We likely received an early lesson last week in how the upcoming state-legislative session will play out with new Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and a Democratic General Assembly.
The Democrats jammed through their plan to limit the term of incoming Republican Comptroller Leslie Munger to two years, with a special election in the presidential year of 2016. Rauner appointed Munger to replace Judy Baar Topinka, who passed away last month.
Rauner remained silent in the days leading up to the special legislative session, but the House and Senate Republicans went ballistic.
The Republicans accused the Democrats of needlessly firing a partisan shot before the new Republican governor was even sworn in. They nitpicked every possible angle, from the legislation's constitutionality to the legality of the special session itself to the "vehicle bill" Democrats used to transport their amendment to the governor's desk.
At one point, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin all but called House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie a liar for claiming that the legislation had nothing to do with a Democratic attempt to pick up the seat in a presidential year, which have favored Democrats since the days of Bill Clinton.
Republican state Representative Dennis Reboletti called the bill "political thievery," while GOP Representative Dwight Kay asked Currie: "You really don't like Governor Rauner, do you? Because he's a Republican."
More than two hours after adjournment, Rauner's office released a statement calling the Democratic proposal a "constitutionally-dubious election bill" but downplayed the dispute by claiming the governor-elect "remains committed to working with members of both political parties to pass 'Judy's Amendment' and finally merge the Comptroller and Treasurer offices, which would be a true victory for taxpayers."
On the merits, the Republicans do have at least one valid point. Whatever you believe about the need for a special election, there is no doubt that Comptroller Munger will have a tough time retaining her post in two years, when Illinois native Hillary Clinton could very well be the Democrats' presidential nominee. The Democrats must've had a hard time keeping a straight face when they denied any political motivations.
Many of the Republicans' other arguments were just plain silly, but what they showed us is a willingness to play the attack dog on behalf of their party's new governor while allowing Rauner to remain mainly on the high road. Last week's vote also helped Durkin and Senate Republican Leader Christine Radogno begin the process of rallying their members around their new governor and serving notice to Democrats that a new day is coming.
So while Republicans lost the vote, they actually won. And Illinois voters aren't really all that worked up about this issue anyway. While they favor a four-year term for the next comptroller rather than a two-year term and a special election, it's not by an overwhelming margin.
"As you may know," 1,022 respondents were told January 5 by pollster We Ask America, "the recent death of Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka created an opening in that office that will be filled with an appointment by incoming governor Bruce Rauner. Some feel that the appointed comptroller should serve until the next state election in four years, while others think that a special election to fill the spot should be held within two years. Do you think the appointment to replace Comptroller Topinka should last four years, or should a special election be held in 2016?"
Just under half - 49.7 percent - said they favored a four-year term, while 45.5 percent of respondents said they wanted a special election in 2016. The rest were undecided.
A few demographics clearly favored a two-year term: Democrats (56-39), Chicagoans (53-44), suburban Cook County residents (52-45), and African Americans (52-46). A plurality of Latinos (48-45) and women (48-47) also supported a two-year term with a special election.
Everybody else favored a four-year term, including Republicans (62-33), collar-county residents (55-40), men (53-42), independents (52-44), Downstaters (51-42), and whites (51-44). The poll had a margin of error of 3 percent.
This special-election vote was the Democrats' last hurrah as the complete majority power. They took advantage of an opportunity to possibly pick up a statewide office while they still had a Democratic governor around to sign the bill into law, even though their plan isn't firmly backed by Illinoisans.
I hope they enjoyed their fun, because those days are now over - at least for four years.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a daily political newsletter) and CapitolFax.com.
