58 Comments - Oswego Willy - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 7:19 am: Solid “B”. Narrator voice and music soothing, but the “old” pictures of Dillard seem to harken to a time long gone by, and doesn’t make me think of Dillard - “for Illinois’ tomorrow” It’s good, but not an “A”. Will help with name ID, for sure. Maybe… maybe too little too late, and maybe too nostalgic to the past. Solid “B”. - Louis Howe - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 7:38 am: Dillard forgot to mention that he and Edgar continued to under fund state pensions. Actually, the ad seemed over the top. I am surprised he didn’t claim that the sun rose higher because of all the hot air he’s provided in Springfield. I like Dillard and hope he wins the primary, but this Ad didn’t say much. - Chi - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 7:49 am: The ad didn’t say much, but it was over the top with its claims? Which is it? - Nieva - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 7:51 am: Never hurts to invoke Jim Edgars name. - Goonhammer - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 7:54 am: I agree with Willy, solid B no plus and no minus. The photos of him were old and didn’t really strike me in terms of someone I should “like” (or vote for). I feel a lot more could have been done, but maybe it’s one of those less is more moments? Not sure. I do like the narrator, I hate these ads just overall because I always wonder about “how”. Guess that’s for the voters to do homework on, but I never saw a reason not to throw a policy idea out there. Just in my honest opinion. - Bourbonrich - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:00 am: Speaking of ads, why does Rauner start each radio spot with the phrase “Republican Bruce Rauner”? Is he trying to convince people he is really a Republican? - Big Muddy - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:03 am: Good ad. Pushes needle in right direction. Not enough to close gap in time however. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:05 am: It does not set him apart from everyone else. Dillard and his campaign supporters continue to assume that voters are looking for a governor with a great deal of experience and a track record of success - because that is what THEY are looking for in the next governor. That is not what voters want, and that is why he will lose. Voters are tired of seeing experienced politicians with successful track records fail to fix the state. Michael J. Madigan is an experienced politician with a successful track record. Judy Barr Topinka, Pat Quinn, Tom Cross, we can go on and on naming experienced politicians with successful track records who are in power now - and voters are still not seeing Illinois improving at a rate they feel helps the state. What voters are looking for is a candidate that does more than what has been and is in office. They want more than another experienced politician. They want more than a veteran politician expounding his/her successful track record. Voters want more than “good enough”. The guys who have been, or are, in jail were experienced politicians with successful track records. Having this criteria means jack-nothing in 2014 for a whole lot of people. Polls show that Rauner’s message of shaking up Springfield is working. Polls have repeatedly shown that anyone running for Illinois governor this year needs to tell voters that they are fed up with the recent past and present and will not do what has been, or is being done in Springfield. Rauner’s campaign success has a lot to do with his successful message that he will destroy whatever is preventing Illinois from succeeding. This is what polls show is the message voters are embracing. There are too many of you cynics out there who are experienced and so comfortable of the current status quo that you can easily dismiss everything I have written here, and can easily dismiss everything Rauner has broadcasted. But still with the facts - and not the perception for a moment to realize that the way things have been getting done in Illinois - has not helped Illinois enough. Consequently, when it is time for them to pick a new leader, voters will not accept the guys like Dillard. He might make you comfortable and you may like the fact that he won’t tip over any apple carts as governor - but voters believe that those apples are completely rotten and that those carts need to be tipped. The polls show that Dillard needs to co-op that message and broadcast that message of change. But he can’t do that, can he? Because he is Dillard - the old status quo Edgar guy who can’t shake up Springfield. Hence this nice, but useless ad. - mugwump - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:05 am: The word Republican will probably disappear from his ads right after the primary. - Roadiepig - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:07 am: Bourbonrich - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:00 am: Because the “Raunerite” party doesn’t have a primary, he has to run as a Republican. Or- maybe it’s as simple as that he is still trying to convince the low information voters (and himself) that he is a Republican? - Walter Mitty - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:10 am: Actually,I give it an A if it is to reinforce that he is a career politician with the old photos… I can’t believe that the Farmer has poll tested clearly that it sticks…And DLard reinforces a negative in a sense… - OneMan - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:10 am: Good point VM I think a lot of folks close to Springfield don’t understand the appeal of ’shake up Springfield’ - MrJM - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:13 am: Vegas set the Over/Under on “Jim Edgar” at 12 words, so Over wins! As far as the ad’s rating goes: Raw score: B+/A- Adjusted score: Too Little/Too Late – MrJM - Pensioner - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:22 am: F. Rauner attack needed. Gloss wont win it. - Under Further Review - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:31 am: Positive tone: B+. Running out of time. Ad should have been up three weeks ago. - Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:35 am: My union BA mentioned Dillared? - too obvious - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:41 am: zzzzzzzz If the other 3 aren’t hitting Rauner they are throwing away any chance they have of getting the nomination. It’s already largely too late for the 3 also rans. - Mr. Big Trouble - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:42 am: VM: I think he said it best.. - MissSmartyPants - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:43 am: Meh…another career politician thinking that because they’ve been around forever, they should be promoted. I just wish they would go away. - Frustrated Voter - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:43 am: A - great to see a candidate with the legislative achievements on the airwaves. Kirk Dillard is who this state needs in Springfield! - flea - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:49 am: Seems he needs to invoke Edgar’s name forever. Both of these fellows were negligent in their past duties to the people of Illinois, so why go with him now…Springfield is already shook up so lay off that line of BS. Have a great day! - Howard - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:54 am: The only chance left for the three outsiders would be to start slinging mud. - circularfiringsquad - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:56 am: Good spot and an answer to the question of where people go once they conclude Mitt Rauner is a total fraud who says something different every day and has more baggage that a Samsonite store. Casual wing nuts might even follow the yellow brick road to D-Lard especially if someone does a webstie video with his hate speech talk at the anti gay rally. Of course thinking Ds and Indies who have a pulse will not be too comforted, but hey no one is perfect. - Norseman - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:58 am: The fat lady is on stage just about to belt out her first note. This ad won’t stop her. - Konda Chilly - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 8:58 am: tick….tick….tick….. Rauner has “Dillard endorsing Obama ad” on the launching pad. More than wipes out any benefit D-Lard gets from this relatively lame ad. Brady comes in second. Book it. - wordslinger - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:05 am: You need a positive spot, you can’t just go negative all the time. This is fine. - Downstater - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:09 am: Ad was ok. Nothing special. Needs a touchdown, but just got a first down. Final primary results, Rauner 1st, Brady second, Dillard 3rd, and Rutherford 4th. - Reformed Public Servant - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:12 am: B - It gives concrete details of making jobs in IL (Boeing, Navistar). Rauner is all simple rhetoric with no “there” there. Voters won’t be fooled again. - Smoggie - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:22 am: Initially I sort of liked it, but it really doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny. “I was chief of staff when good things happened” is not much of a line on a resume. Also, as Vanilla Man sort of mentioned, “I’ve been around forever” probably is not the message a candidate wants this year. Overall, I give it a C. If people are not paying attention (and I think that’s generally the case), it sounds nice. However, if people listen to it, it will make them vote for the other guy. - Cook County Commoner - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:23 am: If Dillard wants to invoke the name of Jim Edgar, perhaps he would like to discuss the collapse of Kemper Insurance and the loss of thousands of jobs when Edgar sat on Kemper’s board of directors. Maybe he could also discuss Governor Edgar’s earlier support for legislation that enabled Kemper to become a public company so it could dissolve and whether that had any relationship to Edgar’s appointment to the Kemper board and a fat salary. Former Kemper employees don’t forget. - wordslinger - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:27 am: –“I’ve been around forever” probably is not the message a candidate wants this year.– But that’s who he is, He has a record. He doesn’t have the luxury of being a blank slate or the money to create a fictional persona. - anonymoose - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:30 am: The candidate himself? Who was that young man again? That deserves a Dillard “D” The commercial played this morning during the morning news. A positive for the blurry cornfields and warm reminders of down home. At this point, I would much prefer to vote for blurry cornfields if they were on the ballot. - LisleMike - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:32 am: I like it, give it a B+ Positive, upbeat, no cynicism. All good. Agree that it could be a bit more distinctive. Allusions to Edgar are for Republicans, not general public. Yes Edgar had flaws, but who doesn’t? Overall, it stands out as “non-negative” and ties nicely to thread running of making Illinois a destination economy to create jobs. - Walter Mitty - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:44 am: Cook County…. Wow… If Rauner thought DLard was a more serious threat, you would have seen an ad that would highlight just that… Thank you for the reminder, for some the history lesson… That was VERY ugly and sad for thousands of families. - Arizona Bob - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:59 am: The seeds of our current public pension disaster were planted with Dillard and Edgar through their irresponsible “pension ramp” legislation that did little more than kick the can down the road while he kept up the pork spending. Edgar and Dillard also made the income “surtax” permanent, which led to the ineffective massive increases in state education funding.A few years later we had so much excess revenue that Ryan started the biggest pork project in Illinois history, “Illinois First”. If Edgar would’ve let the surtax expire the money would’ve been in taxpayer pockets instead of Edgar and Ryan’s political contributors. What a boondoggle! Edgar really cashed in after he left office with that six figure “patronage” lecturer job at u of I and that payoff Kemper board job. As far as I’m concerned, he was just another Ryan and Blago who was too smart to cross the legality line or get caught through stupidly incriminating himself on tapped phones. Wasn’t he SOS before Ryan? Oh, I’m SURE the corruption started there after he left and Ryan took over. Right. I have no doubt that if Dillard was elected he’d create the same shameful legacy that Edgar did, kicking the pension problem down the road, pork spending, and increasing income taxes. We’ve had enough of that. - Walker - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 10:05 am: B-/C+ Just too soothing, comforting, well-meaning, but old-style politician. Doesn’t appeal enough to urgency of changes needed. - Could be - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 10:07 am: Dillard could win if the GOP wants to take the Gov. seat, if AD has the points behind it, anti-Rauner Ad’s seem to and it looks like Quinn has a weak base as long as Rauner isn’t the GOP candidate. - truth hurts sometimes - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 10:16 am: Rauner voters are worried. This ad gives them a credible alternative to senior slayer Brucey. - MrJM - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 10:22 am: “I would much prefer to vote for blurry cornfields if they were on the ballot.” Sounds like an golden opportunity for the Greens to regain their established party status. – MrJM - Richard Tanner - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 10:29 am: For VanillaMan. Explain if you will how Rauner`s successful message that he will destroy what ever is preventing Illinois from succeeding is going to work. Just what is he going to do. Madigan and Cullerton will still be in power. I guess they will bow down to Mr Rauner once he takes office. - an innocent observer - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 10:36 am: B - It feels like a Ronald Reagan “Morning in a America” ad. Only, this is more like a “The morning of the day before yesterday in Illinois” - VanillaMan - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 11:07 am: –“I’ve been around forever” probably is not the message a candidate wants this year.– But that’s who he is, He has a record. He doesn’t have the luxury of being a blank slate or the money to create a fictional persona. That isn’t how he should have campaign however - he needs to tell me how he shook up Springfield during those years. Dillard needs to tell me who he has championed as an agent of change. This election is going to be about change and Dillard’s message is not about that - Dillard is running like a Lt. Governor caretaking as a governor wanna-be. Dillard is running like he is Pat Quinn, if Pat Quinn was Lt. Governor for JIM EDGAR. Yeah - that may be who he is, but that is not what he should be saying during this campaign. For VanillaMan. Explain if you will how Rauner`s successful message that he will destroy what ever is preventing Illinois from succeeding is going to work. Just what is he going to do. Madigan and Cullerton will still be in power. I guess they will bow down to Mr Rauner once he takes office. Rauner doesn’t have to do that. He has successfully positioned himself as the agent of change. Rauner doesn’t have to get into any details - and he damn well shouldn’t if he wants to win these elections. I don’t know what he will do as governor, but we all know what Pat Quinn did as governor and we know what Rod Blagojevich did as governor - and we have witnessed none of the change that the voter based, projecting Rauner towards electoral success, desires. Rauner has been the only candidate who has gone out of his way to show voters that he is the agent of change during an election filled with voters demanding change. Dillard and Brady are campaigning like Jim Edgar is still governor and it is their turn at the top of the ticket. Neither Brady or Dillard have a record of change the voters are demanding and haven’t campaigned as agents of change. Brady and Dillard have done little to position themselves for the Governor 2014 race - they seem to be running a GOP campaign from 1990. There is a strong voter block out there that Rauner has tapped into. You might not be in it, but as a seasoned political observer, I am not going to pretend it isn’t there because it isn’t what I want to see elected in November. - Robo - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 11:14 am: It was an “A” two months ago… - VanillaMan - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 11:15 am: Is someone going to ask Michael J. Madigan how he plans to work with a Governor Rauner, or are we all just assuming that the status quo disaster we’ve been witnessing here in Illinois, will continue and that it makes The Speaker happy? What ever happened to Speakers working with Governors - you know - like it used to be here and the way it is in, perhaps, 4-49 of the other US states? Why are we assuming that Rauner will be a repeat of Quinn. Do you think Quinn is so impotent because of Madigan, or do you think Quinn is impotent because he is Pat Quinn? Demanding that Rauner explain how he will work with Cullerton and Madigan is flipping logic on its head - working together requires a response from everyone, not just Rauner. - Mokenavince - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 11:59 am: I give it a C . And Vanilla Man asks an interesting question regarding the competence of Pat Quinn. We all know the answer on how Quinn has been manhandled by Madigan and Cullerton. Any of the Republican would seem to me to be an improvement over Quinn. - Richard Tanner - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 12:07 pm: Maybe you don`t know what Rauner will do as Governor but I have a damn good idea. You say in another part of the Blog you are no fan of Rauner. Just who are you a fan of? You wanted an answer so yes, I think Quinn is impotent because of Madigan. I assume you want the Unions busted and folks to give up their pensions too. You come across as a real tough guy. I could have used you in my platoon in Vietnam. We might have won the war. Also, I won`t be voting for Quinn or Rauner if that is any of your business. By the way, Hows it working in Washington with the Sepaker working with the President. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 12:22 pm: I finally saw the anti Rauner ad and the Dillard ad on TV this morning. I’m not sure how often they run them but this is the 1st I’ve seen. I can’t count how many Rauner ads-so maybe the campaign has started for the other guys - Hans Sanity - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 1:21 pm: No dogs. No wife kiss. False claims. C minus. - Mcleaniac - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 1:21 pm: Gentleman’s C. Vanilla stock ad, Insert candidates name, a state name, and company names and could be run anywhere for any office. Even IF Dillard had the money to run this ad anywhere but late night cable like the Oxygen Network etc, it is still not spellbinding enough to propel him into the nomination. - Arthur Andersen - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 1:22 pm: I loved the 90s. F. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 1:24 pm: You sound like a genius, Mr. Tanner - could have used your superior knowledge of what a candidate would do once in office back in 2002 when Candidate Blagojevich won. He kind of surprised a lot of folks, didn’t he? Same for all those elected galoots. We don’t know what they will really do. They have to work together, and in the extreme case you describe, a Governor Rauner will have to go unconstitutional and alienate everyone who just elected him. The majority of those anti-union voters are going to not like him going all unconstitutional, because the weird thing about those folks are - they might be anti-union, but they do love them their constitutions. They are also not very hip to governors who use extralegal means to dictate policies. So if a Governor Rauner does try to circumvent the constitution, he is going to find that road a very lonely one. If he thinks he can do a Quinn and just do it - well, Quinn was a Democrat taking on the unions, and that is different than having a GOP governor doing the same. The GOP will not get control over the GA. A Governor Rauner will be as lonesome and frustrated with the GOP legislators in 2015 as a desk general would be leading a Cub Scout troop of first graders. You sound old and retired. Whatever Rauner can do won’t take effect during your lifetime anyway. That’s the good news… - wordslinger - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 1:27 pm: Seems to me Quinn signed a tax increase, a capital bill, a workers comp bill, death penalty abolition, same sex marriage, tax breaks for CME, pension bill, all while working to some degree with legislative leaders. You don’t have to agree with the policies to see some heavy lifting going on there. - A guy... - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 2:12 pm: It’s production values put it in the A- or B+ category. Only problem is, this is the commercial that should have been running from Sept-Jan. Now, you’ll see the commercial and see one Dillard, soft cuddly teddy bear on a mission, and then tune into the news and see accusatory, mad as hell, I’m not gonna take it anymore Dillard. The voter who doesn’t pay much attention will have a tough time squaring those two guys. You know, like the rest of us. - Walker - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 3:34 pm: VMan and Tanner: You don’t really want to spend your time attacking each other personally, do you? It appears that you’re both patriots, who care what happens in government. Good. OK I’ll butt out now. - Richard Tanner - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 4:56 pm: Walker: Very true, dont need personal attacks Only thing left to say is Mr Vanilla does not know anything about me. I am not retired and I plan on being here for another 30 years so I could be affected by a Gov Rauner. Oh well, hope for the best. p.s. I did score 149 on my IQ test. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 6:22 pm: You wrote you could have used me in your platoon in Vietnam. Then you wrote that you would be retiring in 30 years. That just doesn’t add up, Mr. 149 IQ. - Just The Way It Is One - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:23 pm: Looks good. B+ all in all. At least the man is going for it with all he’s got, Union Endorsements and all. You can’t fault him for that much… - down south - Thursday, Mar 6, 14 @ 9:39 pm: It is so very sad to think that our great republican party canbe persuaded by the smoke and mirrors of an ego maniac such as this Mr Rauner. Wake up republicans and not sell out on a person that could care less if he wins the Governorship or not. Nothing in his life will change. NOTHING. Do you really think this man, a BILLIONAIRE forthe rest of his life is concerned about our day to day lives? Wake up and get thinking clearly. THIS IS NOT AN ENTRY LEVEL JOB. Vote for the one that is most likely to have your best interest. Im sorry to Rauner backers, but what in the heck has he led you to believe he is going to change. NOT MUCH Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.