Election Day is still more than a year away, but Illinois Republican Bruce Rauner is already deploying a popular campaign weapon: the barn jacket.
Rauner released two television ads on Tuesday in his bid to become the next governor in the Prairie State. In “Back to Work,” the wealthy venture capitalist dons a barn jacket and declares, “I’m a citizen, not a politician.”
But Rauner is just the latest politician to deploy the barn jacket as a campaign fashion accessory in an effort to appeal to the common folk. As candidates budget their multimillion-dollar campaigns, $95 on a Men’s Sandstone Chore Coat by Carhartt may be the best investment they will ever make.
Former Sen. Scott P. Brown, R-Mass., may have the most famous use of the jacket during his 2010 special-election victory to take over the late-Sen. Ted Kennedy’s seat. Brown’s adviser even suggested that the jacket hang in the Smithsonian next to the Spirit of St. Louis.
* Madigan still mulling challenge to Quinn: Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart told the Tribune he’ll seek a third term instead of running for attorney general. Dart had been talked about as a Democratic candidate if incumbent Lisa Madigan ran for governor. “I have multiple things on my plate right now I want to complete,” said Dart, who also passed on a run for mayor in 2011. “I’m more driven by getting things done. I’ll leave here when I’ve completed what I’m working on.”
* Mark Brown: Bill Daley a familiar face in one Illinois county — only 101 to go: Peickert said “it’s really hard to say whether the Daley name is a positive or a negative” in DuPage, home to state’s the largest Democratic vote outside Cook County. But Peickert put in a plug for Gov. Pat Quinn, who he said is “very well liked” in DuPage.
* Chuck Sweeny: Can Bill Daley fix what ails Springfield?: I know this about Daley — he is a good salesman who comes to a meeting prepared. I interviewed him at the White House in 1993 when he was Clinton’s NAFTA czar, working in the halls of Congress to pass the free trade pact among the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Former U.S. Rep. Johnson open to endorse in Davis-Harold primary: “Several of the candidates who are running for governor asked me to consider being their lieutenant governor,” she said. “Some people wanted me to run for attorney general. Some other people wanted me to run for United States Senate. I’m somebody who decides to run for an office because I believe in it and I believe in the district.”
