Pat Quinn has been an outsider all his life, so his level of friends in this business is very small. Most of your readers have been involved in Springfield for quite a while, and have at least once in a while battled some of Pat’s left field ideas. Brady has been in Springfield for a while, but for the most part he has been a non discript member of the minority party between his House and Senate years. Never was vocal, just a reliable conservative vote, and this really is not a RED conservative state for the most part. Both are honest nice men, but pretty much out of the mainstream when it comes to dealing with folks under the dome
I have met them both concerning legislation I was working on.Pat Quinn is a good friend of veterans as is Brady.I like them both but I don’t think either is right for the job at this time,but both nice people.Just hard to make a call.
Seriously?! I think that both candidates possess the charisma of broken finger nail; and therefore, the unease commenter’s have for both men is from their lack of any sort of personal character. There’s just nothing there for Quinn whose banal populist offerings are dull to the core. And then there’s Brady’s insufferable conservatism that’s going to take a header on Election Day. Snark, I would argue, is much easier with these two guys. Why not ask commenter’s to wax positive on Whitney and Cohen??
I could say lots of nice things about one and a few nice things about the other. Unfortunately, because of their many missteps over the past year most of those nice things came off sounding like snark.
Bottom line, these guys have messed up so many times, in so many strange ways, that even positive comments sound like snark.
I think it’s because all their good qualities come with major caveats. Such as Pat Quinn, the guy really does care about the working men and women of Illinois, but he has the management skills of celery and he can’t get the job done. Brady has a good understanding of what businesses need but he’s so crazy right wing he doesn’t understand compromise, the reality of the budget situation or anything that’s not far right craziness. You get the feeling that this guy would play well in rural Alabama.
I don’t think we want to mention the good traits that these men have without mentioning all the negatives that far outweigh the positives of these two men when it comes to being governor.
I think it is hard to see past the mess we’re in in Illinois. We are facing a horrific deficit, and I think probably a lot of people are just disillusioned with any candidate who’s been part of this mess, either as the Governor overseeing the state, or as part of a legislature that for years has not seemed particularly willing to make tough decisions that could threaten their re-election.
I also think the increasingly partisan tone in government and politics, from the federal level on down, is turning a lot of people off. I, for one, am sick of seeing every candidate spout off the same partisan garbage instead of sticking to the issues that need to be addressed, and tying their opponents to an unpopular pol from the same party (so-and-so is a “George Bush Republican” or a “Rod-Blagojevich-Democrat”, even if the opponent has never worked closely - or at all - with the offensive pol to which they’ve been linked). This second point doesn’t speak specifically to Quinn and Brady. I’m just trying to point out that a lot of people are disgusted with politicians in general and are sick of having to choose the lesser of what they feel are two evils.
Oh because they are both such lightweights and Brady is particularly smarmy.
Being forced to say something 100% nice just makes one’s skin crawl. Just doesn’t seem honest. Seems 2-faced.
I mean I could have said on the positive side that Bill Brady expels carbon dioxide during the breathing process that is crucial to plant life, but I suspected that might be deleted as snarky.
The positives of Quinn and Brady are mundane, run-o’-the-mill qualities. I figured if it’s this hard to come up with an interesting answer, these two men don’t warrant the effort.
1. They are both relatively weak candidates whose paths to the nomination were a bit flukey.
2. They are both on outside wings of their parties, Quinn on a populist wing of the Democratic party and Brady on the right wing of the Republican party. Hence people who feel positive about one tend to really dislike the other.
3. The general mood in politics these days is very partisan and adversarial, both in Illinois and in the nation generally.
Except for their missteps, these are a pair of rather boring gentlemen who do not inspire either love or hatred. I’d say the lack of response was probably due to antipathy.
Brady and Quinn neither have the farm team that Rod did. There were a lot of positives given for Rod Blagojevich, but don’t you think a lot of that was from his minions in state government giving props to him? There were, after all, a lot of folks who drank the Cool-Aid with Rep. Hoffman and became rabid supporters of Rod (Bill). Lots of us knew he’d end up on the witness stand too, right? Rod was a (nut) character with a huge personality (flaw) and so he offered commenters the challenge they were looking for on your blog.
Also, to the deleted ones who said “It’s because everybody’s so partisan here,” that’s just not true. Commenters here, for the most part, are infinitely less stridently partisan than just about anywhere else on the intertubewebnets.
Think about it a second… I was making a point about how partisanship actually distorts the lens through which people view the opponent. Psychologically, it is difficult to put aside one’s prejudice and look at another. Your blog, almost by definition, attracts insiders and partisans who are here to debate issues, passionately, and who sometime allow that partisanship to be the only thing filter their thoughts through. Your QOTD received poor response because everyone is hyped up, especially in this cycle! It is difficult for some to put the energy aside.
I can say with all honesty that, as a Democratic partisan, I know basically zero positive to really say about Brady. Being a partisan, I’ll have to admit I have not gone out of my way to search it out. And the local news tends overwhelmingly to focus on the negative (and CapFax hasn’t had that much positive to say about Brady, either, unless again my filters have led me to screen it out). So it would have been a legitimate challenge for me to pull something up. I’d have had to go searching the web, which is more time than I want to invest in a QoTD!
That said, I have no doubt that Brady does - have - positive qualities … most politicians do, when you get past the media filter. But he really suffered for me in the burst of negative info I learned just after the primary, in terms of his issue stances on social positions and on taxes and budget-cutting. Once I learned that, I pretty much shut down all consideration of voting for Brady. So I felt no need to go out and find the ways (I am sure) he’s behaved admirably.
I could pull up plenty of positive and negative things to say about Quinn, but Brady is kind of a one-sided mystery to me.
I think part of it is that Blago, for all his faults, came across as a much stronger leader. All Kids and so forth were big things that were clearly labeled Blago. Rightly or wrongly, people gave him credit for those things.
Quinn and Brady spend most of their time reacting to things. There is not a lot to point to say “this man did this and it is good.”
I also think it is harder to do that in the thick of an election. Perspective gets skewed. If you strongly like or dislike a candidate, it is harder to step back and be objective.
All that said, I would have had no problem answering the question if the race was between Dillard and Quinn.
Because the public likes drama in their politics. Just like soap opera. We focus on the disaster and scandel. Hence how the negative ad always beats the postive ad.
I think it is difficult because both have their own inadequacies which come to mind first.
Q: He is very good on Veterans issues. On other issues, although misguided, I think he genuinely cares.
B: He is a great guy to have a beer with, similar to Reagan’s persona (I know he’s not Reagan). I know Bill has a way to go but I think he is growing and looks more and more gubernatorial.
No snark - Just what I am told repeatedly. People are tired of the same old -same old. Neither candidate is telling us what actual steps they will take to get us out of the mess we find ourselves in. What they are saying is why we shouldn’t vote for the other guy. We are in what is beyond dire staights. Handicapped persons are losing the home health care they depend upon for daily living because the state can’t pay its bills. People are losing their homes (even mobile homes)and or cars due to lack of work and the maxing out of unemployment benefits. Some sit in the heat, their electric disconnected. Some do without gas during the summer months. Some have been told that due to federal government guidelines, they did not make enough money (while on unemployment) to qualify for an extension of unemployment benefits in Illinois. They have maxed out their allowed visits to the local food pantries (very shameful for some to go at all) They cannot find jobs in Illinois. Construction workers have been out of work, some for more than two years. Unemployment is high. People CANNOT feed their children. While they sit at the TV, or open their mail, what they get is one candidate telling them why the other one is SOOOO BAD. What they get is the media telling them that things have improved. People know better. Voters are busted and disgusted. They want to hear what actual plans one candidate or the other has to put the state back on the right track. The fact that neither is doing that makes neither one attractive to the voters (and I suspect to your bloggers). We need a reality check. When they actually propose something I will make a positive comment then.
I do think MrJM said it, but also, for me, it’s because
Brady is loathsome, really objectionable policy wise
and even personally. my so called nice comment on
him “he loves his wife” was delivered with snark because
I think he’s showing a “traditional” wife image as his supporter,
it’s like she is a robot, we have no texture to who she
actually is. so I delivered nice with personal snark so
hard to be actually nice.
on Quinn, while I do know that he has many good
qualities, he’s doing such a bad job with his campaign
that it makes me angry. hard to be nice to him too.
Thinking of something good to say also brought in thoughts of how they will be as Governor. When I do that, the things that come to the front of my mind are scary (though at least different in each of the two scenarios).
Since the primaries I’ve been mired in regret that none of the candidates I wanted in either party is there for my vote in the general election. I just need to get over it and deal with reality. In that vein, what would be good about Quinn as Governor is that he would support increased revenue which seems like an essential part of the puzzle and could help delay the complete collapse of the community human services net; good about Brady as Governor is that (paradoxically) he would be more progressive on human services, favoring community services over more costly and lower quality state institutional services.
I think the situation is different now at least to me. I can’t remember if I commented on the Blago questions, but in this instance I am so tired of the ridiculous campaigns of both Brady and Quinn. The constant rookie mis-steps, the presenting of both as caring candidates who really have our best interest at heart and then the actions that say the exact opposite, and the less than consistent message from both sides makes me not want to hunt for anything positive. So I guess I am with the rest in saying that the no snark just left me with nothing to say and no energy to try to come up with something to say.
This whole campaign from one end to the other is like wading through waist deep sand. It just takes the sap right of of you.
That is the very reason I think that is going to either keep people away from the polls or at least keep them from casting a vote in this contest. Unless either of these candidates comes out with something special or changes their tactics I see voters not wasting their time on this contest. I don’t know if the anti incumbant anger will sustain itself until November, which I originally thought might incite higher voter turnout. But I think the regular Joe the plumber is so tired of all the political BS that is going on everywhere and at every level that they are going to do what your commenters did with this question. They are not going to participate.
- Third Generation Chicago Native - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:05 pm:
Pat Quinn is seen as a regular guy, he was out at the 63rd and Ashland El stop (South Side), he goes out of his way for the military, goes to all the funerals, helps our Veterans out. He is out and about at South Side Churchs, and other events on the South Side where most dare to go. He has not body guards, at least as Lt. Gov, I am not sure about being Governor if he decided to utlize the bodyguard benefit.
Brady, is kindof not real combative or obnoxious, actually nothing special or visious.
I answered the QOTD back on Rod, but remember having to search pretty hard to say something nice about the guy. Even with what I came up with there was no doubt in my mind the guy did it to win points not because he seriously gave a hoot about the issue.
I did not answer the QOTD on Quinn/Brady. Partly because I’m currently more annoyed with Quinn than usual at present and partly because I can’t find myself being supportive of Brady at all. What I dislike and/or disagree with Brady on far outweigh anything ‘nice’ I could come up with and the question was ‘nice’ about both. I had nothing nice to say of either one on that day.
As somebody who will likely vote for Quinn, the best I can say is “He’s not Brady.” He is neither good at his job nor charming in person. Franky I don’t understand how he’s gotten elected in the past. There are a few politicians that I know that are considered considered machine hacks or corrupt or whatever, but they are fun people to have a beer with. That’s not the case for Quinn. Given the opportunity to have dinner with him, I would pass. Say something nice about him that is not snark? I just can’t do it. All I’ve got is “Not Brady.”
With regard to Brady — he’s a walking embodiment of just about everything I find offensive in the GOP. He panders with his “no taxes” stuff while having no real plan to balance the budget. Pandering like that hurts us all. It makes voters think that it can be done, when it can’t. And his views on social issues are really troubling. And I’ve never met him personally, so I can’t say “he’s a nice guy.”
Bottom line on these two — I just have nothing nice to say about either of these guys.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:16 pm:
Brady comes across as one who truly and honestly believes in his positions, which is refreshing for a politician, whether you agree with those positions or not.
Quinn for years has managed to elbow his way into various offices, usually but not always as an outsider. His persistence is admirable, and he does have that slightly rumpled look of a neighbor who lives down the street.
Louis, you really think that Brady believes the he can balance the budget without raising taxes. Come on. Nobody believes it. I don’t think Brady believes it at all, which is part of the reason that I have problems with him.
They both have their flaws and at that their flaws are about equal. I did say that I believe Quinn to be an honest man as compared to his predecessor. Although to be sure Quinn has left a lot to be desired as a Governor. As for Brady, since I don’t know as much about him it was more difficult to come up with something nice about him. Especially if it was beyond his political persona.
What’s the point of praising Quinn for being nice and caring and populist if he’s equally ineffective, if not more so, than Blagojevich. I had more “hope” after Blago left office than Bush. Quinn has been a bigger dissapointment to me than Obama. I thought once we had a non-insane person in the Governor’s office, government could start functioning again. Obviously a lot of this lies at Madigan’s feet, but Quinn does the same sort of publicity stunts that Blago did. I couldn’t believe reading about him taking the state plane to a campaign event. So it’s not that he doesn’t have positive qualities, but that they’re being completely overshadowed by his failures.
And Brady is simply right wing. I’ve known too many people that are nice enough people and also intolerant. I don’t have patience for them, and I don’t want to congratulate them on friendliness when they want to deny a group of people basic civil liberties.
I think the problem for me is that these two constitute absolutely the most dismal choices I have ever had to face in an election. All of Quinn’s better qualities have been overwhelmed by his gutless inability to stick with a position under any sort of pressure, and by his apparent bald incompetence. Brady may or may not be able to stick with his principles, but most of his positions are completley divorced from any sense of reality. Except for some elements of his pro-gun rights position, I dislike virtually all that he stands for. Howe can I passibily offer anything positive about either of these two? This isn’t a game to some of us: One of these awful people is going to preside over four more years of ineffective government in Illinois, and there is nothing funny about that.
I saw the same thing this week, and wondered why. I spent the day running around thinking about why I couldn’t come up with two things.
I don’t like either guy. Quinn has been governor for the past 18 months and he has been lousy. He has sat on his hands after the opportunity of his lifetime falls upon his lap. I thought I knew Pat Quinn. I obviously don’t. He has fallen so far short in my low expectations after Blagojevich, I cannot vote for him. I could have come up with quite a few positives for Pat Quinn before he became governor. I cannot now. He frankly, stinks.
Then there is Bill Brady. Two good things? Two? OK - how about one? Ummmm….. Nope. I cannot come up with anything positive with him either. I don’t believe he is capable of governing Illinois - a smaller state like, say, Idaho - perhaps. Bill Brady to me doesn’t fit my Illinois. I’m conservative, but I don’t believe he knows a fig about taking conservatism and governing with it in any intelligent way.
Now - why were there so few postings? I wondered about that too this week.
We have had a string of disasters as governors. There hasn’t been a decent one since Edgar, and he in my opinion, wore out his welcome by the end of the 20th Century. We saw an old man insider horse trader go down ugly. We saw a young man Chicagoan insider prostitute everything we believed in. Now we see an old progressive gadfly with a long history in offices, rotting and dithering, flipping and spinning like he is Admiral Stockdale if that old hero suddenly found himself in a paintball showdown.
Three! Three freaking disappointments!
It isn’t a coincidence that the US Senate seat held by Obama for, what 48 hours or so, reserved by Jackson, Jarrett and Jones, fumbled off to the “Magic Man” is unattractive right now. It isn’t a coincidence that the governor’s seat held by the Three Stooges is unattractive right now. So, when the parties passed up nominating Hynes, Dillard, and Adam Hows-that-name-spelled, and nominated Brady and Quinn, we are going to throw up our hands and our digesteds and get really POed!
We are in a hole and are watching two discredited bums bash one another with their shovels. It makes one want to move to another state, one with a decent future.
I can’t speak for anyone else, but here’s how it is for me:
I find it very easy to say something bad about my guy or something good about their guy, but only in isolation from the other candidate.
I’m just not going to cross over when the candidates are in a side-by-side comparison. To say one good thing about my guy and one good thing about their guy runs the risk of creating an appearance of a false equivalence, i.e. My guy is good on X, but their guy is good on Y. That’s true, but it is still very, very far from the whole truth.
I think that if you had asked “Say something positive about the candidate you oppose” or “Say five positive things about your guy and one positive about their guy” you would have gotten more responses. Well, at least one more response.
Or — and this is a long shot — I might be over-thinking this.
VMan is on to something.
There is something almost painful about this election, knowing that one or the other will win. And it is particularly true since both Lt. Gov. candidates are so weak. For the next four years, we are pretty much screwed.
Best not to think about it.
Didn’t have time to comment that day, but felt that the posters basically were limited by the subjects. Both men seem to be honorable, decent men who most people wouldn’t mind having as neighbors, but neither inspire much confidence as candidates for governor. Add in the partisan factor felt by many, and is hard to comment. Off the subject, Cohen worries me as a protest vote, but Whitney will get my vote.
Because I can count Bill Brady’s sensible or even acceptable policy stands on the fingers of one hand (and it’s relatively small things like “he likes Amtrak”). And because you need a magnifying glass to find Pat Quinn’s administrative capabilities.
On the other hand it’s a bit difficult to blame them for Lt. Gov. That has more to do with the callow leadership of both parties either failing to take the slightest interest in what was happening (Dems) or pandering to a particular interest group (Republicans).
I couldn’t agree more with VMan. To know that these candidates (all of them) are our only choices for Governor, I’m really considering not voting and I know that I’m not the only one.
Reading these comments is very depressing–although I agree with many of them. Neither Quinn or Brady were my preferred candidates in the primaries, either. As unpleasant as the two main choices are for many of us, is there any real doubt that Cohen and Whitney are not in fact much MORE problematic when it comes to their ability to build coalitions and run the state? Elections with the potential of lots of “protest votes”, or to “teach so-and-so a lesson” are always scary because they can get very out of control very fast, (as people here have pointed out about the results of past elections on numerous occasions.) Let’s be careful out there, people.
Finding something good to say about each of them is not difficult - they both seem to be decent people - but it’s like asking what you like about the movie when the theater is on fire. I am very frustrated with this choice of candidates. We desperately need competence and dedication in the next governor. But it seems vanishingly unlikely that Brady can be a competent governor, and Quinn has proved beyond a doubt that he can’t. I’m going for Brady because one party rule is always bad, but I don’t like the idea of him as governor one bit.
Pat Quinn co-founded the Coalition for Political Honesty in 1976. The group led the charge to ban members of the General Assembly from receiving their full salary on the first day of the legislative session or from holding other elected public offices, a practice commonly known as “double-dipping” that is still in practice today.
Bill Brady Brady supports replacing the Illinois State Board of Education with a much smaller agency. Since no snark is allowed here, I cannot express my true feelings for the ISBE and why I would applaud its demise.
Even though I don’t post very often, I read this blog religiously, and I pretty much always know what I’d say if I participated. That particular QOTD left me completely dumbfounded.
We have two incredibly underwhelming candidates in Brady and Quinn, and neither inspires much confidence - even amongst their supporters. This race appears to be based on nothing but “at least I’m not the other guy” instead of any actual accomplishments or positive traits. Quinn is pretty well known to us, and whether or not we agree with him politically, his work with veterans is very admirable. By comparison, Brady might as well be from a galaxy far, far away. How do you say something nice about someone if the only thing you know about them is strictly based on campaign talking points? Even many of the insiders that regularly post on this blog declined to answer that question, yet Brady has been in the legislature for how long? To me, that says Brady hasn’t accomplished anything and is severely lacking in the character department.
I’m a Democrat, but the choices for governor and US Senate have me singing “It’s Not Easy Being Green”.
Neither one of them light up the TV screen or have even a small touch of whatever it is that makes the camera like you. They have OK, sincere, bland presentations. That’s no indication of skill and ability, but to get people to listen/believe you it sure seems pretty important to me. I would lean toward Quinn because he has the job and is forced to take actions because the job requires. Brady has been a barely noticed guy in the background.
Cinci, I guess your point is that its OK for your side to be partisan, but the rest of us should take everything objectively and eschew political spin. Let’s take a look at your post from the QOTD in question…
==Pat Quinn - Appears to be honest and not feathering his own bank next.
Bill Brady - Family man.==
Family man? Is that all you could come up with given your typical ultra-GOP spin? You wrote two positives about Pat Quinn, and you could only come up with one very generic nice thing to say about Brady who is your standard bearer. This only highlights my point about Brady being largely unknown. His own supporters don’t even know anything about him! They can’t point to a single thing that he accomplished in a decade and a half in the legislature.
Wild guess here, but I would say the overwhelming number of commenters here are not neutral. We know who we are voting for this Fall. Hard to say something nice about the one you hope will lose.
“Cinci, I guess your point is that its OK for your side to be partisan, but the rest of us should take everything objectively and eschew political spin. Let’s take a look at your post from the QOTD in question…”
Swing and a miss, Anon. The QOTD last time asked to say something nice about both people. I did, something you apparently are unable to do.
Today, Rich asked why the response to the previous QOTD was low. My guess was that people are wound up by this election, and are having a tough time laying down their partisanship to respond. Thanks for proving my point.
Got here late and didn’t read through everything, but I think I agree with VM (just scanned his post). Right now there’s a lot wrong with Illinois politics, a lot wrong with state finances, a lot wrong with the D-R divide. These 2 guys are doing nothing of any substance to fix any of it. With so much on the line, they’re failing.
Back when the question was asked about Blagojevich, the straits weren’t as dire and the other shoe had fallen. He had a record, too, and some of it didn’t stick. I remember posting that he issues resolution 2006-01 setting up the studies to evaluate the water supplies in NE and central IL. Great work came of it and it was very forward-thinking.
Nothing like that from Quinn and Brady. Just misstep after misstep.
For me it’s the budget! Neither Brady nor Quinn have plan that will work. The negatives far outweigh the positives for both.
Quinn is just hoping and praying that the House Democrats will support a tax increase after November. But, hey weren’t they supposed to support it after the Primary? Ooops. Let’s say he wins…a tax increase after November so voters can stew about it for four years like, ala Stroger and allow the Republicans can get superstars like Cedra to threaten Speaker Madigan’s majority? Yeah sure a tax increase is gonna happen after November.
I don’t know what it is but, Brady just doesn’t seem right to me. My problem with him is his 10 % across the board budget cuts oughta do it attitude. Geeze. He’s been in state government for 18 years and can’t come up with more? If he has no ideas on what to do he could at least steal the ideas of his primary opponents and try to pass them off as his own. Judging by the Republican turn out, not too many folks were listening to what the Republican were saying so if he did steal a Kirk or Adam or Jim or Dan idea who’d know about it other than Kirk, Adam or Jim or Dan?
Quinn has shown time and time again why he is just not up to being a governor. Let me cite two recent examples, neither of which can be attributed to any mess left by Blagojevich:
One: the state is in a tough fiscal situation and he gives his staff raises, then defends his actions.
Two: state is in a tough fiscal situation and he uses state resources for his campaign, then defends his action. Actually he lied about it. He honestly wants everyone to believe that the two southern Illinois Democratic Party officials are the ones lying or “misremembering.” They are on record saying he was at political events with them. Quinn has a reason to lie. They don’t. This use of taxpayer funded plane incident occurred on the heels of the pay raises, and he and his supporters don’t get why he is being called out on this? Sheesh!
Quinn has demonstrated that without a doubt he is too tone-deaf and too stupid to govern, and saying he means well or has been stellar on vet issues doesn’t change the fact that he is tone-deaf and too stupid to govern.
- cermak_rd - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 10:59 am:
1. Neither candidate has a lot of personal charm.
2. Neither of the candidates appeals to both sides of the partisan divide.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:00 am:
I passed because you were deleting snark.
Seriously, the question appealed to our nobility and higher instincts and a lot of us are only here for the laughs.
- MrJM - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:02 am:
Rich: “Why was this question so difficult to answer?”
“If you can’t say something nice… don’t say nothing at all.”
– Thumper, Bambi (1942)
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:04 am:
I’m trying to learn something here. So, I’m hoping y’all are gonna be more helpful than you have so far.
- ivoted4judy - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:08 am:
Pat Quinn has been an outsider all his life, so his level of friends in this business is very small. Most of your readers have been involved in Springfield for quite a while, and have at least once in a while battled some of Pat’s left field ideas. Brady has been in Springfield for a while, but for the most part he has been a non discript member of the minority party between his House and Senate years. Never was vocal, just a reliable conservative vote, and this really is not a RED conservative state for the most part. Both are honest nice men, but pretty much out of the mainstream when it comes to dealing with folks under the dome
- Reflector - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:10 am:
I have met them both concerning legislation I was working on.Pat Quinn is a good friend of veterans as is Brady.I like them both but I don’t think either is right for the job at this time,but both nice people.Just hard to make a call.
- in absentia - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:10 am:
Seriously?! I think that both candidates possess the charisma of broken finger nail; and therefore, the unease commenter’s have for both men is from their lack of any sort of personal character. There’s just nothing there for Quinn whose banal populist offerings are dull to the core. And then there’s Brady’s insufferable conservatism that’s going to take a header on Election Day. Snark, I would argue, is much easier with these two guys. Why not ask commenter’s to wax positive on Whitney and Cohen??
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:12 am:
We’ve had at least one, maybe two questions asking the same thing about Blagojevich, and both were heavily commented. Just food for thought.
- Pot calling kettle - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:16 am:
I could say lots of nice things about one and a few nice things about the other. Unfortunately, because of their many missteps over the past year most of those nice things came off sounding like snark.
Bottom line, these guys have messed up so many times, in so many strange ways, that even positive comments sound like snark.
- Ahoy - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:17 am:
I think it’s because all their good qualities come with major caveats. Such as Pat Quinn, the guy really does care about the working men and women of Illinois, but he has the management skills of celery and he can’t get the job done. Brady has a good understanding of what businesses need but he’s so crazy right wing he doesn’t understand compromise, the reality of the budget situation or anything that’s not far right craziness. You get the feeling that this guy would play well in rural Alabama.
I don’t think we want to mention the good traits that these men have without mentioning all the negatives that far outweigh the positives of these two men when it comes to being governor.
- Anonymous ZZZ - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:17 am:
I think it is hard to see past the mess we’re in in Illinois. We are facing a horrific deficit, and I think probably a lot of people are just disillusioned with any candidate who’s been part of this mess, either as the Governor overseeing the state, or as part of a legislature that for years has not seemed particularly willing to make tough decisions that could threaten their re-election.
I also think the increasingly partisan tone in government and politics, from the federal level on down, is turning a lot of people off. I, for one, am sick of seeing every candidate spout off the same partisan garbage instead of sticking to the issues that need to be addressed, and tying their opponents to an unpopular pol from the same party (so-and-so is a “George Bush Republican” or a “Rod-Blagojevich-Democrat”, even if the opponent has never worked closely - or at all - with the offensive pol to which they’ve been linked). This second point doesn’t speak specifically to Quinn and Brady. I’m just trying to point out that a lot of people are disgusted with politicians in general and are sick of having to choose the lesser of what they feel are two evils.
- just sayin' - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:17 am:
Oh because they are both such lightweights and Brady is particularly smarmy.
Being forced to say something 100% nice just makes one’s skin crawl. Just doesn’t seem honest. Seems 2-faced.
I mean I could have said on the positive side that Bill Brady expels carbon dioxide during the breathing process that is crucial to plant life, but I suspected that might be deleted as snarky.
Just sayin’.
- KeepSmiling - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:23 am:
The positives of Quinn and Brady are mundane, run-o’-the-mill qualities. I figured if it’s this hard to come up with an interesting answer, these two men don’t warrant the effort.
- jake - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:24 am:
1. They are both relatively weak candidates whose paths to the nomination were a bit flukey.
2. They are both on outside wings of their parties, Quinn on a populist wing of the Democratic party and Brady on the right wing of the Republican party. Hence people who feel positive about one tend to really dislike the other.
3. The general mood in politics these days is very partisan and adversarial, both in Illinois and in the nation generally.
- Thoughts... - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:24 am:
Except for their missteps, these are a pair of rather boring gentlemen who do not inspire either love or hatred. I’d say the lack of response was probably due to antipathy.
- in absentia - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:25 am:
Brady and Quinn neither have the farm team that Rod did. There were a lot of positives given for Rod Blagojevich, but don’t you think a lot of that was from his minions in state government giving props to him? There were, after all, a lot of folks who drank the Cool-Aid with Rep. Hoffman and became rabid supporters of Rod (Bill). Lots of us knew he’d end up on the witness stand too, right? Rod was a (nut) character with a huge personality (flaw) and so he offered commenters the challenge they were looking for on your blog.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:26 am:
IA, he was gone by then. And most of the comments at the time were quite thoughtful.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:30 am:
Also, to the deleted ones who said “It’s because everybody’s so partisan here,” that’s just not true. Commenters here, for the most part, are infinitely less stridently partisan than just about anywhere else on the intertubewebnets.
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:34 am:
Rich,
Think about it a second… I was making a point about how partisanship actually distorts the lens through which people view the opponent. Psychologically, it is difficult to put aside one’s prejudice and look at another. Your blog, almost by definition, attracts insiders and partisans who are here to debate issues, passionately, and who sometime allow that partisanship to be the only thing filter their thoughts through. Your QOTD received poor response because everyone is hyped up, especially in this cycle! It is difficult for some to put the energy aside.
- ZC - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:36 am:
I can say with all honesty that, as a Democratic partisan, I know basically zero positive to really say about Brady. Being a partisan, I’ll have to admit I have not gone out of my way to search it out. And the local news tends overwhelmingly to focus on the negative (and CapFax hasn’t had that much positive to say about Brady, either, unless again my filters have led me to screen it out). So it would have been a legitimate challenge for me to pull something up. I’d have had to go searching the web, which is more time than I want to invest in a QoTD!
That said, I have no doubt that Brady does - have - positive qualities … most politicians do, when you get past the media filter. But he really suffered for me in the burst of negative info I learned just after the primary, in terms of his issue stances on social positions and on taxes and budget-cutting. Once I learned that, I pretty much shut down all consideration of voting for Brady. So I felt no need to go out and find the ways (I am sure) he’s behaved admirably.
I could pull up plenty of positive and negative things to say about Quinn, but Brady is kind of a one-sided mystery to me.
- Montrose - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:41 am:
I think part of it is that Blago, for all his faults, came across as a much stronger leader. All Kids and so forth were big things that were clearly labeled Blago. Rightly or wrongly, people gave him credit for those things.
Quinn and Brady spend most of their time reacting to things. There is not a lot to point to say “this man did this and it is good.”
I also think it is harder to do that in the thick of an election. Perspective gets skewed. If you strongly like or dislike a candidate, it is harder to step back and be objective.
All that said, I would have had no problem answering the question if the race was between Dillard and Quinn.
- Drama - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:44 am:
Because the public likes drama in their politics. Just like soap opera. We focus on the disaster and scandel. Hence how the negative ad always beats the postive ad.
- Suburbs - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:45 am:
I think it is difficult because both have their own inadequacies which come to mind first.
Q: He is very good on Veterans issues. On other issues, although misguided, I think he genuinely cares.
B: He is a great guy to have a beer with, similar to Reagan’s persona (I know he’s not Reagan). I know Bill has a way to go but I think he is growing and looks more and more gubernatorial.
- Say WHAT? - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:47 am:
No snark - Just what I am told repeatedly. People are tired of the same old -same old. Neither candidate is telling us what actual steps they will take to get us out of the mess we find ourselves in. What they are saying is why we shouldn’t vote for the other guy. We are in what is beyond dire staights. Handicapped persons are losing the home health care they depend upon for daily living because the state can’t pay its bills. People are losing their homes (even mobile homes)and or cars due to lack of work and the maxing out of unemployment benefits. Some sit in the heat, their electric disconnected. Some do without gas during the summer months. Some have been told that due to federal government guidelines, they did not make enough money (while on unemployment) to qualify for an extension of unemployment benefits in Illinois. They have maxed out their allowed visits to the local food pantries (very shameful for some to go at all) They cannot find jobs in Illinois. Construction workers have been out of work, some for more than two years. Unemployment is high. People CANNOT feed their children. While they sit at the TV, or open their mail, what they get is one candidate telling them why the other one is SOOOO BAD. What they get is the media telling them that things have improved. People know better. Voters are busted and disgusted. They want to hear what actual plans one candidate or the other has to put the state back on the right track. The fact that neither is doing that makes neither one attractive to the voters (and I suspect to your bloggers). We need a reality check. When they actually propose something I will make a positive comment then.
- Vote Quimby! - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:53 am:
I didn’t answer the original question due to fears of Rich’s archival skills and my comment coming up in the future…
- sal-says - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:59 am:
Maybe because neither one has any credibility? What’s good to say about that?
- Amalia - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 11:59 am:
I do think MrJM said it, but also, for me, it’s because
Brady is loathsome, really objectionable policy wise
and even personally. my so called nice comment on
him “he loves his wife” was delivered with snark because
I think he’s showing a “traditional” wife image as his supporter,
it’s like she is a robot, we have no texture to who she
actually is. so I delivered nice with personal snark so
hard to be actually nice.
on Quinn, while I do know that he has many good
qualities, he’s doing such a bad job with his campaign
that it makes me angry. hard to be nice to him too.
- Earnest - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:00 pm:
Thinking of something good to say also brought in thoughts of how they will be as Governor. When I do that, the things that come to the front of my mind are scary (though at least different in each of the two scenarios).
Since the primaries I’ve been mired in regret that none of the candidates I wanted in either party is there for my vote in the general election. I just need to get over it and deal with reality. In that vein, what would be good about Quinn as Governor is that he would support increased revenue which seems like an essential part of the puzzle and could help delay the complete collapse of the community human services net; good about Brady as Governor is that (paradoxically) he would be more progressive on human services, favoring community services over more costly and lower quality state institutional services.
- Irish - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:03 pm:
I think the situation is different now at least to me. I can’t remember if I commented on the Blago questions, but in this instance I am so tired of the ridiculous campaigns of both Brady and Quinn. The constant rookie mis-steps, the presenting of both as caring candidates who really have our best interest at heart and then the actions that say the exact opposite, and the less than consistent message from both sides makes me not want to hunt for anything positive. So I guess I am with the rest in saying that the no snark just left me with nothing to say and no energy to try to come up with something to say.
This whole campaign from one end to the other is like wading through waist deep sand. It just takes the sap right of of you.
That is the very reason I think that is going to either keep people away from the polls or at least keep them from casting a vote in this contest. Unless either of these candidates comes out with something special or changes their tactics I see voters not wasting their time on this contest. I don’t know if the anti incumbant anger will sustain itself until November, which I originally thought might incite higher voter turnout. But I think the regular Joe the plumber is so tired of all the political BS that is going on everywhere and at every level that they are going to do what your commenters did with this question. They are not going to participate.
- Third Generation Chicago Native - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:05 pm:
Pat Quinn is seen as a regular guy, he was out at the 63rd and Ashland El stop (South Side), he goes out of his way for the military, goes to all the funerals, helps our Veterans out. He is out and about at South Side Churchs, and other events on the South Side where most dare to go. He has not body guards, at least as Lt. Gov, I am not sure about being Governor if he decided to utlize the bodyguard benefit.
Brady, is kindof not real combative or obnoxious, actually nothing special or visious.
- Cindy Lou - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:07 pm:
I answered the QOTD back on Rod, but remember having to search pretty hard to say something nice about the guy. Even with what I came up with there was no doubt in my mind the guy did it to win points not because he seriously gave a hoot about the issue.
I did not answer the QOTD on Quinn/Brady. Partly because I’m currently more annoyed with Quinn than usual at present and partly because I can’t find myself being supportive of Brady at all. What I dislike and/or disagree with Brady on far outweigh anything ‘nice’ I could come up with and the question was ‘nice’ about both. I had nothing nice to say of either one on that day.
- Skeeter - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:11 pm:
As somebody who will likely vote for Quinn, the best I can say is “He’s not Brady.” He is neither good at his job nor charming in person. Franky I don’t understand how he’s gotten elected in the past. There are a few politicians that I know that are considered considered machine hacks or corrupt or whatever, but they are fun people to have a beer with. That’s not the case for Quinn. Given the opportunity to have dinner with him, I would pass. Say something nice about him that is not snark? I just can’t do it. All I’ve got is “Not Brady.”
With regard to Brady — he’s a walking embodiment of just about everything I find offensive in the GOP. He panders with his “no taxes” stuff while having no real plan to balance the budget. Pandering like that hurts us all. It makes voters think that it can be done, when it can’t. And his views on social issues are really troubling. And I’ve never met him personally, so I can’t say “he’s a nice guy.”
Bottom line on these two — I just have nothing nice to say about either of these guys.
- Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:16 pm:
Brady comes across as one who truly and honestly believes in his positions, which is refreshing for a politician, whether you agree with those positions or not.
Quinn for years has managed to elbow his way into various offices, usually but not always as an outsider. His persistence is admirable, and he does have that slightly rumpled look of a neighbor who lives down the street.
- Aldyth - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:16 pm:
They both have good grooming and hygiene. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.
- Billy the Bandit - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:19 pm:
Quinn stands up for the worker.
Brady is a republican.
Very simple and clear.
- Skeeter - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:21 pm:
Louis, you really think that Brady believes the he can balance the budget without raising taxes. Come on. Nobody believes it. I don’t think Brady believes it at all, which is part of the reason that I have problems with him.
- Levois - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:27 pm:
They both have their flaws and at that their flaws are about equal. I did say that I believe Quinn to be an honest man as compared to his predecessor. Although to be sure Quinn has left a lot to be desired as a Governor. As for Brady, since I don’t know as much about him it was more difficult to come up with something nice about him. Especially if it was beyond his political persona.
- Sacks Romana - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:34 pm:
What’s the point of praising Quinn for being nice and caring and populist if he’s equally ineffective, if not more so, than Blagojevich. I had more “hope” after Blago left office than Bush. Quinn has been a bigger dissapointment to me than Obama. I thought once we had a non-insane person in the Governor’s office, government could start functioning again. Obviously a lot of this lies at Madigan’s feet, but Quinn does the same sort of publicity stunts that Blago did. I couldn’t believe reading about him taking the state plane to a campaign event. So it’s not that he doesn’t have positive qualities, but that they’re being completely overshadowed by his failures.
And Brady is simply right wing. I’ve known too many people that are nice enough people and also intolerant. I don’t have patience for them, and I don’t want to congratulate them on friendliness when they want to deny a group of people basic civil liberties.
- WRMNpolitics - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:37 pm:
With both Quinn and Brady, its difficult to get to the real person and gauge the good and bad since both are in “full metal politics” mode.
- Pay to Watch - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:38 pm:
Everyone I talk to think we have Dumb and Dumber running.
Quinn I a creating jobs, cutting government while giving raises.
Brady. I can cut without raising taxes.
Dumb and Dumber
- Skirmisher - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:40 pm:
I think the problem for me is that these two constitute absolutely the most dismal choices I have ever had to face in an election. All of Quinn’s better qualities have been overwhelmed by his gutless inability to stick with a position under any sort of pressure, and by his apparent bald incompetence. Brady may or may not be able to stick with his principles, but most of his positions are completley divorced from any sense of reality. Except for some elements of his pro-gun rights position, I dislike virtually all that he stands for. Howe can I passibily offer anything positive about either of these two? This isn’t a game to some of us: One of these awful people is going to preside over four more years of ineffective government in Illinois, and there is nothing funny about that.
- VanillaMan - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:46 pm:
I saw the same thing this week, and wondered why. I spent the day running around thinking about why I couldn’t come up with two things.
I don’t like either guy. Quinn has been governor for the past 18 months and he has been lousy. He has sat on his hands after the opportunity of his lifetime falls upon his lap. I thought I knew Pat Quinn. I obviously don’t. He has fallen so far short in my low expectations after Blagojevich, I cannot vote for him. I could have come up with quite a few positives for Pat Quinn before he became governor. I cannot now. He frankly, stinks.
Then there is Bill Brady. Two good things? Two? OK - how about one? Ummmm….. Nope. I cannot come up with anything positive with him either. I don’t believe he is capable of governing Illinois - a smaller state like, say, Idaho - perhaps. Bill Brady to me doesn’t fit my Illinois. I’m conservative, but I don’t believe he knows a fig about taking conservatism and governing with it in any intelligent way.
Now - why were there so few postings? I wondered about that too this week.
We have had a string of disasters as governors. There hasn’t been a decent one since Edgar, and he in my opinion, wore out his welcome by the end of the 20th Century. We saw an old man insider horse trader go down ugly. We saw a young man Chicagoan insider prostitute everything we believed in. Now we see an old progressive gadfly with a long history in offices, rotting and dithering, flipping and spinning like he is Admiral Stockdale if that old hero suddenly found himself in a paintball showdown.
Three! Three freaking disappointments!
It isn’t a coincidence that the US Senate seat held by Obama for, what 48 hours or so, reserved by Jackson, Jarrett and Jones, fumbled off to the “Magic Man” is unattractive right now. It isn’t a coincidence that the governor’s seat held by the Three Stooges is unattractive right now. So, when the parties passed up nominating Hynes, Dillard, and Adam Hows-that-name-spelled, and nominated Brady and Quinn, we are going to throw up our hands and our digesteds and get really POed!
We are in a hole and are watching two discredited bums bash one another with their shovels. It makes one want to move to another state, one with a decent future.
- MrJM - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:46 pm:
Rich,
I can’t speak for anyone else, but here’s how it is for me:
I find it very easy to say something bad about my guy or something good about their guy, but only in isolation from the other candidate.
I’m just not going to cross over when the candidates are in a side-by-side comparison. To say one good thing about my guy and one good thing about their guy runs the risk of creating an appearance of a false equivalence, i.e. My guy is good on X, but their guy is good on Y. That’s true, but it is still very, very far from the whole truth.
I think that if you had asked “Say something positive about the candidate you oppose” or “Say five positive things about your guy and one positive about their guy” you would have gotten more responses. Well, at least one more response.
Or — and this is a long shot — I might be over-thinking this.
– MrJM
- yikes - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:54 pm:
This, on a day, when the Governor has decided furlough days don’t work so now you don’t get paid for Christmas. There are no kind words–none.
- yikes - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:54 pm:
I forgot the other side. Brady-I’m voting for him.
- Skeeter - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 12:55 pm:
VMan is on to something.
There is something almost painful about this election, knowing that one or the other will win. And it is particularly true since both Lt. Gov. candidates are so weak. For the next four years, we are pretty much screwed.
Best not to think about it.
- Downstate Commissioner - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:04 pm:
Didn’t have time to comment that day, but felt that the posters basically were limited by the subjects. Both men seem to be honorable, decent men who most people wouldn’t mind having as neighbors, but neither inspire much confidence as candidates for governor. Add in the partisan factor felt by many, and is hard to comment. Off the subject, Cohen worries me as a protest vote, but Whitney will get my vote.
- Stones - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:21 pm:
Honestly, if these are the best two choices we (the electorate) can come up with for Governor, it doesn’t speak too well for us.
- Yellow Dog Democrat - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:22 pm:
Democrats and Republicans have a hard enough time finding something nice to say about their OWN candidate, let alone the other party’s.
For every positive Republicans can name about Bill Brady, they can name 5 things about the guy that drive them absolutely nuts.
Ditto for Democrats and Quinn.
If Republicans could offer honest praise for Brady, they could easily offer muted or left-handed praise for Quinn, and visa-versa.
Probably the nicest thing we can all agree upon about both men is that neither of them are Scott Lee Cohen. And that’s not snark.
- Angry Chicagoan - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:34 pm:
Because I can count Bill Brady’s sensible or even acceptable policy stands on the fingers of one hand (and it’s relatively small things like “he likes Amtrak”). And because you need a magnifying glass to find Pat Quinn’s administrative capabilities.
On the other hand it’s a bit difficult to blame them for Lt. Gov. That has more to do with the callow leadership of both parties either failing to take the slightest interest in what was happening (Dems) or pandering to a particular interest group (Republicans).
- Interested Observer - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:35 pm:
I couldn’t agree more with VMan. To know that these candidates (all of them) are our only choices for Governor, I’m really considering not voting and I know that I’m not the only one.
- KGB - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:36 pm:
Both are so boring, so bad and so forgetable that it just wasn’t worth the effort for most folks.
- Responsa - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:41 pm:
Reading these comments is very depressing–although I agree with many of them. Neither Quinn or Brady were my preferred candidates in the primaries, either. As unpleasant as the two main choices are for many of us, is there any real doubt that Cohen and Whitney are not in fact much MORE problematic when it comes to their ability to build coalitions and run the state? Elections with the potential of lots of “protest votes”, or to “teach so-and-so a lesson” are always scary because they can get very out of control very fast, (as people here have pointed out about the results of past elections on numerous occasions.) Let’s be careful out there, people.
- Excessively Rabid - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:46 pm:
Finding something good to say about each of them is not difficult - they both seem to be decent people - but it’s like asking what you like about the movie when the theater is on fire. I am very frustrated with this choice of candidates. We desperately need competence and dedication in the next governor. But it seems vanishingly unlikely that Brady can be a competent governor, and Quinn has proved beyond a doubt that he can’t. I’m going for Brady because one party rule is always bad, but I don’t like the idea of him as governor one bit.
- Hunterdon - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 1:56 pm:
OK - I had to dig deep but I think I’ve got it
Pat Quinn co-founded the Coalition for Political Honesty in 1976. The group led the charge to ban members of the General Assembly from receiving their full salary on the first day of the legislative session or from holding other elected public offices, a practice commonly known as “double-dipping” that is still in practice today.
Bill Brady Brady supports replacing the Illinois State Board of Education with a much smaller agency. Since no snark is allowed here, I cannot express my true feelings for the ISBE and why I would applaud its demise.
So do I win a prize?
- Wumpus - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 2:13 pm:
Quinn is a populist
Brady stands for what he thinks is right, even if it is not popular.
Both can be good qualities
- Anonymous - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 2:16 pm:
Even though I don’t post very often, I read this blog religiously, and I pretty much always know what I’d say if I participated. That particular QOTD left me completely dumbfounded.
We have two incredibly underwhelming candidates in Brady and Quinn, and neither inspires much confidence - even amongst their supporters. This race appears to be based on nothing but “at least I’m not the other guy” instead of any actual accomplishments or positive traits. Quinn is pretty well known to us, and whether or not we agree with him politically, his work with veterans is very admirable. By comparison, Brady might as well be from a galaxy far, far away. How do you say something nice about someone if the only thing you know about them is strictly based on campaign talking points? Even many of the insiders that regularly post on this blog declined to answer that question, yet Brady has been in the legislature for how long? To me, that says Brady hasn’t accomplished anything and is severely lacking in the character department.
I’m a Democrat, but the choices for governor and US Senate have me singing “It’s Not Easy Being Green”.
- zatoichi - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 3:15 pm:
Neither one of them light up the TV screen or have even a small touch of whatever it is that makes the camera like you. They have OK, sincere, bland presentations. That’s no indication of skill and ability, but to get people to listen/believe you it sure seems pretty important to me. I would lean toward Quinn because he has the job and is forced to take actions because the job requires. Brady has been a barely noticed guy in the background.
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 3:33 pm:
Rich,
See what I mean?
- Anonymous - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 3:52 pm:
Cinci, I guess your point is that its OK for your side to be partisan, but the rest of us should take everything objectively and eschew political spin. Let’s take a look at your post from the QOTD in question…
==Pat Quinn - Appears to be honest and not feathering his own bank next.
Bill Brady - Family man.==
Family man? Is that all you could come up with given your typical ultra-GOP spin? You wrote two positives about Pat Quinn, and you could only come up with one very generic nice thing to say about Brady who is your standard bearer. This only highlights my point about Brady being largely unknown. His own supporters don’t even know anything about him! They can’t point to a single thing that he accomplished in a decade and a half in the legislature.
- flabergasted - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 4:01 pm:
I think the lack of responses to the QOTD is a symptom of a larger problem in Illinois-voter apathy.
- Joe from Joliet - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 4:03 pm:
Wild guess here, but I would say the overwhelming number of commenters here are not neutral. We know who we are voting for this Fall. Hard to say something nice about the one you hope will lose.
- Cincinnatus - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 4:13 pm:
Anonymous - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 3:52 pm:
“Cinci, I guess your point is that its OK for your side to be partisan, but the rest of us should take everything objectively and eschew political spin. Let’s take a look at your post from the QOTD in question…”
Swing and a miss, Anon. The QOTD last time asked to say something nice about both people. I did, something you apparently are unable to do.
Today, Rich asked why the response to the previous QOTD was low. My guess was that people are wound up by this election, and are having a tough time laying down their partisanship to respond. Thanks for proving my point.
- Lefty Lefty - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 4:22 pm:
Got here late and didn’t read through everything, but I think I agree with VM (just scanned his post). Right now there’s a lot wrong with Illinois politics, a lot wrong with state finances, a lot wrong with the D-R divide. These 2 guys are doing nothing of any substance to fix any of it. With so much on the line, they’re failing.
Back when the question was asked about Blagojevich, the straits weren’t as dire and the other shoe had fallen. He had a record, too, and some of it didn’t stick. I remember posting that he issues resolution 2006-01 setting up the studies to evaluate the water supplies in NE and central IL. Great work came of it and it was very forward-thinking.
Nothing like that from Quinn and Brady. Just misstep after misstep.
- Anonymous - Friday, Jul 23, 10 @ 4:25 pm:
For me it’s the budget! Neither Brady nor Quinn have plan that will work. The negatives far outweigh the positives for both.
Quinn is just hoping and praying that the House Democrats will support a tax increase after November. But, hey weren’t they supposed to support it after the Primary? Ooops. Let’s say he wins…a tax increase after November so voters can stew about it for four years like, ala Stroger and allow the Republicans can get superstars like Cedra to threaten Speaker Madigan’s majority? Yeah sure a tax increase is gonna happen after November.
I don’t know what it is but, Brady just doesn’t seem right to me. My problem with him is his 10 % across the board budget cuts oughta do it attitude. Geeze. He’s been in state government for 18 years and can’t come up with more? If he has no ideas on what to do he could at least steal the ideas of his primary opponents and try to pass them off as his own. Judging by the Republican turn out, not too many folks were listening to what the Republican were saying so if he did steal a Kirk or Adam or Jim or Dan idea who’d know about it other than Kirk, Adam or Jim or Dan?
Quinn has shown time and time again why he is just not up to being a governor. Let me cite two recent examples, neither of which can be attributed to any mess left by Blagojevich:
One: the state is in a tough fiscal situation and he gives his staff raises, then defends his actions.
Two: state is in a tough fiscal situation and he uses state resources for his campaign, then defends his action. Actually he lied about it. He honestly wants everyone to believe that the two southern Illinois Democratic Party officials are the ones lying or “misremembering.” They are on record saying he was at political events with them. Quinn has a reason to lie. They don’t. This use of taxpayer funded plane incident occurred on the heels of the pay raises, and he and his supporters don’t get why he is being called out on this? Sheesh!
Quinn has demonstrated that without a doubt he is too tone-deaf and too stupid to govern, and saying he means well or has been stellar on vet issues doesn’t change the fact that he is tone-deaf and too stupid to govern.
- MrJM - Saturday, Jul 24, 10 @ 10:25 am:
And I was out of town that day.
– MrJM
- SouthernIL - Monday, Jul 26, 10 @ 8:38 am:
1 - Because the populace is more intelligent than the polls show and want responsible leadership.
2 - Ditto!