66 Comments - Will County Woman - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:43 pm: on a scale of 1 to 10 with ten being the highest, I give it a 10. the style (critical), pointed tone and substance of the statement are spot-on! in terms of substance it an accurate reflection of what has happened since blago left office. - Niles Township - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:46 pm: A broken record that is getting boring way too fast that is how I would characterize this statement. - Obamarama - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:47 pm: Hard to argue with it. 211 days since we were embarrassed on the national scene and we, as a state, haven’t done anything to repair our image or restore our integrity to the electorate. Lack of leadership isn’t a bad explanation. 8. - ws - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:47 pm: well at least their message is always the same, flip flop etc. on every one of these things they send out. 4-5 wcw, really? a 10? - erstwhilesteve - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:49 pm: It may be just me, but I’m starting to get really tired of the Hynes camp responses to everything that Quinn does. The writing is good, but the points are invariably flat, one-note. Whoever Hynes has doing this has certainly studied the process, knows what it takes to get quoted on the blogs and in the dailies. But there’s no thought in it - no evidence here, e.g., that Hynes and his people even care what kinds of ethics reform actually matter. 1.5 or so….. - phocion - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:52 pm: Rate it a 1 on a scale of 1-10. Agree with the comment about him sounding like a broken record. Suggestion - if you’re going to criticize something, propose something else to take its place. Any jackass can kick down a barn - it takes a real carpenter to build one. - Look a kitty - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:53 pm: This statement itself isn’t bad, maybe a 5 or 6. But overall, rabid puppy is the general message he has developed. Hynes forgets that the picture of unwavering decisiveness he paints is what often failed Rod Blagojevich. - Anonymous - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:57 pm: The statement has no credibility given that if Quinn would’ve signed the bill, Hynes would be carping about it being ’sham reform’. By trotting out the same whiny response to everything, Hynes is simply starting to sound like a crotchety old man. - Shore - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 1:58 pm: 5 the word strange is good in trying to build a narrative that quinn isn’t cut out for the job and that hynes is a pro who is stable and can deliver. Substance wise it’s preposterous to think a guy who was born into and has spent his life in democratic politics is somehow the guy to change this. The whole party failed, it’s going to take a heckuva campaign to make us believe he’s somehow cut from different cloth. - siriusly - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:01 pm: I give Hynes an 8. It seems to me like he can’t miss. Quinn is such an easy target and to his credit, Hynes has a lot of credibility as an honest pol who isn’t a waffler. If he can some how get people enthusiastic about his campaign he might win . . . - John Bambenek - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:01 pm: The first question a challenger needs to win when challenging an incumbent, especially in the primary, is why the incumbent needs to be thrown out. Hynes is doing that. If he can’t beat that question, no one will ask whether he’s the better candidate… Of course, Quinn isn’t precisely an incumbent either, but the point probably still holds. Before anyone considers him. He has to prove that Quinn needs to lose his job. - Red Bird fan - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:02 pm: 5 - Hyne points out the deficiencies of other officials and has yet to offer any solutions. A true politician. - Chi Gal - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:03 pm: Agree with phocion and ertwhilesteve. I give him a 1-2 because again, he criticizes and proposes nothing substantial. His people write well and respond quickly (more than you can say for the Gov) but Quinn has opened the door for Hynes. It is disconcerting that Hynes won’t muster up the courage to walk through it — he just keeps tossing stones! - Anonymous45 - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:08 pm: WCW is a disencentive to following this blog of late…what a know it all sychophant…it’s enough to turn off potential Hynes backers from supporting him…WCW do “your” candidate a favor and take a vacation…a long one… - Inish - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:09 pm: I like Hynes- alot- I want to see him put alittle more heat on the next pitch. He has established that Quinn is less than optimal, but I want to see him begin to promote some solutions. Voters are disengaged and disengendered… give me a reason to believe again. - Dooley Dudright - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:11 pm: Negative and haughty and whiny and quarrelsome. Bordering on shrill. Becoming annoyingly repetitive in tone. Got any constructive suggestions, Dan? On any topic? Seems not. Rating: 2 - Just wondering - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:12 pm: Boring seems to come through even his print message. I am also ready to unfriend him because I’m sick of his monopolizing Face book. - grand old partisan - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:12 pm: I give it a 5. While I couldn’t agree more that “the real reforms necessary for our entire state to move forward and get back on track have not been made,” there’s no getting past the fact that the same was true for the seven years that Blago was on the scene, not just the seven months since he left. So why didn’t Hynes pull the trigger on a primary challenge in 2006? Did he really think that Blago was making progress in rooting out corruption in Springfield? If so, he’s the last person who should be talking about someone else’s lack of “clear vision.” Quinn’s had a miserable week leadership-wise, and I can’t blame Hynes for wanting to make some hay of it…but it keeps coming up as too little, too late in my mind. - Vote Quimby! - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:13 pm: I would have liked it better if he had warned those incumbents (who voted for the bill and then wanted it vetoed) not to include in any campaign ads they “helped pass landmark campaign reform” …not that any would do that, just saying. - lake county democrat - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:24 pm: So predictable — if he had said something even mildly conciliatory to Quinn (”it’s not a clear-cut call, but the bigger need is to now…”) it would have shown leadership. - PalosParkBob - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:28 pm: Give it an 8. Quinn has been sitting on his tukas for six years, and now that he had the chance to really reform “pay to play”, he doesn’t state what ethics reform SHOULD BE, and use ammendatory veto power to fix the bill. Of course, if he really put forward a plan to clean up “pay to play” abuse, I strongly doubt that Madigan and Cullerton would be standing so supportively behind him at the presser. What DOES Quinn want as far as ethics reform, anyway? It seems like Hynes is a running a race against an opponent who just keeps shooting himself in the foot! - in the know - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:28 pm: I think an 8 because while we are all high info readers, his broader message is to reach the low info voters with a clear, concise and repeated message. When running against the incumbant, the first test is always a referendum on their performance. Only after the voters are disaffected, can a challenger make the argument for change. His message, while boring to you, needs repetition to sink in. Think not about what you know, but what the person at the McDonalds knows. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:32 pm: ===while we are all high info readers, his broader message is to reach the low info voters with a clear, concise and repeated message=== That’s absolutely right. People here are different. Please, keep this in mind when rating the press release. Thanks. - phocion - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:33 pm: ===while we are all high info readers, his broader message is to reach the low info voters with a clear, concise and repeated message=== That’s absolutely right. People here are different. Please, keep this in mind when rating the press release. Thanks. In that case, I give it a 10. We need more politicians who appeal to the lowest common denominator and don’t offer any substantive solutions. - Lefty Lefty - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:37 pm: On a scale of 1 to E with 1 being the highest and E being lowish, I give it a 3.1415927. Seriously, are there any leaders in this state? Is there anyone besides Rich Miller and Pat Fitzgerald who can call it like they see it? Every single Illinois politician is trying to win something instead of leading. I’ve said it before–any politician in this state that is willing to do what’s best for us instead of trying to please a donor or inflict his/her morals on us will have a lifetime job. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:38 pm: It is a fine statement and presents Hynes as different than Quinn - in a good way. A 10. - Will - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:48 pm: Hynes is starting to sound like a nag who constantly looks over your shoulder to criticize but never really does anything useful. How are things at your cemetery oversight division, Danny? If anything, Quinn is showing that he won’t vacillate on an important issue by not accepting a half-hearted reform bill. 3 - Louis G. Atsaves - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:48 pm: I give it a “7″ out of 10. He is still hitting all the right notes. If he added Madigan and Cullerton to the mix or the Illinois Legislature as a whole, he would have received a “10″ from me for looking like a White Knight in Shining Armor Independent Reformer Do-Gooder. Quinn certainly can’t be happy over the aggessiveness of these Hynes missives. - A Citizen - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:51 pm: Hynes and Quinn are both mediocre pols at best - their back and forth haranguing and John Mc Enroe style is irritating - I give it a 3. However for the obese MacDonalds folks it is probably a 7 or 8. The populace loves it when pols beat each other up. I’m still waiting for that elusive Statesman to make an appearance. - Bill - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:55 pm: ==The whole party failed== Shore, are you talking about the Republican party under Edgar and Ryan? Anyway, I’d give it a 10. The governor did act like this was the creator’s gift to ethics in Illinois. They should keep informing the public what this guy says and contrast it to what he actually does which is usually the exact opposite. If you can’t believe him now why would anyone believe him on the campaign trail. I don’t think the Quinnster actually lies although that’s possible. He just shoots off his big mouth without thinking and then is forced to flip flop when someone explains to him how stupid what he said really is. He needs a handler or two that is over 25 years old with some experience in state politics to make him keep his big mouth shut. No one paid attention to anything Quinn said for 30 years and now someone that someone is he should keep it zipped for his own good. - Rubbernecker - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 2:58 pm: A solid 7. The message is good, but that first sentence was too cutesy. Lost it’s punch. And ‘vacillate’? It still puts the contrast out there, though. AS for not putting out a reform of his own, it’s not the time. He can now roll out his own reform proposal — there are 2 months to do that before veto session. Let PQ flop around like a fish on the riverbank for a while longer. - Deep South - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:01 pm: When will this guy offer is own solutions. Would he have fired the last two U of I trustees? What are his ideas for reform? Unless he comes up with some meat…people are gonna wonder “Where’s the beef.” - DemCircularFiringSquad - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:06 pm: hehe. The chessmaster begged Quinn to veto the bill he helped draft. Can’t imagine why nothing ever gets fixed in this state. Bet all of the Chessmaster’s members are happy he forced them to pass the bill. - Johnnyc - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:21 pm: Anyone who thinks this was a bad press day for Quinn is too inside the bubble. The current story is that the Govenor vetoed the bill because it wasn’t tough enough. It seems unlikely that Hynes release will be read anywhere but this blog. The message is constant but, as everyone notes, at some point he is going to just sound whiny and be disregarded. The smart thing to do for Quinn is label these as typical political attacks from a typical politician. Its the best response to inocculate himself from any and all attacks and nicely contrasts himself with Hynes because if PQ is anything, its atypical. - KeepSmiling - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:28 pm: 6 The statement is on a really good roll until “I encourage the Governor and Legislature to work together…” Then pthpthpthpth. The tire goes flat. All the recent rhetoric about lack of leadership and decisiveness… and that’s the best he can do? Encourage others to work together? Ugh. Thanks Dan. Where would Illinois be without you? - Chi Gal - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:29 pm: Well in comparison to yesterday’s disaster, I guess it wasn’t as bad a day for PQ! But it is all relative. But you might want to look around because Hynes’ release is being quoted elsewhere. - Commonsense in Illinois - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:32 pm: Rate what…this big a softball and this fat a pitch was too easy. - Marcus Agrippa - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:46 pm: I’d give it an 8. In 2006 Hynes flew around the state promoting a series of 3 bills with real reform. At the press event I went to the proposal was barely covered by TV and nothing from the newspaper. The local legislators didn’t mention it in their campaigns. So at least he has some credibility on the issue when the rest are late jumping on the bandwagon with all their “indignation”. - heet101 - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:51 pm: I understand the waffling argument part. However, Hynes is coming out against the veto of a bill that everyone agrees falls short of “true reform”? Can’t Quinn just come back out and say I took good advice from experts on government reform during the last 90 days and decided we needed a fresh start…I guess the Comptroller would have preferred I just signed this flawed legislation that was derided by almost every one as “worse than nothing at all”. My rating: Hynes’ campaign is saying way too much. I give it a 3, a backwards E, for effort. - Joe in the Know - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 3:57 pm: I rate it a 7 because Dan is doing the necessary steps of gaining free publicity. These press releases have a strong “war room” feel to them. By that I mean “let’s press release every move the Governor makes to keep him on his heels”. Whether it’s working, only time will tell. My only problem is that they don’t read as one hears Dan Hynes’ voice. They read as though a rabid press release writer has been given free reign to say whatever he/she wants to in the candidates voice. My point is: they don’t sound like Dan. - Third Generation Chicago Native - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 4:02 pm: in the know is right ===while we are all high info readers, his broader message is to reach the low info voters with a clear, concise and repeated message=== Maybe Hynes can stay away from terminology like vacillate and use fluctuate or something. 10 for jumping on this right away 6 or not shortening this and using simplier terminology for your average 6 o’clock/10 o’clock average news watcher. average of the two = 8 - Johnnyc - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 4:27 pm: Chigirl, not in Tribune, Suntimes, SJ-R, Peoria Jounral Star… Maybe you mean it’s on Dan’s website. Oh wait, it isn’t there either. - zatoichi - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 4:28 pm: 5. I could write that stuff and have read similar things on this blog everyday. The shots are coming since the election cycle is starting and these guys need to get the PR machines revved up. As others have said throw some real, workable suggestions into the mix. Anyone can point out what they think is a problem. Just give say 3 viable points that will solve the issue. Something like a $10,000 total limit per year per company for contributions to all candidates, PACs or group. - Been There - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 5:03 pm: I would give it a 10 since the person writing it is dealing with Dan Hynes. If Hynes had actually said something publicly it would have only been one sentence with 7 or 8 words and we would all be asleep by the time he finished. Hynes will probably make a good governor but he bores the heck out of me. - RJW - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 5:04 pm: For everyone who complains that Hynes isn’t offering an alternative solution or, for that fact, any solutions, he doesn’t need to do that right now. He just needs to make sure that the majority of the voting public understand that Quinn sucks as a leader and hasn’t done anything to fix the mess Blago left behind. While it might not be good enough for people on this blog, it is good enough for the press to spout to the voters. Mission accomplished. - RJW - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 5:04 pm: Oh, and I give it an 8. - Beowulf - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 5:16 pm: As a Republican, if I have to see a Democrat become my next elected governor, I would prefer that it was Dan Hynes instead of Pat Quinn. Both guys are decent and honest guys but Pat Quinn seems to be destined (and qualified) to have been the Illinois “accidental governor”. Pat’s “method of operation” in political leadership reminds me of my own style of play on the golf course. My footprints from the tee box to the flag on the putting green leave a path much like the “Mark of Zorro” instead of the straight line that all golfers are seeking. Pat’s style of leadership also seems to follow a vacillating and zig zag pattern. He is a good guy who accidentally was placed in the wrong managerial position. - Ralph Cramden - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 5:30 pm: Same old,same old. Whiny Hynes is a Madigan acolyte, and little Mikey would love nothing better than to have Dan his Man warming the governor’s seat and obediently taking orders from Madigan, the real governor of Illinois. Comment rating: .05 on a scale of 1 to 10. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 5:34 pm: Actually, Ralph, most of the thumbsuckers think MJM prefers Quinn because he’ll only serve one more term. But, really, who knows. Which is something you should ask yourself more often. - Ralph Cramden - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 6:16 pm: Gee, Rich, it must be subscription renewal time, and we can’t let the criticisms against Mikey’s team be too rough now, can we? - steamer - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 6:54 pm: If these comments came from an outsider and not the ultimate insider they would resonate. I give it a 6. Hynes has to keep up the pressure. It is very hard to believe that these two are the best the Dem party has to offer. I hope Franks geys off the fence and jumps in. - Bobs yer - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 7:52 pm: Hynes is sort of OK, considering he’s just another Cook County family inheritence Dem. But if he’s going to keep reacting to everything Quinn does from now until the primary, its going to get real old. - hmmm - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 8:39 pm: Franks? Hilarious - Ty Webb - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 10:04 pm: To Johnnync, You said, “Its the best response to inocculate himself from any and all attacks and nicely contrasts himself with Hynes because if PQ is anything, its atypical.” I think you might want to watch the couple minute video below of the Quinn/Burkett debate from the last election. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YheotdWKjto Johnnnyc, he is not atypical but as you will see below he is a typical elected official that did and said anything to stay in office. Illinois residents have heard a lot about how Tony Rezko used to do business. Cash, clout, bribery, extortion… that’s his business. And one of his old business partners is Jack Lavin, who he helped install as head of the state’s slush fund used to reward state businesses and keep them thriving. (officially the Department of Economic Opportunity) But Lavin also has a past with new Gov. Pat Quinn. And Quinn is so confident that Rezko’s business didn’t rub off on Lavin that he is putting him in charge of those billions of dollars coming in from President Barack Obama’s stimulus package. Lavin used to work with Quinn when he was the state’s treasurer in the early 1990s. The Lavin appointment by Quinn (he is officially the chief operating officer of the state) was made with a host of selections Wednesday while everyone as distracted by Sen. Roland Burris asking everyone to “not rush to judgment.” stories erupted about fundraiser and Blagojevich advisor Tony Rezko and former Rezko employee and Blagojevich administration member Jack Lavin with setting up a fake minority front for two O’Hare Panda Express restaurants. The restaurants, supposedly operated by black concessionaire, Jabir Herbert Muhammad, received their contracts as part of a minority contract set-aside program. Like any political doings, a certain amount of “connect-the-dots” is necessary to really have fun. Rezko owns or has interest in lots of restaurants in the Chicago area, including Subways, Papa John’s (now Papa Tony’s), and Panda Express. Muhammad operates Crucial, Inc., which according to the Tribune’s research, has contracted Rezko to operate their O’Hare Panda Express restaurants. Muhammad also owns Crucial Communications with Orlando Jones, former chief of staff to County Board President John Stroger. Muhammad is the son of Nation of Islam founder, Elijah Muhammad. Jones is also a business partner of Rezko. Lavin was Deputy State Treasurer under then-Treasurer Pat Quinn (now Lt. Gov. Quinn) and Rezko has made significant contributions to Quinn. None of these relationships prove anything. In fact, if anything, they prove that Rezko, Lavin and Muhammad are really good at networking - especially with government employees. Impartial or not, the fact is that state and local contracts - in any American city or state - are hard to get unless you can get the attention of government agencies and the people that run them. Being connected helps you do business in a big way. Rezko, Lavin and Muhammad are accused of a different kind of wrong-doing, however. Like with the Hired Truck Scandal, the three are accused of obtaining minority contracts by setting up a business fronted by minorities, but largely owned and operated by non-minorities. stories erupted about fundraiser and Blagojevich advisor Tony Rezko and former Rezko employee and Blagojevich administration member Jack Lavin with setting up a fake minority front for two O’Hare Panda Express restaurants. The restaurants, supposedly operated by black concessionaire, Jabir Herbert Muhammad, received their contracts as part of a minority contract set-aside program. Like any political doings, a certain amount of “connect-the-dots” is necessary to really have fun. Rezko owns or has interest in lots of restaurants in the Chicago area, including Subways, Papa John’s (now Papa Tony’s), and Panda Express. Muhammad operates Crucial, Inc., which according to the Tribune’s research, has contracted Rezko to operate their O’Hare Panda Express restaurants. Muhammad also owns Crucial Communications with Orlando Jones, former chief of staff to County Board President John Stroger. Muhammad is the son of Nation of Islam founder, Elijah Muhammad. Jones is also a business partner of Rezko. Lavin was Deputy State Treasurer under then-Treasurer Pat Quinn (now Lt. Gov. Quinn) and Rezko has made significant contributions to Quinn. None of these relationships prove anything. In fact, if anything, they prove that Rezko, Lavin and Muhammad are really good at networking - especially with government employees. Impartial or not, the fact is that state and local contracts - in any American city or state - are hard to get unless you can get the attention of government agencies and the people that run them. Being connected helps you do business in a big way. Rezko, Lavin and Muhammad are accused of a different kind of wrong-doing, however. Like with the Hired Truck Scandal, the three are accused of obtaining minority contracts by setting up a business fronted by minorities, but largely owned and operated by non-minorities. Quinn And Rezko: As Illinois State Treasurer, Quinn’s Office Helped Finance An $875,000 Loan To Rezko. “Eight years earlier, during his time as state treasurer, Quinn’s office helped to finance a Rezko housing project through a program in which the state places deposits in certain banks that agree to lend money at low interest rates. Rezko got an $875,000 loan through the program.” (Susan Kuczka, “Running Mates Run With Purpose,” Chicago Tribune, 10/20/06) “Quinn’s Deputy Treasurer, Jack Lavin, Went On To Become Chief Financial Officer Of Rezko Enterprises And Was Recommended To Blagojevich By Rezko For His Current Post As Director Of The Illinois Department Of Economic Opportunity.” (Susan Kuczka, “Running Mates Run With Purpose,” Chicago Tribune, 10/20/06) Articles About Me: “As recently as October 2006, after Tony Rezko’s indictment, Quinn was out stumping for Blagojevich. He held news conferences attacking Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka. He said he believed Blagojevich did nothing wrong, despite the Rezko indictment.” (Kristin McQueary, “Patty-Come-Lately on Recall” Southtown Star, 5/18/08) “Now - after widespread public support for recall, after a federal corruption trial involving Blagojevich’s pals, after the governor’s plummeting poll numbers and gridlock in Springfield - Quinn is stepping gingerly into his old activist boots.” (Kristin McQueary, “Patty-Come-Lately on Recall” Southtown Star, 5/18/08) - padraig - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 10:09 pm: Dan Hynes is an unaccomplished bore. Without Tom Hynes and his cronies running the campaign, Dan could not win another term as Comtroller, let alone governor. Go Quinn! - phil - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 10:57 pm: The fault in this is the logic: why are we to believe that if Haynes were governor, Michael Madigan would have given him a bill that was anything different? Haynes doesn’t explain that so his point is confusing. - wordslinger - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 11:21 pm: Zero. Hynes is completely abusing the necessary evil of press releases in communicating with the public. For the life of me, I can’t figure how he thinks that’s a smart tactic. He’s not speaking to the people. He’s not talking to the press. He’s not talking on camera or on radio. He’s not engaged with his opponent. He’s a disembodied voice issuing missives from on high without question from or dialogue with anyone. I have a flash for you, folks: Hynes did not say those words. He did not write them. One can hope he at least approved them before they were released, but who knows? Press releases have a role in political discourse. They’re great for things like “Hynes congratulates T-Ball champs.” They’re okay for expanding or reiterating points that have already been expressed in public and challenged through dialogue with the public, opposition and press. That happens all the time. What is bizarre is that Hynes currently is attempting to conduct a substantive, detailed campaign on issues of public policy as a ghost. For all we know, he’s golfing in Scotland or surfing in Hawaii. It’s dishonest and it’s unacceptable. You have to make your case in the arena. What’s flabbergasting to me is, why is he doing it? Does he think he’s such a strong brand, or has such a great organization that he can run a stealth campaign? It’s crazy. He should be on free TV every day. He’s going to be paying millions to do so in the very near future. - anon - Thursday, Aug 27, 09 @ 11:28 pm: I give Hynes a 4. He sounds like an angry old man. He offers no solutions. Where was he during the tax increase debate? Quinn looks terrible with his U of I Trustee flip flopping, but Hynes is no better. I think the average voter just trusts Quinn more. What would make them want to switch to Hynes? I just don’t see it. Further, there is now another cemetery, Mt Hope in Chicago, that Hynes does license which is under the microscope. I guess Hynes will say that his Office audits their financial books but is aghast that there are actual problems there. Is this the guy we want as Governor? Can’t the GOP come up with any decent candidate? - It Works - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 6:33 am: For all that thinks this is boring and makes Hynes sound like a nag. Remember, “What’s she thinking!” This stuff works and what is even worse, the flip flop claim is oh so true. - Results driven - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 7:48 am: guess there are too many ’sacred cows’ running agencies without accountability for bottom line performance, afterall…so much for cleaning up incompetence and subjective contracting. But, where is the outrage? hmmm - SouthernIL - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 8:33 am: Awesome!! A statement that reflects a lot of personal visions for many of our state’s residents. - CircularFiringSquad - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 8:35 am: Both Quinn & Hynes should get A+, 10, 2 thumbs up and or 5 Stars for this event….The real losers are Gags Brady and the GOPsters who are left holding their %%(** because their leaders were standing tall with the Ds Truly Amazing - Ghost - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 9:09 am: === What is bizarre is that Hynes currently is attempting to conduct a substantive, detailed campaign on issues of public policy as a ghost. === More anti-ghost propoganda Two things struk me abou this: Quinn opends the door to this kind of stuff by contantly leaping before he looks with press releases and statements, like refering to the bill as lanmark reform. Quinn really need to think a lot more before he speaks. And Hynes message here was completly lost for me. Quinn is standing together with the repubs and dem all united in the agreement this s a flawed bill that needs removed. Quinn did not refuse to rethink his position or did in and create conflict for the sake of conflict, and finally we have a funtional governemnt act. to me Hynes looks anti-productive by in essecnce demanding the gove approve legislation that neither party thinks is a good idea. Quinn here demonstrated that he is no intransient and is willing to work together with the party leaders, So the press release hurt Hynes with me more then it helped. But I agree that politicall it meets the criteria of hammering home a simple theme - imos - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 9:16 am: why do i have a feeling Hynes had two press releases ready? One for a veto and one for signing. - Charlie - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 9:24 am: That seemed to me a weak response to the compelling picture of Quinn flanked by bipartisan leadership. A “3″ . - Inish - Friday, Aug 28, 09 @ 9:30 am: I agree that Hynes needs to now begin building on the current missteps of Gov. Quinn and begin making strong statements for the future- it is likely too early to put concrete ideas into the space yet, but something along the lines of ” Illinois needs true leadership, not more indecisive reactions..” is in order. He needs to begin increasing his visibility and promoting a strong message of opportunity to change our future- people are disillusioned with government overall right now- and people want someone who is going to lead us out of the woods. Period. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.