* Let’s start the coverage of this story with the react from John Tillman at the Illinois Policy Institute…

One of the most harmful actions one can take with respect to racial issues is the false charge of racism. Today we have seen Gov. Quinn do just that in his desperate bid for re-election. It is a failure of leadership of the highest order.

We stand by every word I said in the video that Gov. Quinn’s campaign office released today. Those remarks from October of 2011 convey what we have long believed: that the free enterprise system and the founding principles of this country are the best way to help all of our people, but especially the poor, disadvantaged and minorities. That is what the Illinois Policy Institute fights for every day.

Any fair viewer of that video will see the falseness of Gov. Quinn’s press release from this morning.

We will have more to say on this later in the day.

John Tillman

* Now, let’s move back a step and hear what the Quinn campaign had to say a bit earlier this morning…

Quinn for Illinois spokesman Izabela Miltko issued the below statement regarding new video showing one of Rauner’s top allies making the case that cutting the minimum wage is the best way to help “minority people.” After the comments, Rauner donated more than half a million dollars to the organization, which is currently pushing to eliminate the minimum wage in Illinois.

“Bruce Rauner is not only bankrolling an organization that is currently pushing to eliminate the minimum wage - he is closely aligned with a tycoon who has said that the minimum wage turns ‘minority people’ into gang members.

“Such extreme, bizarre policies and racial stereotypes have no place in Illinois.

“It’s extremely disturbing that Mr. Rauner surrounds himself with these out-of-touch individuals and Tea Party organizations.

“Bruce Rauner owes the people of Illinois an apology. He should immediately renounce these ugly, racist remarks and disassociate himself from the Illinois Policy Institute and its CEO, John Tillman.”

* OK, now here’s the video which started it all. Bruce Rauner was on the podium with Tillman for this 2011 event. Tillman’s remarks in question start at the one hour, 27 minute mark, but you probably should start just a little earlier…

* Transcript provided by the Quinn campaign…

John Tillman: “Think about the minimum wage: they love to talk about how the minimum wage helps poor, disadvantaged, and minority people.

“Think about that video we saw of Jack Roeser’s life earlier and those children walking to St. Elizabeth’s school. You saw those kids on that video. You remember them walking in, some of them were 7, 8, or 9 years old. Imagine those kids when they’re 17, 18, 19 years old walking down the street on the south side of Chicago or the west side of Chicago.

“If we have a low minimum wage so employers can afford to bring in a new employee who’s just learning how to work, developing their skills, trying to get a leg up in life- help wanted signs go out.

“When we raise the minimum wage to $8.25, those kids when they’re 17, or 18 and grown up out of St. Elizabeth’s walk down that same street when they walk by those stores, the help wanted signs are taken away because that employer can’t afford $8.25 an hour.

“So those kids keep walking and they walk and they get to the corner, and what do they find at the corner? They find a member of the gang offering them a job to be a drug runner. Is that the choice we want to make?

“Those kids are our heroes on why a lower minimum wage is better, not a higher minimum wage because it changes those kids’ lives for the worse if you raise it, it improves their life if you lower it.”

* The Rauner campaign wants to remind you of this story from earlier this year…

An outspoken Chicago pastor connected Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan and suggested that GOP gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner stands for “evil,” as he appeared next to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday to give the Democrat his endorsement.

The governor remained silent as the Rev. Walter “Slim” Coleman, a long-time left-wing activist, spoke at his side during a press event where Quinn accepted the endorsement of several mostly African-American clergy members.

But…

Shortly after speeches concluded, Quinn disappeared out the back door of the Chicago Lakeshore Hotel, where the endorsement event was held, without taking questions from reporters. Following inquiries from WBEZ, the governor’s re-election campaign sought to distance itself from Coleman’s comments on Thursday.

Spokeswoman Brooke Anderson told WBEZ that Coleman was invited to speak at the event by another minister, not by the campaign. In a statement Anderson said the governor does not support Coleman’s statements.

“We couldn’t disagree more strongly, and the Governor believes this rhetoric has no place in politics,” Anderson wrote in an email.

So, considering that the WBEZ story is being pushed by the Rauner campaign, it’s probably only fair that they react to Tillman’s video and his later response, right? Or am I missing something here?