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Hynes and Quinn spar again

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* Pat Quinn and Dan Hynes debated again last night, but it doesn’t appear that much new ground was broken…

“We need someone who can’t be tied to Rod Blagojevich,” Hynes said during the debate, which was moderated by Jak Tichenor of WSIU-TV and featured questioning by David Yepsen, director of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and Jennifer Fuller of WSIU Public Radio.

But Quinn said he’s made more budget cuts than any governor in state history and that the comptroller presented him with a budget plan that was unbalanced by about $4.5 billion.
Hynes said though SIUC will be receiving financial help soon, the governor lacks a plan to help SIUC and other state universities achieve financial stability.

“It’s not a real solution. We need a comprehensive plan to address the budget crisis,” he said.

One of my interns, Barton Lorimor, was at the event and videotaped the after-debate pressers. The Quinn video isn’t available right now, but here’s Dan Hynes…

* Hynes’ new TV ad was also a subject of the debate…

Quinn said he took particular offense to Hynes’ use of Washington, Chicago’s first black mayor. Calling Washington a friend, Quinn said Hynes and his father, Tom, a veteran of Chicago politics, fought against Washington “every step of the way.”

“It’s downright sacrilegious for two hypocrites who never supported him (Washington) to invoke him,” he said.

* Quinn also flatly disputed the late Mayor Washington’s account of why he left the administration…

Quinn left the revenue department in June 1987. Washington says Quinn was “dismissed” for refusing to do what he was told and for using the department to further his own agenda.

But Quinn said Thursday that he resigned because he insisted on handling his duties ethically despite pressure to cut corners from others in Washington’s administration.

They were in major spinning mode yesterday...

To tamp down the ad’s possible damage, Quinn’s campaign reached out to Chicago media outlets with large black audiences and dispatched former Washington political advisor Jacky Grimshaw, a Quinn campaign supporter who also headed Washington’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Grimshaw said despite the harsh rhetoric, the two remained friends.

“Harold could be angry with you in public and still be friends with you behind closed doors. As far as I know, that was definitely the case with Quinn,” said Grimshaw, a Quinn appointee to the CTA board.

But Washington’s former press secretary, Alton Miller, who has not endorsed either Hynes or Quinn, predicted the ad could carry a catastrophic effect against the governor in the black community.

“This is truly what Harold Washington felt. I’m sorry to say, it’s absolutely the Harold Washington I remember, and it’s the mood and the level of disappointment I remember,” said Miller, who likewise noted the irony of the son of a Washington enemy invoking the late mayor in a campaign ad.

At the same time, Miller said, “I don’t know how in the hell you rebut it. I honestly don’t. If I’m Quinn’s people, I better have a strategy that doesn’t depend on a strong vigorous turnout from the black community. If Hynes has the money to get this out, and I’m sure he does, it’s going to be absolutely devastating.”

“Catastrophic” is probably right.

My Sun-Times column today is about Hynes’ new ad…

“Who are you gonna believe, me, or your lying eyes?”

Richard Pryor coined that phrase, but it has become Gov. Quinn’s stock reaction to his opponent’s campaign ads.

After being hammered by Comptroller Dan Hynes for secretly releasing hundreds of dangerous felons from prison early, Quinn ran a response TV ad claiming that Hynes had “grossly” distorted his record.

The “truth,” Quinn’s ad claimed, was that Quinn wanted to move nonviolent offenders into halfway homes — as if the widely condemned early release program never even existed.

“Who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?”

You may not have seen Hynes’ latest TV ad, but you will. It will soon be the most talked-about spot of the entire campaign.

The ad features an interview with the late Mayor Harold Washington talking about why he fired Pat Quinn as his revenue director.

“I was nuts to do it,” Washington says about hiring Quinn. “I must have been blind or staggering, I would never appoint Pat Quinn to do anything.”

It gets better.

“Pat Quinn is a totally and completely undisciplined individual,” Washington says.

That’s gotta sting.

Washington complains in the video that Quinn wouldn’t do what he was supposed to do. Instead, Quinn used the office as a public relations “plantation.”

“He was dismissed. He should’ve been dismissed. My only regret is that we hired him and kept him too long. That was perhaps my greatest mistake in government.”

While those look like supreme- ly harsh words on paper, watching Washington actually say them on video is truly striking. The ad practically reaches out of your TV screen and grabs you by the throat. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

The same basic principle was behind running an ad featuring the already dead Paul Simon endorsing Barack Obama for the U.S. Senate. A beloved figure, sainted in the political culture, Simon advised us how to vote from beyond the grave.

Twenty-two years after his death, Harold Washington is still revered in Chicago, particularly by white liberals and African Americans.

Using him is a no-brainer, particularly after softening Quinn up with millions of dollars of TV ads questioning the governor’s competency.

The Quinn people say there’s no way that Washington would want to help out a member of the Hynes family. Dan Hynes’ father ran against Washington in 1987, when the future state comptroller was still in high school.

They have a point about the father, but the Quinn folks can yell all they want and it won’t do much good because we can’t ask a dead man what he thinks now about the grown-up Dan Hynes. We know, thanks to this videotape, what Harold Washington thought of Pat Quinn.

The Quinn campaign is pushing back so hard not because Hynes has somehow defiled Washington’s hallowed memory (although they’d love to somehow create a backlash), but because the late mayor’s comments could’ve been uttered last week.

They are an eerily perfect prelude to Quinn’s meltdown as governor and Hynes’ effective campaign to point out the governor’s mismanagement and administrative incompetence. Washington’s long-ago words match Hynes’ current message — and the image that more and more voters now have of their governor.

True to form, Quinn denied Thursday that he was ever fired by the late mayor. “That didn’t happen,” Quinn said. “I resigned.”

On the one hand, we’ve got Washington saying on videotape Quinn was “dismissed” for good reason.

On the other, Quinn says he resigned and always supported his dear friend Harold.

“Who are you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?”

* Related…

* Hynes has twice as much campaign cash as Quinn

* Quinn’s mom loaned $100K to gov. campaign

* Statewide candidate election finance reports

* The $$$ race — who gave what to whom, as primary election nears?

* Trailing candidates show financial strength in Illinois governor’s race

* Hynes, McKenna Ahead In Cash Race

* Hynes, McKenna bring big cash to campaigns

* The Cash Dash

* Budget, not Blagojevich, dominates governor’s race

* Quinn and Dillard Are Our Governor Choices

* Unfiltered: Democratic Candidates for IL Governor Debate (Carbondale)

* As negative ads fly, candidates deny attacking

* Quinn, Hynes seek Democratic nod for governor

* Hynes, Quinn trade barbs in debate

* Quinn, Hynes face off in WSIU studios

* Quinn, Hynes unveil new ads aimed at black voters

* Harold Washington appears in Dan Hynes television ad

* Harold Washington Criticizes Quinn in New Hynes Ad

* Hynes uses Harold Washington’s words against Quinn

* Hynes Uses Mayor Washington Video To Rip Quinn

* Hynes’ ad revives Quinn/Harold Washington feud — without the context.

* Governor Pat Quinn promotes job optimism

* Quinn reminds area to take advantage of free tax service

* Democratic Endorsement: Illinois lieutenant governor - Link

* Cohen promises job growth if elected lieutenant governor

* Lieutenant governor candidates continue their campaign races

* Treasurer candidates say they don’t want to use office as springboard

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:24 am

Comments

Quinn really can’t spin this. He needs to change the subject as much as possible.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:33 am
Great column, Rich.

We shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves, of course, but since last Friday I’ve been wondering how the heck we resolve the state’s fiscal mess if Quinn loses the primary?

Quinn will have absolutely no incentive to negotiate if he’s a lame duck, and every reason NOT to help out the next governor.

I see Quinn making a take-it-or-leave-it offer to the General Assembly, and Republicans who are reading way-too-much into the Massachussetts’ senate race more than happy to await the outcome of the November elections.

If Hynes wins the general, Republicans will want to force him to sign the tax hike, if the GOP wins the governor’s mansion, they or the groups that back them may decide to wait until that candidate is seated so that they can get a better shake.

Bottom line: if Quinn loses the primary, I think our estimate for when a tax hike happens gets pushed from next November to next June.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:36 am
wordslinger: change the subject from “Competence” to what exactly?

Quinn’s only hope for getting the African American vote back is to come out and call the entire Hynes family racist, but their going to need something more tangible than Willie Horton accusations and Hynes v. Washington to tie it all together, and they’re going to need a third party to do it.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:39 am
My informal poll among aboout a dozen friends, neigbors etc. I’ve see since yesterday, indicates just about everyone is sick of the negative campaigning on both sides, and just wants it to end. If Quinn is smart his rebutal ad is short snips of Jackie Grimshaw, Jesse White and Danny Davis talking about Pat Quinn and all his has done for the community, and they are confident if Harold were alive today, he would certainly choose Quinn over Hynes, his daddy and the machine.

Comment by Niles Township Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:39 am
But what exactly were Quinn’s cuts. It’s not that I don’t want to believe Quinn but there are a lot of ways you can call something a “cut.” Like setting up a huge increase in next fiscal year’s appropriation for..whatever…then cutting the number back and saying it was a “cut.” Not in my eyes. Lots of families out here in the middle class economic weeds are experiencing real cuts.
They are working with less money than they were last year, not a cutback in what they wanted to spend if economic and social conditions were better.

And this is Illinois. Believing anything a sitting politician, or wannabee replacement says, on its face is beyond unwise. It’s downright stupid.

Comment by cassandra Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:43 am
Re Quinn’s feigning moral outrage and crocodile tears…

This is all so irrational and illogical on Quinn’s part. Quinn is super emitonally charged to the point where it is frieghtening, and frankly it does bode well for his image as a “leader.” I’m sorry but, the I’m mad at tom/dan hynes because tom hynes was mean to harold washington thing doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I find quinn to be disengenuous here, because from what I have seen he’s friendly with Ed Burke, despite the fact that Burke was a major player in Council Wars, as a bitter political rival of maor washington, was steadily working to undermine Mayor Washington at every turn. Ed Burke was and still is totally Machine.
Also Quinn doesn’t have a problem with Richard M. Daley, despite who his father was—the ultimate machine political powerbroker.

IMO what is perhaps really bothering Quinnis that he didn’t want to have to deal with formidable competition for the primary.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:50 am
Niles Township is exactly right. The ad with the late Harold Washington is offensive on so many levels, and my opinion of Dan Hynes has hit rock bottom and started digging. There is backlash out there. I’ve seen African Americans interviewed on the local news, and I’ve heard African Americans calling in to WVON in Chicago saying that the ad is insulting to them. They have said that Dan Hynes insulted them by not giving them credit for being able to make the right choice in the voting booth, and by resorting to the words of Mayor Washington, he has lowered himself to the lowest common denominator. They also havent forgotten that it was Dan’s father who hated Harold Washington so much, as a man, and as a black man, that he formed a new politicl party and ran against the Mayor in 1987. This is an insult.

African Americans, like any other voting block, want to know why they should vote for a candidate, not just why they shouldnt vote for the other. Dan Hynes has not made the case for why he is the best candidate. He has simply insulted a race of people by exhuming their standard bearer and used his words to support the candidate who used race to try to end Washington’s career.

This is pathetic.

Comment by Anon Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:51 am
===I’ve heard African Americans calling in to WVON in Chicago saying that the ad is insulting to them===

Talk radio is not a harbinger of public opinion. Be careful when you cite it.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:54 am
Fabulous column Rich. You really nailed it.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:58 am
Not sure if I missed this somewhere, but I did notice that Quinn filed an A1 yesterday showing about $300,000 coming in on the 19th. Emil gave $100,000 as did Ed Burke. Hynes got $100k as a downpayment on the IEA endorsement. The guns are blazing!!

Comment by Smooch Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:04 am
the governor cannot respond effectively to the late great mayor’s statement. he needs to turn the page. if he chooses to fight over this issue alone, he will lose.

Comment by quinn fan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:06 am
While it may not be a harbinger, it is a way to get an immediate finger on the pulse of the community.

Comment by Anon Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:07 am
== I’ve been wondering how the heck we resolve the state’s fiscal mess if Quinn loses the primary? ==

Maybe the General Assembly will take it upon themselves to pass a balanced budget this year?

Comment by Scooby Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:15 am
Rich, I have to say I’m disappointed in your coverage of the Washington ad. While yes, a revolutionary ad, you’re not being fair to the Governor. Why haven’t you told readers WHY he left the mayor’s office way back when?

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:25 am
Whoever wins the Democratic primary, chances are the General Assembly will do something with the budget similar to last year: pass spending authority up to what the projected revenues allow, and let Governor Quinn figure it out. Maybe if Quinn loses the primary the GA lets him wear the jacket for a few revenue enhancers as well.

Comment by Kyle Boller's Clipboard Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:29 am
== I’ve been wondering how the heck we resolve the state’s fiscal mess if Quinn loses the primary? ==

Why wouldn’t the Republicans help out this session with, say, a temporary tax increase passed with the votes of some of their safer members? They have what looks like a good chance to elect a Republican governor this year, and they would certainly rather leave him a decent budget outlook than what we have now. Heck, they could “help” pass Blago’s gross receipts tax now, plausibly blame the Democrat governor and the overwhelming Democrat majorities in the legislature, win the governorship, and then take credit for repealing the tax or cutting it back in a year or two after the bills are paid down some and before they have to face the next election.

Comment by Anon Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:30 am
it is true that some blacks are bothered by the ad featuring Washington. but let’s not lump all black people together. for every one black person who is offended, you’ll find an equal amount who aren’t.

with all due respect to WVON, and its listeners, it neither speaks for nor represents all blacks.

It was a mistake on the part of the quinn camp and the media to assume that the jesse jackson jr. endorsement or the endorsements of jeese white and danny davis automactially deliver the black vote to quinn. do they help? sure they can, but the jj jr. probably doesn’t all that much.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:41 am
===Why haven’t you told readers WHY he left the mayor’s office way back when?===

Don’t ask Rich to answer, somebody should simply ask Quinn to explain why he left. If I remember correctly, an honest explanation of “why” wouldn’t exactly help Quinn among those voters who have fond memories of Mayor Washington. But please feel free to elaborate Anonymous 11:25am.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:11 pm
perhaps it was because of trial and error or the benefit of feedback from the previous ABC-7debate or the fact this the SIU debate forum was more restrained/controlled allowing for a much more fluid and informative exchange, I liked lastnight’s debate between hynes and quinn. i thought both came off considerably better than they did earlier this week.

What I really liked about hynes apart from the fact that he was on point throughout was that he took the criticism from the ABC-7 debate, learned from it, applied it and as result was better and more effective debator. He won the debate on style and substance. Quinn was more restrained than the abc-7 debate, but quinn reverted back to type and resorted tpo personal attacks just like he did during the ABC-7 debate. as case in point, right out the box he started with the your dad got you a political career etc. and carried on with the you were campaigning while i was slaving away with jesse white to get the state’s finances in order, up to harping on david pippy…david pippy..david pippy…

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:57 pm
Rich, the Richard Pryor comment was absolutely perfect. While the ad doesn’t grab me quite the way the Obama-Simon ad (which, after all, was a positive spot) did, it is awfully hard to rebut. And Quinn is doing an awful job of rebutting it.

Great column.

Comment by Boone Logan Square Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:37 pm