39 Comments - Tobor - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:01 am: AP only - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:02 am: Wonder if anyone would call those “large media hubs”… Wonder if Scrimpf will allow Press to follow… Wonder if “hiding in plain sight” applies here… After Monday, different lens will be used looking at these things. I don’t think they realize that… …or… that the campaign is over. Hmm. - Wordslinger - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:04 am: That’s a great idea. Pretty cool. I’ve always thought statewide officials should hit the state highways and county roads early and often. Be a mensch and pop into some nursing homes, taverns, bowling alleys, etc. The folks will appreciate it. - LizPhairTax - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:05 am: Maybe not nursing homes, word. Wear the Carhartt. - Louis G. Atsaves - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:06 am: Good for him. The regular media markets in Chicago and Springfield will have far more opportunities than the locals down the road. - anon - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:06 am: Way to go. Doubt the Quinnster even knew those towns existed. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:08 am: ===Good for him. The regular media markets in Chicago and Springfield will have far more opportunities than the locals down the road.=== Hmm. “We can make them closed entirely if you prefer that instead.” - Mike Schrimpf. - winner - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:08 am: Did Quinn even know that these towns existed? When was the last time he was there. Find something that is real to attack. This is pretty childish to me. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:10 am: ===Did Quinn even know that these towns existed? When was the last time he was there.=== Washington, Illinois? - Leatherneck - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:11 am: If media markets are defined in this case as TV markets (DMAs), then Moweaqua would actually be part of the Springfield “media market”–Champaign/Decatur/Springfield DMA, that is. There are no communities in the Chicago and Peoria/Bloomington DMA’s that are on this tour. - Anonymous - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:11 am: Maybe not nursing homes. If residents are on a public pension, they may be hit pretty hard by Bruce and not be happy if they can’t stay there after his cuts. - Makandadawg - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:11 am: Heard Big Jim Thompson talk about doing the very same thing when he was governor. Got people talking and feeling important. Plus the others nearby wondering how to get the governor to come to their town next time. - A guy - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:13 am: 15K or 1M. Wherever he goes, it will be covered in every major market. It’s what’s in the frame that counts, and you newsies already know that. This one’s a little gratuitous. “Governor Elect visits small rural towns, news on that scandal at 10″. Uh, no. - SAP - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:13 am: Will Rauner have cell phone service in any of those towns? - the koala - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:15 am: I’m pretty excited to see that ol’ van weatherized for current conditions and ready to go for this! - winner - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:21 am: @OW—–”He starts the two-day tour Friday morning with a stop in the community of Byron outside Rockford. After that he will visit Casey, Grayville and Benton. On Saturday he’ll hit Maryville, Quincy, Moline and Moweaqua.” Everyone knew about Washington……OW –you are better than that. - VanillaMan - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:23 am: Adorable. Illinois is a beautiful state with hundreds of incredible towns and villages. I am glad to see that we have a governor interested in experiencing them personally. Growing up in Suburban Chicagoland I was eight years old before I saw that there were places where there was no development. I saw big open fields, and miles and miles and miles of farmland. When I moved to an Illinois county with a total population smaller than the little suburb I grew up in, it was an eye-opener. Small town Illinois has societal problems. Some children grew up poor, with lice in their hair and their parents cooked meth. Old MacDonald might have had a farm, but on that farm he had a junkyard, rotting out buildings and eighty one-eyed cats! The beautiful country home I rented didn’t have running water or sewer when it was first built, and didn’t get any until the 1950s! People park on their lawns! They let their cats walk around the neighborhood! They burned their trash! Teens cruised in pick up trucks up and down the same street for hours at night and waved at one another! You learn to love it and respect it. Small town Illinois is an important part of our state. I’m glad to see Rauner doing this, and hope he will continue to do so on a regular basis. I bet it will make him feel good. - Wordslinger - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:23 am: Quinn was hardly big time. He spent decades on the lonesome highway, by himself most of the time. He’d show up anywhere where a couple of people would listen. I showed up to some “press availability” he had outside of Milan one time for some reason. I was the only one there. we chatted for about 15 minutes to see if anyone else would show up, then we left. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:24 am: ===Did Quinn even know that these towns existed? When was the last time he was there.=== ===Everyone knew about Washington……=== So “everyone” knew, including Quinn. Step up your game, please. It’s too easy to point out one exception. - Anon. - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:25 am: 15,268 — isn’t that the number of people who voted FOR Rauner rather than against Quinn? - Langhorne - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:28 am: so the wonderful frame to this stunt is supposed to be that the new, powerful governor cares about small town illinois. i hope they washed the bird crap off the old blue van. oh wait, the story said he would be FLYING around. i hope they check the runways in some of those little burgs, to make sure they are clear of snow and long enough. or will they fly into rockford for the byron stop, and then have a caravan of some sort to the hinterlands? i thought this was the governor who was goin’ to get rid of the state planes and drive all over the state. just a little too cute. this might not work out the way they hope. - olddog - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:31 am: === Did Quinn even know that these towns existed? === Gee, I dunno. But I reckon Moline’s a pretty big ole town. It’s in the Davenport-Rock Island-Moline media market, so maybe Rauner believes the stuff we’ve been reading in the national media and he’s looking ahead to the Iowa precinct caucuses. - winner - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:33 am: @ OW….. It was you who brought up Washington. Why is it a bad thing to go to small towns and see the people of the state. Ones who voted for and against BR. There are many sore loser out here. - Oswego Willy - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:38 am: ===- winner - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:08 am Did Quinn even know that these towns existed? When was the last time he was there. Find something that is real to attack. This is pretty childish to me.=== Um, - winner -, the campaign is over. You beat Quinn. I pointed out your Dopey unnecessary dig at Quinn, I pointed out your biased ignorance, now you blane me? Sad. Maybe you need to get over the campaign, lol - G'Kar - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:40 am: I met Quinn in Oglesby, IL, about three years ago. It isn’t in a media market at all. Also, I thought Rauner was planning to visit Chillicothe this weekend? It would be in the Peoria media market. - Motambe - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:40 am: Quinn did ok at occasionally visiting small towns. Can we even imagine the requests for the Governor’s time? And staff trying to schedule visits which bear political fruit? Kudos to Rauner for this effort. The folks in these small towns will remeber these visits for a long time. - metro east transplant - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:56 am: Does anyone know of his intended specific stops? I’m very close to Maryville. There isn’t much in Maryville & Bobby’s frozen custard is closed for the season. We’ve already determined that nursing homes/assisted living facilities are out. Guess I’ll hang out a Walgreens all day. - Norseman - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 10:56 am: === flying into several of Illinois’ smaller and midsized communities. === Using his buds corporate plane or a State plane as a farewell flight before you sell it and the others. - DuPage - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 11:16 am: @winner10:08=Did Quinn even know these towns existed? When was the last time he was there?= Quinn went to many small towns, no publicity, to the funerals of Illinois soldiers. - Soccermom - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 11:22 am: This is smart. And wherever the Governor goes is a media market, so there’s no chance this won’t get plenty of attention. - Chicago Cynic - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 11:29 am: Wonder if he’s going to get asked about Exelon’s threat to close the Byron nuke plant. - A guy - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 11:32 am: === Soccermom - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 11:22 am: This is smart. And wherever the Governor goes is a media market, so there’s no chance this won’t get plenty of attention.==== And people wonder why I’m so darn smitten!! BTW Smom, Congrats on your title. It made my heart sing. - vibes - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 12:02 pm: Do this for two more days and he can be a Chicago Alderman. - D.P.Gumby - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 12:17 pm: Quinn traveled extensively to service members funerals etc. Brucie is probably looking for good deals on depressed properties to added to his blind trust… - Peter - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 12:32 pm: @ winner - I’m repeating what a lot of people have said, but you deserve the pile on. You can and should criticize Quinn for a lot, but his knowledge of downstate is quite good and he was hardly a stranger there. - liandro - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 1:22 pm: Glad to have him visiting close to my neck of the woods. He was out here during the campaign as well, glad to see he’ll still visit once in awhile after it. There’s so much more to IL than great press opportunities. Side-note: I hope none of you jokers digging Rauner for visiting rural IL are the same people who complain about the anti-Chicago vibe downstate. Unless hypocrisy is in style in your area? Points to Wordslinger for ignoring that tact. - winner - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 1:43 pm: I never said that Quinn didn’t have a good heart and wanted to help people. All you have to do is look at how he treated his chief of staff and comms director, that was a very nice wedding present he gave them. It was a gift that keeps on giving. - foster brooks - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 3:11 pm: don’t tell me he’s in Exelon’s back pocket (Byron) - Leatherneck - Friday, Jan 9, 15 @ 3:57 pm: Yes, I guess after seeing the caption contest, Rauner has made the Peoria/Bloomington DMA on his tour with the Chillicothe stop. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.