Inside the Beltway

REAGAN/BROWN EFFECT

Adam Andrzejewski is not a household name. Yet.

He is facing stiff competition on Tuesday in the Illinois gubernatorial primary, one of six Republicans seeking the nomination. But Mr. Andrzejewski could have a sudden edge: He is buoyed support from regional “tea party” groups, who praise his “solid, core-conservative values.”

Some last-minute, hearty endorsements have also ramped up the political currency of the 40-year-old businessman, who hasn’t run for office before.

The candidate has garnered enthusiastic support from Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland, who declared, “I see in him a young Ronald Reagan.”

Mr. Walesa journeyed all the way to Chicago to make his feelings known, telling a cheering crowd in Polish, via a translator, “I am convinced that he is right. But we live in times that people do not always listen to those that are right. And I only support a real victor. I like to win.”

Fox News host Glenn Beck has also endorsed Mr. Andrzejewski, along with Rush Limbaugh - who gave him some immediate context.

“He is the Scott Brown of Illinois,” Mr. Limbaugh said Monday.

One poll found that Mr. Andrzejewski’s favorability rating jumped six points in the last week, landing him within grappling distance of the nomination with front-runner Andy McKenna.

“It has been amazing to gain the confidence of national - and international - leaders,” Brian McDaniel, the candidate’s spokesman, tells Inside the Beltway.

“We have been campaigning on the same message for 11 months. We are hearing what these voters are saying, and that is to put a stop to one-party rule. We are bringing a message of reform to the state of Illinois, and we are tired of the way the Springfield Democrats have been running things,” Mr. McDaniel adds. “We intend to bring an end to the culture of corruption that has been in place in this state for 30 years.”

PARTLY CLOUDY

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) may not be into transparency. Competitive Enterprise Institute policy analyst William Yeatman tells Inside the Beltway he encountered a little bad weather during a “green jobs” hearing last Thursday.

“I go to a lot of congressional hearings, to observe but also to inform reporters, usually by distributing press releases. This latter practice is standard for D.C. wonks. Or at least it was. As I started to pass out press releases at the media table, two Democratic staffers told me that I no longer have the right to inform reporters, thanks to a ‘new policy.’ ” Mr. Yeatman says.

“I wondered whether or not this ‘new policy’ had something to do with the fact that my press releases were critical of green jobs, a priority for the Democratic Party. So I followed up with the Republican office, but staffers there hadn’t been informed of the ‘new policy.’ They sought a clarification with the majority party’s staff, and thus I learned that the ‘new policy’ prohibited ‘stacks’ of paper at the press table,” he continues.

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