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Dan Proft's Classless Temper Tantrum

Radio host Dan Proft.

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OPINION

I have plenty of history with Dan Proft’s previous political action committees in 2016 and 2018 primaries, so I admit a bias to any comment I make about him.

I’ve been relatively fair, I believe, in critiquing the work of his “People Who Play By The Rules” PAC this election cycle, even defending the ad that many stations pulled after Governor JB Pritzker complained.

But Proft’s response to the rightly critical news that the Daily Herald’s parent company was printing Proft’s obviously political tabloids pretending to be news sources has been akin to a four-year-old who had his Tonka truck taken away.

Proft sent a statement Thursday afternoon calling Governor JB Pritzker a “bedwetting, spoiled brat” for pulling out of a Daily Herald candidate forum due to the Herald’s printing of the pieces.

“If [Pritzker] doesn't like a television ad, it must be taken off the air. If he doesn't like a newspaper, it must not be printed or circulated,” Proft said. “Lord Pritzker is the truth. All commentary that deviates from his decrees shall be expunged and the offending commentators declared illegitimate. In short, he is a bedwetting, spoiled brat who thinks an election is about his ambitions rather than Illinois families' aspirations.”

Classy.

After Paddock Publications dumped Proft like a clingy girlfriend last night, he lashed out.

“Little Lord Fauntleroy threw a tantrum and got his way. The Daily Herald is just another staffer in Pritzker's comm shop which masquerades as the Chicago press corps,” he said. “The whorish response from the Herald is surprising? Hardly. Like Cato's Letters, the papers will continue to be printed and distributed even if we have to return to the Gutenberg press and must enlist fair-minded people across Illinois who want the truth, not Pritzker's ‘truth,’ to hand deliver them door-to-door.”

Great job sticking to issues that win, fella.

Look, I have plenty of issues with the arrogance of the Pritzker administration and the seeming insistence the Governor has to declare those who disagree with him as racists or some other rude indictment.

Proft has a piggy bank full of Richard Uihlein’s cash to make this election a referendum on crime, taxes, inflation, the economy, and the struggles for everyday people. Instead, Proft has focused on stupid, losing social issues and picking fights that do nothing to help his preferred candidates.

The egotism and outbursts only make it worse.

Patrick Pfingsten

@pfingstenshow

patrick@theillinoize.com