* The only card left for the governor to play is the race card. And he’s playing it in earnest…

Speaking to a predominantly African-American congregation at a South Side church [last night], Quinn recounted how he stood by Washington and worked to help get him elected. He also brought up the political history of how Hynes’ father, 19th Ward power broker Tom Hynes, opposed Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor.

“(Hynes) and his father in the 1980s were standing against Harold Washington and everything he tried to do bring our city together, bring our state together. I was on Harold Washington’s side on every single election Tom Hynes and his son Dan were against Harold Washington,” Quinn said. “They were part of the mass of resistance against Harold Washington, and I think that there’s a real choice for voters today not to go back to that, stand with me where I believe everyone’s in and nobody’s out.”

Quinn said the ad is reason for voters to shun Hynes in the Feb. 2 Democratic governor primary.

“Are we going to have 11 days from today a governor who brings our state together or are we going to go back to what happened before I came along with a governor who’s dividing people? I don’t think we want that,” Quinn said.

From a Quinn press release…

Responding to increasing community outrage over the Hynes campaign’s divisive television ads, Governor Pat Quinn will speak on Saturday at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Saturday Forum, led by the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. They will be joined by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has endorsed Governor Quinn in the Feb. 2 Democratic primary election.

Zorn…

Careful viewers will note, however, that race is not the theme of Hynes’ attack on Quinn. The theme is competence. And for all that, the ad may remind black voters of the unpleasant Hynes family legacy from the 1980s, but it will also remind black and white Democratic primary voters of their main doubt about Quinn — not his heart, his passion or his fundamental integrity, but his competence.

Never mind who ran against whom when. Voters are going to want to know this: Was Washington right in 1987 that Quinn was a goof-up who just wanted to agitate for his causes? And, either way, what has Quinn done in the interim to show that Washington judged him too hastily?

Did Hynes need to take that risk? Go for the game-changer that looks a bit like a Hail Mary pass? Earlier polls showed him trailing badly, but the new Tribune/WGN-TV poll released this weekend shows that, before the Washington commercial was released, the race had tightened to a near statistical deadlock.

“Careful” viewers won’t have to note anything. The “competence” point is as plain as day in that ad.

The Quinn people know that when you force voters to think too much about things - like how Hynes’ father ran against Harold Washington - you lose. So, they’ve resorted to a tactic which doesn’t require thinking because it can be so utterly reactionary: racial politics.

Keep in mind that the Tribune poll and other surveys have shown Quinn tanking in the black community, even before the Harold Washington ad. This is a high stakes game. The Hynes people believe they adequately tested this message before running the Washington ad. We’ll find out in a few days whether they tested it enough.

Expect a new Hynes ad soon, though. I’m hearing the new ad is Quinn - on video - gushing over Rod Blagojevich. The easily comprehended message is: Harold Washington didn’t like Quinn, but Quinn liked Rod.