47 Comments - just sayin' - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:27 am: Quinn ad - Grand Slam. The only way it could be better would be if Brady’s head morphed into Blago’s. Let’s see the tea partiers defend this Brady guy who does all the things they are supposedly against. Let’s see if they are really about principle. - Cosmic Charlie - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:27 am: Did I stutter? Thats what I thought of after watching it. No details, just a repeat of the accusation. I think the public will be dismissive of the attack b/c it is so vague. Repeating something doesnt make it true in the voters minds, even it is true. - downstate hack - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:30 am: In my opinion one of the least effective Quinn Ads. “Do we really want another Governor with ethical problems?” The last thing Quinn should do is remind people of Blago. - Matt - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:35 am: Brady voted for something that would’ve passed anyway. Quinn spent six years defending Blagojevich as he destroyed the state. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:36 am: The worst of the Quinn ads … waiting late to sling some mud is a time-honored tradition, but this accusation, with a cite from 5/22 … now Quinn is making a case … seems too little too late to make this point. Also, its vague … meaning … you cant’ tell us “In Peoria …the ‘blank’ Development” … seems like a whisper campaign that HAD legs, but we’ll put it on the air …no sizzle-bottom line - 47th Ward - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:36 am: Quinn’s ad, 7/10. Time is running out, so it’s a bit late to go up with an ad that could have changed the narrative in August, right after the Blagojevich trial. Now, with early voting underway, Quinn still hasn’t told us why we should vote for him. Pat, we may not know “who is this guy” but we know he isn’t you. And I’m a supporter. As for Kirk, I thought he was making a mistake early in the campaign when all he talked about was mob banker this, and mob banker that. Now I’m certain it was a mistake. He really hasn’t come up with a theme beyond beating the heck out of Giannoulias over a handful of legal loans to wise guys. Is it bad? Yes. But are these charges working? The polls say no. Why on earth is he still beating this horse? Tip to the Kirk folks: we know about the loans to mobsters. We get it. It still isn’t working. 6/10 for the Kirk ad. - Team Sleep - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:37 am: Quinn’s ad is good. Heck, it’s downright awesome. The one problem, though, is that in the current environment of voter distrust, Quinn being a “public servant” for his entire professional career will make some people pause and wonder if Quinn has used public office to better himself. It’s a fair response. You don’t have to vote on a bill or have input on a board or commission seat to positively impact your own future. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:42 am: A better ad …. V.O. - “This is the ‘blank’ Development … it wouldn’t be here to enrich Millionaire Bill Brady if Bill Brady does the right thing and refuses to vote for a bill that would enrich him. It’s here because Millionare Bill Brady doesn’t mind voting to make himself millions? … Who is this guy?” By the way … this ad should have came out in June … - Phineas J. Whoopee - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:42 am: By the time they roll out the coup de grace on big Bill voters are going to have a hard time swallowing his jargon. Very good ad, especially because it is true unlike most of Brady’s attacks. - Rich Miller - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:44 am: ===By the way … this ad should have came out in June … === Good point. Puppy ad should’ve run in April. Oops. Quinn had no campaign in April. - Adam Smith - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:48 am: The accusation is not entirely clear in the ad. I remember the original Trib story and it’s still not easily understandable. These desperate attacks from Quinn are getting laughable. And all this from someone who has had two sources of income–the public payroll and doing property tax appeals–which is all about clout and insider dealings. Quinn, just like Madigan and Cullerton, make big bucks using political clout and connections to get big property owners’ taxes lowered. Now there’s a clean business! - Chubs Mahoney - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:52 am: Adam: What are you talking about? You Brady apologists are hilarious. Keep trying to smear Pat Quinn’s ethics. Anybody who’s been watching Illinois government for the last 30 years knows better. You can call Quinn a lot of things but unethical ain’t one of em. - Vole - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:54 am: Quinn ad: very good! Revealing Brady’s crony capitalism actions in the state senate informs the voters of Brady’s ethics and value system that he would carry as governor. Obviously Brady has exercised his own special interests that he now lies to hide. Brady’s got baggage. The bad kind. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:56 am: I waited to comment on the Kirk ad and watched it with no sound … and then did the whole process again. I have concluded that it’s just tired. The reason you can make these 3 statements in this ad, easily, in 30 seconds, is because these themes are so tired that when I went through the viewing process for that 2nd time, I was at the “ok, I get it.” point after the 1st “Treasurer Alexi …” My advice for the Kirk crew; You are at 14 days, (today is over already), so start making your closing arguement and keep rehabilitating the image in your closing. Out here in the far collars, former military are still not too happy, but might give you a 2nd look with a good closing arguement. Keeping the same drum beat is grating on the voters … it is. - wordslinger - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 11:57 am: Two powerful ads. I give them both 8s. Quinn’s ad punches Brady right in his “anti-big-government” cred. “Government seizing private land for his own business interests” goes right to the U.S. Supremes “Kelo” ruling which was a red-meat issue for conservatives not too long ago. The whole story certainly doesn’t jibe (or is that jive, in our current political season?) with Brady’s self-image. The timeline narrative of the Kirk ad is very strong. It says with very step up, Alexi has been found wanting, leading to the conclusion he would be so again as senator. I’d forgotten John D’Arco Jr. was a jaws business partner. Lot of smoke there. The only quibbles I have are with the taglines; they’re both non-sequitors. - wordslinger - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:01 pm: “every step up,” not “very” - shore - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:03 pm: I said earlier, the biggest frustration I have with kirk and with this whole campaign season is that its been basically about nothing. kirk’s tax less borrow less spend less, you could have used that in any race going back decades. there was nothing in his campaign this year that said here’s the challenges we face in 2010 and here’s my message and vision for dealing with it. nothing. that ad, the last line-get to work is bob dold’s campaign line and hasn’t really done anything for him. - Wondering... - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:05 pm: Quinn’s ad is OK… it will really get the people planning to vote for him to vote for him… uh, wait… shouldn’t he be trying to get some of those undecideds? That would be me. I call my self an independent, probably for the last 10 years or so after being a lifelong “Democrat”, whatever that means now-a-days. I am not a Tea Partier. This said, I find Quinn’s ad totally condesending and a turn off. At this point I am not certain who I will vote for… but if someone came by and wanted to put an ABQ sign on my lawn I think I would let them. - wordslinger - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:09 pm: The Brady ad is a 10. It’s factual and backed by third-party quotes. Even if you don’t blame Quinn for all the state’s problems, which I certainly don’t, there’s not a lot to argue with. “Pat Quinn cannot do this job” and “Pat Quinn has had his chance” are probably the two most powerful lines in any ads this season. Say what you will about Brady or Quinn, but both of them are gold mines for negative ad scriptwriters. One of these guys is going to win, too. - 47th Ward - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:11 pm: Re the Brady ad: That’s a home run, a 10. I hate to say this as a Quinn fan, but Brady hit all the right notes with this one. He successfully ties all of the bad economic and fiscal woes around Quinn’s neck and the weight of it all is impressive. Quinn needs to respond to this with a positive ad that acknowledges the deep mess we’re in, and then spins it into who can we trust to get us out of this? An honest, well-meaning bumbler, or a dishonest, right-wing politician? Brady’s ad is very good, Quinn needs to respond with a better one. And soon. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:12 pm: word - You are all over it! If I can go “Spinal Tap”, it’s an 11, “One greater than ten …” This should be Brady’s closing arguement: “We know,… Pat Quinn cannot do this job. I can” Powerful ad … difficult to refute, and although an attack ad, it seems more like a “Here are the facts, you decide” type of message … an “11″ - OneMan - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:16 pm: Not bad… I figure by Halloween it will just be some guy yelling… Candidate X, he wants to eat your baby.. - Gregor - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:26 pm: Quinn’s ad is good but very late in the game. And that issue should have been brought up earlier at debates and interviews. I can’t believe Quinn is competent enough to be a successful crook. But I CAN believe that Brady is a failing businessman who let himself be tempted to make ethically iffy votes if there was money involved; first, the dog-gassing thing for a campaign contributor, then the real estate-related voting where it is clear he should have recused himself from voting, if only for appearances’ sake. If indeed that vote was going to win anyway without him, why did he hang himself out to be questioned on his ethics for supporting it? And Brady has been lying all along about how there will be no tax increase if he’s elected, whereas Quinn has taken his lumps BEFORE the election by sticking his neck out for a tax increase multiple times. Quinn is sometimes a bumbler, but mostly honest and well-intentioned, and I like many of his policy initiatives. That is, if he hasn’t changed his mind about them again… . Brady has been a senator a long time, with little positive to point to, except that shady-looking vote, and lies about taxes. This campaign is about who is least bad for the state. - wordslinger - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:26 pm: –Quinn needs to respond to this with a positive ad that acknowledges the deep mess we’re in, and then spins it into who can we trust to get us out of this?– 47, I’ve been figuring for a while that the “Who is this guy” negative line has been a setup for a repeat of the Uncle Fuzzy “You Know Me” Quinn positive closer, just like in the primary. - downstate hack - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:26 pm: Brady Ad A-. One of the better ones he has had. - Anonymous - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:28 pm: Hey, these ads are much nicer than the ones from across the border in Kentucky this week. At least nobody has crawled into the gutter to make attacks on the other candidate’s religion. - 47th Ward - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:29 pm: Word, if they can just use a voice over edit to say “Bill Brady” instead of “Dan Hynes,” I’d tell them to use the very same ad. - Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:29 pm: Anonymous … I think Quinn and Brady are both Catholic … - bored now - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:31 pm: shore: i feel for ya. mark kirk’s big idea now is to suppress the black vote. who said he’s not mitch mcconnell’s flunkie??? - Louis Howe - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:33 pm: C -…Quinn’s ad is weak. I really don’t know specifically what he’s talking about, and frankly, I don’t care. A -…Brady’s ad hits Quinn on the state budget and competence issues and says pretty much what voters are thinking about this year. Brady should stay with this message and keep hammering Quinn for the next 10 days, then close with a positive. - todd - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:37 pm: Quinn ad hits a chord. But it would have had more punch if they started on it in July and had been building on. I always wondered when they woul dget to it. But it seems that with the organized chaos that has been the campaign, no wonder. The puppy ad is just a distraction, and takes away $$$ and airtime for a real message. If Quinn had played it out in July, maybe more news papers would have done a fact check story and vetted it and said xxx was true. thus giving the quotes to be pulled for the next ad where by it is not the campaign, but the newspapers making the claim. And remember guys and gals, all of us here eat, sleep and dream this stuff. the charge maybe a bit vague, but that’s us lloking at it. My wife comes to me and sees ads like this asking “is it true?” that’s the way for me to findout if an add is sinking in. Did it get the average person who DOESN’T live this stuffs’ attention? 7/10 the Kirk ad plays the theme I call sienfeld a campaign about nothing. No vision, no plans, no issues, no answers. it’s hey I’m not a democrat, and I’m not the other guy. It just follows the worn out narative Kirk has set up to just try and beat Alexi intot he ground. It seems to be getting under Alexi’s skin based upon the SouthTown article. He doesn’t have an answer for it. And since he has tried to hav it both ways and not explain it, it festers like an old wound. Alexi could have put it to bed, but didn’t. what is it they say, it’s not the crime it’s the cover up? same here. since the ad is flashy for the narative and easy to it gets a 6/10. that may be generous. - Bill - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:42 pm: “Who is this guy” is getting a little old and it has been on so much I don’t think people even realize that this is a new ad. The answer, of course, is that he is not Pat Quinn. The charges are vague and no one will pay much attention. Quinn should come out with a positive ad about the highlights of his administration….oh wait, never mind. Brady’s ad is excellent. I’d give it an 8/10. Best line: “Pat Quinn’s had his chance.” - 4 percent - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:47 pm: @ Chubs… Pat Quinn may be straighter that Ryan/Blagojevich but let’s not give him a medal for honesty. Taking hundreds of thousands in campaign contributions before vetoing McPier or picking sides in the labor dispute? He would would have been the first one holding a press conference to criticize it it he hadn’t DONE it. Ghost payroller for Walker? Did you forget Harold Washington’s words? Did you see where his ex-girlfriends are on the payroll? - Just Sayin' - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:52 pm: Excellent ad for Quinn but after hearing the weeks of effective Brady-bashing, people need a reason to vote FOR Quinn. Same ole, same ole on Kirk’s ad. - the Patriot - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 12:59 pm: ==You can call Quinn a lot of things but unethical ain’t one of em== Uhhm, Quinn was elected twice on Rod’s Coat tails and benefitted from illegal campaign controbutions to Blago and stood with him unti the day the feds knocked on his door. So yea, Pat Quinn is either very unethical or very stupid. You can pick. It is a good ad for Quinn. What I have never heard from him is how he is going to do anything different in the next 4 years that he hasn’t tried in the last 2. Is Madigan all of the sudden going to yeild to his agenda? Brady’s ad is on point. I don’t know if Bill Brady can run this state, but I know Pat Quinn cannot. - So Blue Democrat - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 1:08 pm: I liked the Quinn ad. It reinforces the fact that Brady is for Big Government when it benefits himself. - soccermom - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 1:24 pm: I wish the Quinn campaign would spend the next two weeks with “Brady wants to borrow $50 Billion. 50 billion dollars. 50 billion dollars….” Brady says he has a plan. The plan is, you and your family pay, and pay, and pay. - Team Sleep - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 1:43 pm: I forgot to rate Brady’s ad. It’s even better than Quinn’s. And he’s right. - shore - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 1:53 pm: question of the day for tomorrow should be what question do you want to see xyz candidates have to answer at the final debates. - Ahoy - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 1:59 pm: Quinn should have made the connection of using govn’t to build his own back account to blago who did the same thing. It’s a good ad, but he missed a golden opportunity. - wordslinger - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 2:04 pm: –C -…Quinn’s ad is weak. I really don’t know specifically what he’s talking about, and frankly, I don’t care.– LOL, good thing that doesn’t stop you from making an objective judgment. - CU Down - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 2:11 pm: interesting. all this time I had figured that this vote was close. 50 Senators voted for this bill. So if Brady had left the chamber, it would still have passed? Perhaps it was a conflict. But unlike most conflicts that get headlines, Brady was not in a decisive position. - soccermom - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 2:19 pm: The Quinn ad reminds me of an old Saturday Night Live skit, “Rockers to Help Explain Whitewater.” I have read the coverage of this, but am still not quite sure what happened when. Thank god I am stupider than most voters. - Louis G. Atsaves - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 3:07 pm: The Quinn ad should have been part of a series of ads to try to explain what he is alleging. Right now it is clearly too complicated for a 30 second spot. Rating: 4 The Brady ad is a summary of what a lot of folks are thinking about our current governor and his performance in office. “He’s had his chance” and the other buzzwords really pound home those gut feelings. Rating: 9 The Kirk ad continues to drill Alexi hard and why shouldn’t he. Every Alexi ad run calls Kirk a “liar.” It may be getting tired but so is the message of his opponent. Rating. 6. - Siriusly - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 3:43 pm: Louis is right. The Brady ad says exactly what a lot of Brady-leaning voters have told me. They feel that Quinn is incompetent, we need a change. 10/10 - I think it found the right language to say what people sort of think already. The Kirk ad is good too, simple, to the point. No gimmicks. 8/10 Again,I agree with Louis about the Quinn ad. It would work well if it was part of a theme or a consistent message - too bad it wasn’t. 7/10 - Bill - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 6:40 pm: We know what we have with Gov. Quinn he is straight forward and honest..Sen. Brady is just plain scary. - Just Me - Monday, Oct 18, 10 @ 7:49 pm: “Pat Quinn has had his chance.” You don’t need the word “has” in that sentence, and using three words in a row with the letter “h” looks odd. Other than that, good one. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.