* Eric Zorn seems to defend Gov. Pat Quinn against charges that he too easily flip-flops…
We just got done with a “my way or the highway” governor who refused to negotiate with the legislative leaders, refused ever to bend and, in consequence, steered the state budget into a huge ditch. For this, he was rightly and rounding criticized by many, including Hynes.
Now we have see Hynes and others criticizing Qunn for negotiating and compromising with legislative leaders trying to find some common ground. Then when he accepts the compromise, critics say he “completely folded” and label the result “Quinn’s Plan.”
The Hynes campaign responds…
Yes, Rod Blagojevich employed a “my way or the highway” style, leading to repeated stalemates and bad blood among leaders, and, of course, chronic budget shortfalls that in turn led to the financial ditch we now find ourselves. Pat Quinn, according to his spokeswoman, seeks compromise and is “willing to do whatever is necessary,”to get a deal done. And yet, what did he get done for all his compromising? His budget went down to defeat, leaving us with an inadequate, piecemeal budget, and, as has been reported here and elsewhere, our state continues its slide into ever deepening fiscal catastrophe. There is a wide middle ground between the extremes of the Quinn and Blagojevich styles as you describe them, and to avoid the ultimate failure they share, our next Governor will be wise to travel it.
By the way, should Pat Quinn really be given greater latitude here because he is willing to compromise, and Rod Blagojevich wasn’t? It was Governor Quinn who held up the capital bill as a bargaining chip, all the while allowing construction season to pass by, and it was Governor Quinn who threatened Draconian cuts to vital services with his “Doomsday” budget rollout. So it’s fair to say he was plenty willing to employ tactics straight from the Blagojevich playbook to try and get his way on the budget, he just didn’t succeed. The tactics are the same, the results are the same, and meanwhile, the fiscal situation in Illinois is worse off today than it was in March, than it was in May, and than it was last week.
Go read the whole thing. Comprehensive and fascinating and a preview of the bloody war about to be launched. It’s only October 15th and Hynes has already committed to well over $700K in TV ads, the latest of which begins with a warning that Quinn is “trying to fool you.” At this rate, there will be more blood in the water than water by mid-November.
* Meanwhile, Giannoulias was in DC yesterday…
Illinois Senate hopeful Alexi Giannoulias, the Illinois state treasurer, huddled with White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the state of play of the open Senate seat once held by President Obama.
The meeting was not supposed to be known to the public, but Giannoulias was recognized by reporters while on the White House grounds.
Not generally known: Giannoulias also met with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chief Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and DSCC staffers and with key members of the Democratic labor union community.
More…
According to the Giannoulias campaign, the state treasurer updated Axelrod on the U.S. Senate race in Illinois and talked about “how to make sure this seat [Illinois’ Senate seat] stays in Democratic hands.”
Giannoulias’ campaign manager, Tom Bowen, would not elaborate on the conversation.
The White House says they’re not making an endorsement, and Bowen told me that nothing happened beyond what the White House has said.
* He also met with the Hotline and gave his take on the race, starting with the tough time his Democratic primary opponents are facing…
“If you take away the holidays, when are you going to raise money? We’ve been doing this since March and we’ve raised $3 million and it has not been easy,” he said. “Two months to try to raise money when no one knows who you are, no polling to show them, I just think it’s challenging.”
While Jackson has the demographic distinction being the only woman and only African-American in the race, Giannoulias said “she has to prove that she’s viable” in order to capitalize. While Jackson has raised $354K in the last month, and received the backing of EMILY’s List, proving she’s a viable candidate will be difficult. Moreover, she hasn’t been tested in electoral politics, and neither has Hoffman, Giannoulias said. “Not only have they not run for statewide office before, but they haven’t run for office in their lives.”
Looking ahead to the general, Giannoulias made it clear he wants to paint Kirk as “too extreme” for IL. “He’s not moderate,” the Dem said. “What we need to do is let people in Illinois know how he’s voted.” Asked if tying Kirk to George W. Bush will still be a workable strategy next year, Giannoulias said: “yes.”
“If he talks about debt being too much, well, he voted for all of George Bush’s budgets where the debt doubled,” the treas. said. “He’s got a lot of explaining to do.”
Giannoulias cited Kirk’s House vote on cap-and-trade legislation and back-and-forth about entering the race as signs of weakness. “Already in a few months, I’ve seen some huge mistakes,” he said. “We’re going to highlight that. We’re going to highlight the fact that he’s trying to go to the right and figure out what his base is. He’s dealing with inconsistencies.”
Giannoulias admitted that the general would be “very tight.”
* Five Republican candidates gathered for a forum last night in Springfield. The SJ-R did a good job of summarizing their positions on various issues, so go take a look. Here are their answers to a question about who is the best candidate…
Andrzejewski – “For this election cycle, if you have political experience, there’s a simple definition of that, and it means political baggage. … I’m free of it.”
Brady – “My business experience gives me a position of understanding, my ability to communicate gives me a leg up on these individuals.”
Dillard – “For Republicans, I believe I’m the one candidate that could win the general election. My experience as Gov. Edgar’s chief of staff was invaluable and I believe I have the best geographic understanding of the state of Illinois.”
Proft – “I am the only candidate who has the problem properly diagnosed…I’m the only candidate talking about big system change ideas.”
Schillerstrom – “I’m a fresh face with a record of success who is not part of the government that has failed the people of Illinois for the last many, many years.”
* Ethan Hastert’s fundraising numbers are in. The Republican Hastert is campaigning for his father’s old US House seat now held by Democrat Bill Foster. Hastert’s numbers aren’t exactly gigantic, but they dwarf his nearest GOP competitor’s…
Hastert’s campaign says he raised more than $225,000 over the summer while rival state Sen. Randy Hultgren of Winfield Township says he has taken in about $75,000.
Hultgren says his lagging is largely due to his late entrance in the race, having announced just a few days before the Sept. 30 end of the summer reporting period for federal campaign finance records. Hastert has been floating his name since the spring.
“We are going to be able to get our message out there,” Hultgren said Wednesday.
* Related…
* Lipinski Faces Challenge from Immigrant Leader: One of the Chicago area’s most visible immigrant leaders is planning to challenge Congressman Dan Lipinski in this winter’s Democratic primary.
* Official Q3 Results Begin to Come In; Dem Attorney Elliot Richardson Lags Behind in IL-10 at Under $60K Raised
* Former state’s attorney enters judge race: State Rep. Ron Wait, R-Belvidere, won’t get a free ride to election in 2010 as a Boone County judge.
* Blunt talker leaving Madison County politics: In 1999, I described him in this space as having “baked up a successful political career without bothering to use sugar as an ingredient.”
- Kane Conservative - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 12:19 pm:
its good to know that kirk dillard has a geographic understanding of illinois
- wordslinger - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 12:20 pm:
–The meeting was not supposed to be known to the public, but Giannoulias was recognized by reporters while on the White House grounds.–
Oh, that’s very good. I’m sure Alexi was all on board for a cloak-and-dagger sneak into the White House. He and his staff definitely wouldn’t let anyone know it was going down.
Kind of late consolation prize for the Lisa M. meeting. Must have been kind of awkward meeting with Axelrod, given that his old crew is working for Hoffman.
- Ghost - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 12:24 pm:
i have seen 3 Hynes adds to Quinns 1. If Hynes can keep that level of spending going, I would bet we start to see a shift in polling numbers.
I think the GOP canidates (other then Dillard) approach of I know nothing about the job so please elect me is one o those concpets that if you think it thru is a bad idea.
Operating the entire State, IMHO, requires a bit of experience and institional knowledge in order to do it effectively. I give Dillard buig points for having some exp. with Govt operations which I think makes him better prepared to step in and start running the office.
Blag messed up a lot of things in part because he had no idea how things worked or why they were set up the way they were before he started to change them. I am all for changing things that don’t make sense, but you need to know what it does before you can decide if its broke or how to fix it.
That was part of the advantage of Ryan and Edgar, they had experience with State operations and Government before stepping into the big chair.
- shore - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 12:25 pm:
Kirk voted for hate crimes bill last week, one of 2 republicans to do so- a BIG deal. He was with john conyers on guns. The senate race is going to come down to the suburbs, the most liberal of which are in Mark’s district where he has won 5 straight races where his opponents have tried to call him an extremist and failed 5 times despite some of the worst GOP political enviornments. These are positions he’s had for 10 years.
What Alexi doesn’t mention is that next year Bush is going to be gone, but there will be a major story about another sketchy chicago politician. All bets are off with that.
Also good luck trying to get the media to buy that Mark is a right winger when they’ve all spent years writing about his pro-choice, NRA F- rating, support from the gay republicans group, efforts to kill the bridge to nowhere.
I said earlier this week-the 5 GOP GUV guys were on tv for a debate with lisnek and I liked it more than most that I can rememeber. I wasn’t a fan of Brady coming in, but the guy was quick, in command and looked like the sort of tough conservative grownup we need down there.
- Will County Woman - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:03 pm:
After reading all of that I agree with the Hynes campaign, and I don’t think we’ll be hearing too much more from eric zorn on the matter. I think the Hynes campaign pretty much summed it all up as to why to why Quinn should be cut no slack. The only thing I would add is that in the weeks before Blago was ousted, Quinn was running around boldly proclaiming that he was ready to lead.
So I guess my question for Eric is why shouldn’t Quinn be held to that?
The image of quinn standing in a GA chamber and changing his mind/lip-flopping as decisions needed to be made is what stands out for me, and in a negative way. It was inexcusable and totally unbecoming conduct of someone bearing the title of governor. It was unbelievably outrageous and downright appalling!
I can appreciate that people like Quinn, for what is worth I do too But, I still can’t get over how much he is not like his former self and I have trouble with the new incarnation. But, putting personal feeling aside, there’s no way that he should continue on as governor. Just because he is (or was) a good person, doesn’t mean that he is automatically a good governor and and/or above reproach.
Quinn’s behavior/conduct as governor reminds me of former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and how she behaved and conducted herself during the Hurricane Katrina crisis.
Suffice it to say that there are just certain kinds of people who should NOT be leading in times of crisis.
- MrJM - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:05 pm:
Schillerstrom – “I’m a fresh face with a record of success who is not part of the government that has failed the people of Illinois for the last many, many years.”
I encourage any citizen of Illinois with access to DuPage County to fact-check that statement.
– MrJM
- Niles Tonwship - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:09 pm:
“After reading all of that I agree with the Hynes campaign…”
“reminds me of former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and how she behaved and conducted herself during the Hurricane Katrina crisis.”
————————–
Surprise! All written by Will County Woman (otherwise know as a Hynes staffer and/or logn time supporter). Your outrageous assetions in this race are beginning to be a broken record.
- Loop Lady - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:29 pm:
Niles Township: Whatever you said…I agree…
- GA Watcher - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:32 pm:
If what I heard last night is any indication, Dan Hynes’ commercials are having an impact with voters. At a meeting at my church last night, a group of people who are predominantly Republican were talking about the effectiveness of his latest ads and how they may consider voting for him. BTW, this is the home parish of Governor Quinn’s brother, John.
- Obamarama - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:35 pm:
===I encourage any citizen of Illinois with access to DuPage County to fact-check that statement.===
Shall we start with his previous failed attempt at the Governor’s mansion? Or how about raiding the Water Commission’s coffers to cover county debt? Perhaps you mean going to Springfield to ask for legislation allowing him to raise taxes further to cover a budget deficit (hey, isn’t he supposed to be a Republican)? There is always the boondoggle ethics ordinance that they have not been able to pass despite trying really, really hard to look like they’re trying.
Look on the bright side, at least we are about to get half a million dollars worth of new cell phones for county employees. Can you hear me now?
- heet101 - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:37 pm:
Rich Miller for Dan Hynes for Governor! So what some guy wrote an editorial? All the Hynes campaign did was draw attention to it when most people probably wouldn’t even have been aware of it anyway. Regardless of that point, Zorn’s analysis is spot on. Also, the Hynes campaign needs to employ the “take ten deep breaths” strategy before they decide to respond to every flea that nips their behind.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:37 pm:
I agree with shore re: Giannoulias/Kirk. I was a bit surprised (and I’ll admit, confused) by Giannoulias’ decision to paint Kirk as “too extreme” and stating that he is “not a Moderate” when I read all the articles early this AM. They’re the two major points that were consistently reported across the board.
I wonder whether the Giannoulias folks have thought this one through. Giannoulias will not be able to sail through by simply restating those points over and over again. He’s going to have to get into details sooner or later, and that’s where the challenge is going to come in–and they’re going to realize that Kirk is, well…a Moderate.
Sounds silly, I know. Hence my confusion.
- anon - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 1:39 pm:
Kirk was in DC too.
- shore - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 2:01 pm:
Kirk’s rated the 4th most liberal current GOP congressman by the nonpartisan National Journal. As they say on the mean courts of the East Bank Club, Alexi, this one’s an AIRBALL.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/cs_20090228_9659.php
- Jaygee - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 2:24 pm:
Tuesday’s Greenville ADVOCATE reported that Will Boyd, an African-American council member and Greenville College instructor, is pursuing the Illinois Senate Seat now held by Rolland Burris. Worth a peek.
- 4 percent - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 3:10 pm:
Given the ethics climate, i am shocked and appalled that Treasurer Giannoulias would have a politican campaign meeting at the White House…a public building. Does federal law allow this? Just like the IRS frowns upon political endorsements at churches..
- Chubs Mahoney - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 3:38 pm:
WCW, please take another break from comments or at least take a deep breath. The hyperbole is getting so old:
– “It was unbelievably outrageous and downright appalling! –
Come on.
- Will County Woman - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 4:03 pm:
Oh Niles Township, nothing could be further from the truth. the Kathleen Blanco comparison is not too far off the mark, though. I remember her holding a press conference, crying and telling George W. Bush to give her back her National Guardsmen. Whether or not she had her Guardsmen a full strength/access had nothing to do with her poor leadership in time of crisis.
Chubs- you’re right, in retrospect, the hyperbole was a bit over the top. If I could take it all back, I would omit the word unbelievably.
Afternoon Loop Lady!
- Chubs Mahoney - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 4:30 pm:
WCW, Illinois has a capital plan. That’s not “poor leadership in a time of crisis.” Just the opposite.
Now think about Dan Hynes. Where was he at the height of the state’s budget crisis? MIA. As a statewide officeholder, he was uniquely suited to play a meaningful role in diving into the mess and helping the Governor in good faith. Did he? Nope. He wrote a letter, I think.
Now he tries to incite outrage, and cast himself as a dramatic alternative to Quinn, in campaign commercials. I’m not buying it.
- Will County Woman - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 5:40 pm:
Chubs,
for me it comes down to temperment. hopefully you can recall the social service funding cut scare that happened late spring/early summer. fear and pandemonium struck the hearts of many social services providers and their clients.
On the one hand there was the governor. At points he seemed to relish in or delight in inciting fear and pandemonium, not in personal way, but in a political way.
on the other hand there was dan hynes, who at that time was not running for governor. he was stressing calm and questioning the need to incite fear and pandemonium. he said it wasn’t necessary to do that to the social service providers and their clients, and that it was totally uncalled for.
one showed sensitivity and the other didn’t. that’s not to say that quinn was insensitive because he is mean-spirited. I don’t think he is mean-spirited at all, but I do think that he is insensitive. I understand and agree that one cannot be all things to all people at all times. But, in the position in which he is in, as governor, he needs to not only be cognizant of the various interests, but sensitive to them as well. if not him, then certainly the people around him need to make sure that he comes off as sensitive rather than exploitative.
so in this round hynes won. it was a moment of crisis and hynes came across as professional, tactful, sensitive, and dignified.
where there is not a lot of in terms of accomplishment or work history,as governor, on either side, I have to look at other factors, such as temperment and the situation (crisis situation).
So, it’s great that Quinn signed the capital bill, but let’s put it into context. prior to that he was holding the Cap Bill hostage as a way of attempting to force the GA’s hand on his tax hike proposal. This is on the heels of gridlock between him and legislators, and his failure to assess the political landscape prior to March 18th and negotiate and work with legislators to ensure smooth passage of his budget on the first try. And, for a while his insistence on a 50 percent tax increase at the expense of just about everything else. temperment, chubs, temperment.
My temperment is such that I couldn’t be president of the U.S. But, there are other things at which I would be excellent, my temperment not withstanding.
- David Ormsby - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 5:50 pm:
WCW - blogging marathons?
- Anon - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 6:02 pm:
Ummm, Chubs, I seem to remember Hynes sounding the alarm since good old boy Rod’s first term. Where exactly was Pat Quinn while Rod was playing games with the budget? Oh, that’s right, he was out there defending his running mate as honest and ethical. Seems to me that Quinn didn’t find his voice until it was popular to pile on.
- Chubs Mahoney - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 6:18 pm:
WCW, I agree that temperament is important. Our perceptions of Quinn are just different.
Quinn strikes me as an honest team-player.
It seemed like he would have welcomed ideas and constructive criticism from the comptroller, but Hynes calculated that it would be safer to sit out, and spring out like a jack-in-the-box when it suited him politically.
That’s not professional or dignified.
- Will County Woman - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 6:28 pm:
thank you for spelling temperament correct. how come your posts are always shorter than mine? I hate to dispute you again, but I gather from his free-wheeling usuage of the term “ankle bitter,” Quinn would have not been so welcoming of Hynes’ criticisms.
btw…don’t you find something unseemly about a governor using an expression such as “ankle bitter” to describe a fellow constitutional officer, even if lower-ranking?
- Chubs Mahoney - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 6:29 pm:
Anon, No honest observer of IL govt could say with a straight face that Quinn was “running around defending Rod”. He did run around a lot for military families, conservationists, consumers, etc., but not for Rod.
Quinn was persona non grata to Blago, which is why he did his own thing as Lt Gov.
- Chubs Mahoney - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 6:35 pm:
I thought characterizing Comptroller Hynes as an “ankle biter” was spot-on (and funny).
My guess is that most people who have been following agree.
- Will County Woman - Thursday, Oct 15, 09 @ 6:48 pm:
Good grief, my spelling! people who have been following? Hynes has only for example asked about over due bills totaling nearly $5 billion and what importance, if any, they are to the governor on the grande scheme of things. Truthfully, the governor hadn’t been talking about the overdue bills in the last eight months, so I kinda thought it fair of Hynes to ask and/or gently remind him about them.
- Johnnyc - Friday, Oct 16, 09 @ 4:41 am:
Ghost-
“i have seen 3 Hynes adds to Quinns 1. If Hynes can keep that level of spending going, I would bet we start to see a shift in polling numbers.”
Quinn matched Hynes buy $ for $ but started 4 days later. If they are buying the same amount of points, Hynes won’t get any movement. Especially when is his 1st ad was so bad that he had to pull it.
WCW
“… in retrospect, the hyperbole was a bit over the top.”
Your next post.
“At points he seemed to relish in or delight in inciting fear and pandemonium”
Impressive work. How do I subscribe to your newsletter?