois.

The film, which debuted this week at special events at a handful of theaters in Chicagoland and downstate, is a product of Illinois Policy Action, the lobbying arm of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute. Rauner had contributed more than $600,000 to the institute before becoming a candidate for governor in 2013, and its free-market, small-government advocacy matches Rauner’s philosophy.

The documentary became a significant news story a month ago when two of its interview subjects, Chicago Tribune cartoonist Scott Stantis and Capitol Fax publisher Rich Miller, said they weren’t told of the Illinois Policy Institute’s involvement even when they asked about the funding source for the project. This, combined with a trailer that bursts with scorn toward its subject, gave the film the kind of buzz marketing coveted by Hollywood.

Does it live up to the hype? To answer that, I refer to Point No. 1 above.

As a longtime follower of Illinois politics, I found lots of interesting stuff in the video, but nothing that I didn’t already know and plenty that had me talking back to my screen. Still, hearing Madigan’s background and approach explained by people like Miller, former Chicago alderman and political scientist Dick Simpson and former Republican state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger is a worthwhile exercise regardless of one’s previous knowledge. Viewers also get a decent, though opinionated, civics lesson on the committee process in the Illinois House.

Madigan is the longest-tenured Speaker of the House in an any state legislature, having led the House for all but two years since 1983. Those two years when Madigan’s Democrats lost control of the House — from 1995-1997 — are covered in one of the film’s best segments.

“Those two years in the wilderness were very helpful,” Madigan says in an archival interview.

Rauschenberger says the loss of power during those years changed Madigan’s approach thereafter and instilled a will to never lose his majority again.

“It was a new Mike,” Rauschenberger says, “It was Iron Mike.”

The video dwells on Madigan’s successful property tax law business, which has been the subject of intense criticism for many years by those who believe Madigan uses his immense power to bring business to his law firm. Rauschenberger says it’s an egregious conflict of interest that’s “out of proportion with what representative government should tolerate.”

Surprisingly, Republican former House Speaker Lee Daniels — who took Madigan’s place during his two “wilderness years” in the minority — defends Madigan on this count.

“I don’t have any problem with his success as a professional outside the General Assembly,” Daniels says. “Because that’s our system today and there’s nothing illegal about it.”

Despite those enlightening moments, though, the video barely masks its true purpose, which is to convince viewers that the state’s problems today all can be traced back to Madigan.

The first quarter of the video describes Madigan’s role in handing out patronage jobs. That portion contains an interview with a Madigan patronage worker who describes how those placed in jobs by Madigan are immune from any discipline on the job, when they choose to show up. But the patronage worker, identified as “M,” is actually an actor (Dave Buckman, according to the end credits) who is shown in silhouette with his voice distorted as he recounts the perks of being one of Madigan’s guys.

I guess the Madigan machine is so powerful and vengeful that even an actor portraying a Madigan crony speaking anonymously isn’t safe.

The video also seeks to portray Madigan as vindictively wielding huge sums of campaign cash that he uses to punish disobedient members of his House caucus while generously giving to campaigns of others.

“They know why they’re there and they know if they don’t play ball, they’ll be gone,” says Robert Blagojevich, brother of Rod, another interview subject.

I chuckled at this angle of criticism — which is repeated by the video’s narrator — given that the video was made to move viewers into the Rauner camp. In the 2016 campaign cycle, Rauner has spread $16 million among Republican candidates. I suspect those Republicans, if elected, will “know why they’re there.”

State Rep. Ken Dunkin, D-Chicago, appears as an example of what happens to a Democrat who dares to cross Madigan. When Dunkin refused to side with Madigan on a couple key bills a year ago, Madigan put $2.8 million into the campaign of a primary challenger, Juliana Stratton, who defeated Dunkin on March 15.

What’s missing, of course, is an interview with Republican state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, who voted with Democrats on a union bill and incurred Rauner’s wrath. Rauner and his allies spent $3 million in an unsuccessful effort to unseat McCann in March.

I encourage anyone with an interest in Illinois politics to watch “Madigan: Power, Privilege, Politics,” but to keep in mind that this is not something you’d find on “Frontline.” It was written and financed by a very well heeled public action group and is designed to reinforce Rauner’s anti-Madigan message. For everything you see on the screen, there’s a lot more that’s not explained.

Sangamon Sun

A new documentary about Illinois' long-serving Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan is in the midst of several scheduled showings on local TV, a prelude to what its conservative backers say will be even broader distribution in the final weeks before the general election.

Regardless of political affiliation in Illinois, there appears to be general agreement that the 57-minute documentary "Madigan: Power. Privilege. Politics." is shaking things up in a state where politics is almost always shaken.

 Emergent Order Head of Production Teryn Fogel

The next TV airings are 7 p.m. Wednesday on WEEK NBC in Peoria, 5 a.m. Sunday on WTVO ABC in Rockford, 10 a.m. Sunday on WGEM CW in Quincy, noon Sunday on WSIL in Harrisburg, 4:30 p.m. Sunday on WCCU Fox in Champaign/Springfield/Decatur, 5 a.m. Oct. 30 on WTVO ABC in Rockford, 10 a.m. Oct. 30 on WQAD in the Quad Cities and noon Oct. 30 on WSIL ABC in Harrisburg.

Movie times include 7 p.m. Tuesday at Woodstock Theatre in Woodstock, 7 p.m. Wednesday at Paramount Theatre in Kankakee, 7 p.m. Thursday at Elgin Cinema in Elgin, 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Untitled Supper Club in Chicago, 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at York Theatre in Elmhurst, 7 p.m. Oct. 26 at Elk Grove Theater in Elk Grove Village, and 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at Gurnee Mills Cinema in Gurnee.

It seems inevitable that the documentary will turn up online, but that has yet to happen officially.

"Illinois politicians come and go, but one man has remained: Mike Madigan," the narrator says near the beginning. "He's been called the king of Illinois and is considered more powerful than the governor."

That sets the tone for what detractors are calling a hit piece, but its maker said great pains were taken to make sure it's across-the-board fair.

Before it was released, detractors took aim at the documentary, produced and written by Illinois Policy Action, an advocacy arm of the conservative Illinois Policy Institute. Shortly after a trailer for the documentary was released, a parody trailer soon followed. The documentary was made based on popular demand, Illinois Policy Institute writer Austin Berg said during a recent edition of Illinois Rising.

"We did so because there was overwhelming demand from our audience," Berg said. "At Illinois Polity Institute, no matter which policy issues we touched, people's No. 1 questions would be, 'What are we going to do about Mike Madigan?' 'How did he get this power?' 'How has he stayed in power so long?' 'What can we do about it?' So this documentary sort of gives an anatomy of that power and his rise to it and, I think, answers some important questions people have had for a long time in Illinois."

Illinois Rising is a presentation of the Illinois Policy Institute.

Finding a documentary maker to create the piece about Madigan wasn't easy, Berg said. "We actually approached three production houses in Illinois; we got really far in talks," Berg said. "And, at the last minute, they would back out because they were scared to do this documentary."

Then Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman and Director of Digital Strategy Ryan Green approached Austin-based Emergent Order, a meeting the integrated media and marketing agency's Head of Production Teryn Fogel recalled during the same Illinois Rising interview.

"At first, we were a little hesitant about it because we really aren't a company that does a lot of political documentaries," Fogel said. "We've done quite a few documentaries that were socially motivated, but not politically. So when we got this, we really did a lot of research on Michael Madigan, and what really drew us to it was how fascinating he is as a character, his history."

Madigan, the nation's longest-serving state House speaker, has held that seat since 1983, except for a couple of years in the mid-1990s when Republicans controlled the House.

Fogel said she soon found herself intrigued by Madigan's story.

"I think anyone who is watching, who is interested in politics, is going to be surprised to find out that somebody has been able to control this seat and been in government this long and has been part of so many scandals and still is controlling that seat," Fogel said.

Fogel also used an adjective/noun that, in a former generation, often was applied to the late Republican President Ronald Reagan.

"For whatever reason, you have had three governors who have gone to prison, but Mike Madigan seems to be Teflon," Fogel said.

It was more than just the scandals and Madigan's staying power, Fogel said.

"I'm an L.A. producer, and I see corruption on many levels, but usually, there are rules that have been broken," Fogel said. "You look at this kind of corruption, what interests me was the fact that these aren't even considered illegal. There are guidelines, and there are rules and they're not laws that have been broken, but in any other industry, this would be considered criminal."

Making the documentary proved a bit bumpy. Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner denied knowing anything about the documentary, while others have said it illustrates the large amounts of money being pumped into Illinois politics.

At least two journalists who participated in the documentary later suffered post-interview regret. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass issued an apology, and Tribune editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis said he was unaware the Illinois Policy Institute was behind the documentary. Fogel said some people approached for interviews were too afraid of retaliation to speak on camera, except for one participant who agreed to appear anonymously.

However, Fogel said great effort was made to produce a piece that isn't politically biased. "We wanted to make sure this was across-the-board fair," Fogel said. "So we've got Democrats and Republicans. I thought it was very important that we make sure that this film represented across-the-board opinions from everybody."

Those appearing in the documentary include former Republican Rep. Lee Daniels of Elmhurst, who was House speaker during the two years that Madigan wasn't House speaker. Also appearing are Rob Blagojevich, brother of a former impeached governor; former GOP state Sen. Steven Rauschenberger of Elgin; former Republican Rep. Darlene Senger of Naperville; former Democratic state Senate President Emil Jones Jr. of Chicago; and Jason Gonzales, whom Madigan defeated during the March primary.