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* OK, so I’m hearing that Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign response to Dan Hynes’ new ad featuring Harold Washington will be to “connect the dots.”

Hynes’ father ran against Harold Washington and said nasty things. Dan Hynes ran against Barack Obama and was quite negative at times.

* The Question: Is that enough to rebut the Harold Washington ad? Explain.

…Adding… I’m assuming that they have video of Dan Hynes attacking Obama during a candidates’ debate. Keep that in mind when responding.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:04 am

Comments

No Rich it is not. Shorten the ad and tie in today’s problems and how much the deficit has risen under Quinn and you have the end game.

Comment by Lake Voter Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:06 am
I’m gonna break my usual custom and respond to this question.

Along racial grounds, it might work to some extent, particularly with those already leaning towards Quinn. The governor wants to create a racial flap here, and that always works to some extent.

But this HW ad is about the competency theme developed over several months by the Hynes campaign. Quinn has never fully addressed that theme, which is really what’s behind his tanking numbers. And this response won’t address it, either.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:06 am
I don’t think that’s enough given the ticking clock. And none of those charges rebut the central theme of the Hynes campaign: Quinn can’t govern effectively. Remember, this isn’t about Mayor Washington or race, it’s about Quinn’s disasterous first year and the prospect of Illinois facing default.

And I remember the Obama campaign quite well, and I can’t recall Hynes being out of bounds negative on Obama. Hull? Sure, Obama? Not so much.

Quinn’s response is weak and it is predicated on having enough time for voters to connect the dots. 10 days isn’t enough time.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:07 am
I’ll break my custom and cut and paste from my posting from below since it is relevant here. I think anything less than I suggest will not be sufficient enough of a response.

“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 @ 11:11 am
No, it will not work for a few reasons:

1) Quinn needs to rebut Harold Washington, not Hynes. Hynes is just the guy buying the airtime. That’s what makes the ad so effective — Hynes isn’t the one making the case.

2) Everyone remembers winners, no one remembers losers. Everyone remembers and loves Harold Washington. Only insiders remember Tom Hynes’ campaign against him.

3) Quinn’s strategy apparently relies on either attacking his candidates Dad (who’s been out of the public eye for over a decade), or attacking something the candidate himself did as a teenager. Hard to see how such a tactic doesn’t come across as unseemly and desperate.

4) Concur with Rich’s point in his comment.

Comment by ILPundit Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:13 am
It will be VERY tough to counter HW’s own words on video. Hynes’ ad is damning not just damaging to Quinn. That is a rough message to counter. Good luck trying.

Comment by Suburbs Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:15 am
If you have to play connect the dots, it’s probably not enough. If he has a way to change the subject, that would probably be best.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:16 am
Does it strike anybody as odd that Quinn’s response is centered on Tom Hynes and the Machine taking on Harold Washington, but in the past few days Quinn has taken something like $100,000 from Alderman Ed Burke. Wasn’t Ed Burke one of the leaders opposing Harold Washington in the Council Wars?

Comment by Anon Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:18 am
It’ll staunch the bleeding in the black community, but when a guy speaks from the grave calling you a incompetent gloryhound, it sort of misses the point. It leaves the Washington critique of Quinn just sitting there with no one addressing it.

Worse for Quinn,there’s no way to make that point dramatically. While he can attack Tom Hynes, the boring nature of Dan Hynes doesn’t exactly lead to great dramatic video or quotes.

Comment by ArchPundit Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:19 am
So now quinn wants to insult the intelligence of black voters specifically? What his Burr Oak ad is not good enough anymore for him to do that?

What hynes is doing is par the course. He’s running against a machine candidate with the incumbents advanatge. Quinn has all of the tools and resources of the machine & incumbency at his disposal, and hynes as a challenger has to makle the case to voters that quinn is not qualified to remain in the position. Hynes is doing textbook political campaigning and he’s actually/technically not being nasty about it.

but Quinn is just not qualified to be governor or in any leadership role, as his current and past performance shows. The washington video lends creedence to Hynes’ assertion that quinn should not be retained and that illinois can do better.

If Quinn cannot be honest with himself, with whom can he truly be honest?

The Washington footage is not about race, it’s about Pat Quinn’s leadership, oversight and job performance on public finance and budgeting, from someone who was keenly aware of his performace—a former boss. A former boss with considerable credibility and authority.

The Quinn Camp is understanably worried and angry, and I understand their concerns. But, I think they need to get real too and keep things in perspective. This is politics. Nothing done by hynes has been personally motivated or mean-spirited. Hynes is not out to destroy quinn, the person/man, Hynes is trying to win a highly competitive political race. Quinn has had a personal problem with hynes ever since Hynes suggested that he (quinn ) re-do the FY10 budget, and especially ever since hynes announced his intention to run for governor.

Mayor Washington thought it and said it, and it’s true even to this day in light of Quinn’s performance over the last year. Quinn is just going to have to deal with it. I’m sure it’s unpleasant to Quinn and his people, but it doesn’t make it any less true. Getting upset about it does not good. Does quinn want to beat tom hynes up or something? just wonderin’ cause this is ridiculous.

For the lack of a better expression Quinn comes off as a real drama queen here, and too high-strung, which only serves to re-inforce that he is not good for the governor’s office. he’s just too emotional and over-the-top.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:19 am
Considering Obama’s numbers these days, it may be helpful that Dan Hynes spoke out against him with some voters. Showcasing this may backfire on Quinn.

Comment by 2010 Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:20 am
Quinn is now playing on Hynes turf, that alone signals a significant shift in momentum. Dont think that Hynes is not ready to respond to a Quinn counter along these very predictable lines. Does anyone think that the Hynes camp did not anticipate this very response? Predictable is one thing you do not want to be when something hits like this you must at least try to redefine the debate.

Comment by Obamas' Puppy Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:25 am
I think Quinn is making a mistake in thinking that he only needs to respond to the black community. This ad hits with every voter who is not very firmly in the Quinn camp. Targetting a response only towards the black audience and ignoring the damage this has done with white and other ethnic voters (who really don’t even know or care about Jacky Grimshaw and Danny Davis) would be a huge misplay.

Comment by Bluefish Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:25 am
yes, Anon. And Ed Burke is STILL alive, at City Hall, and rom what I gather is not a tremendously popular figure in black Chicago. Council Wars and the Baby T things still resonate for many, and in very bad ways.

And so far as younger black voters are concerned,who are not expected to turn out, unfamiliar with Council Wars and the Baby T issue, Burke is probably as well liked among them as is Mayor Daley, which means he’s not liked at all.

let’s not even go into the mess that Dan Burke is in with the latinos. but of course in his case we’ll see what happens on feb 2nd.

I suspect that the Burke name in majority-minority Chicago is probably not held in the highest of esteem/regard.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:28 am
Quinn should change the subject on tv and bash Hynes on radio, specifically radio with a focus on the African American community, the talk shows. Quinn has lots of ammunition, many supporters like Jacky, to speak directly to that community. tv is not the place to do that. the Hynes ad might also be
a way to preempt the inevitable Quinn bashing of the Hynes
family that was to come on those airwaves. now the airstrikes
will be heavier. also, the effectiveness of Hynes commercial
depends on one’s opinion of Harold. many found him to be
very ineffective.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:31 am
Not likely unless they happen to have a spare million bucks lying around to change the subject. It may soften the blow, but it will reduce it from 100 megatons to 50.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:34 am
“Connecting dots” is very, very difficult in political communications. It requires voters to think. Bad.

To connect with voters, voters need straight forward information, information to which they can immediately digest, relate, and react.

“Connecting dots” risks that voters miss the message, ignore the message, or take away a different message.

But the Quinn folks have little choice.

Comment by David Ormsby Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:36 am
Quinn can try and rebut the ad all he wants. It won’t be effective because what HW said was true then and is still true today, Quinn is not competent to lead.

Back in the day, Quinn was sent to the Chicago budget office to fix something that was broke. After about a year he had put no processes in place to start a turn around.

Fast forward to today. He has been the Gov. approximately one year. No processes have been put in place to fix state government.

Comment by Leave a Light on George Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:40 am
===I’m assuming that they have video of Dan Hynes attacking Obama during a candidates’ debate===

You’re probably right, as usual. I guess I’ll have to wait to see it again, but I followed that ‘04 Senate race pretty closely, and don’t remember Hynes using anything that wasn’t fair game. Of course, out of context editing could make something innocuous appear malicious, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

But so far, the “connect the dots” strategy as described means Quinn has to go racial and risk a potential tsunami of backlash.

And Chicago Cynic cuts to the heart of the Quinn dilemma: where does Quinn find the dough to put 1,000 grp behind the phantom ad?

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:42 am
David Ormsby, but must the Quinn people be so stupid? They have a choice to do it or not do it.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:47 am
After watching the HW piece, my first reaction is a very strong ad which is consistent with the current Hynes message, but how low do you have to go find mud to throw? Maybe Quinn was terrible at the job then. I honesty do not remember. The assumption being made is that bad then = bad now with no possible success in between. There just seems to be a total lack of real arguement when you have to use the 22 year old words of a past enemy to go after a current oppenent. Hynes has not exactly set the world on fire with blazing success. By default he has been part of the team while the current problems developed.

Comment by zatoichi Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 11:50 am
No.

Quinn is now only on the defensive. He cannot play offense at this point, or at least I am expecting him to not play offense.

Rich is correct. Hynes’s competency argument has been a rolling stone barrelling downhill for months. Quinn has not truly rebutted, and his only defense seems to be his never-ending retort that he is the governor - a statement he used several times in last night’s debate.

If this upcoming press conference turns out to be nothing more than a “Hynes bash fest” and offers no substance, Quinn will be throwing more mud when he could/should try to make himself look better.

Zatoichi, your post brings me to something I pondered last night. Getting fired from a job - and not laid off - is a demeaning process. Quinn being fired as one of the top government officials who worked for the 3rd largest city in America is a pockmark on his character. We are not talking about him being fired from McDonald’s as a teen for goofing off. This shows serious flaws in Quinn’s competency and ability to lead.

Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:02 pm
No, in fact it will have the effect to keep the ad in front of the voters. Does the Quinn camp really believe they can/should try to diminish the unedited words of a deceased hero in the black (and rightly pointed out, others) community. The press should have a field day with this one like they did on the Corrections release program story. It will be interesting to see how many time Quinn tries to change this one. Let’s face it…the governor is toast.

Comment by Commonsense in Illinois Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:03 pm
http://www.wttw.com/main.taf?p=42,8,80,11,2

there’s nothing on cspan.

we might have to have a question of the day on greatest political meltdowns of the decade. this blair hull thing was painful to watch, jack ryan, blago, alan keyes.

Comment by shore Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:03 pm
by the way wttw should get a donor and put all of its political archives online. Work with the chicago historical society or something. With Illinois running washington, they could get a lot of mileage out of reporters trying to write stories about axelrod, obama, rahm, ect who have appeared on the program.

Comment by shore Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:05 pm
The only thing I see a Quinn counterattack doing is to give African-American voters a reason to stay home. I don’t think that happens, though, at least not in Cook County. The President’s race is important and there will be an effort to turn people out for it.

Whoever wins the primary may have trouble turning the vote out in November. That may be the ultimate legacy of the current ad war.

Comment by Boone Logan Square Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:07 pm
This won’t work.

Quinn needs an ad where Pat faces the camera with a b/w photo background of Washington and himself in happier days. Quinn tells us that as a yound man he let the Mayor down. Then Quinn tells us how his relationship to Washington changed his life and how he committed himself to the higher standard Washington set - then go into his rhetoric about reaching out to those in need, creating a diverse administration, and how even during difficult economic times, he as governor, is committed to helping working Illinoisans.

Then Pat looks into the camera and tell us that although he let the Mayor down, he believes that if the Mayor was alive today, Harold would, along with Jesse White, (etc.) in endorsing his candidacy.

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:07 pm
Sure, HW firing Quinn happened 23 years ago; but by that time Quinn was almost 40 years old and he had already accomplished passage of the Cutback Amendment and (I believe) creation of the Citizens Utility Board. He wasn’t some wet behind the ears kid just out of college; he was well known and had already established his “gadfly” persona.

Moreover — and this is the important point — what HW said then is consistent with what Quinn seems to be doing now (using his office primarily for PR value and not making the decisions that need to be made). That’s what makes it effective.

Comment by Secret Square Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:13 pm
Has anyone actually seen the Washington ad on air yet? Kind of wierd, but have yet to see it, though I have seen the Hynes endorse ad.

Comment by Niles Township Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:18 pm
I guess Vanilla Man is right. Quinn should do the high road approach. Say he has made mistakes and learned from them-nice stuff like that but say unlike Dan Hynes-he always supported the late Mayor.

He should leave it to his high profile black supporters to drum up the hypocracy of Hynes’s Willie Horton attacks and his using Harold Washington in his ads.

The bottom line is, he better do something because this one is slipping away.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:18 pm
No — that is not a good enough response. The average voter may have no idea who Hynes Sr. is and what the back story to “connect the dots” might be. His response requires research on the voters part and at this point, he still needs to be doing it for them. Tell them exactly why the ad doesn’t correctly depict you. It’s ironic that that the theme of incompetency is met with what appears to be an overall lazy response.

Comment by Student Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:19 pm
VM,

Your suggested ad won’t work given the actual history involved. This is the beauty of the Hynes ad, it is a double-edged sword. Quinn didn’t let the Mayor down, he left/got fired for what he (Quinn) believed were honorable stands against perceived wrong-doing by those close to the former Mayor.

So if Quinn wants to go face-to-face with the camera on this, he has to trash the legacy of Chicago’s first African-American mayor. That’s one of the reasons the Hynes ad is so effective. There is no way for Quinn to help himself by responding directly to it.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:19 pm
Ok VM, but still leaves Quinn unable to prove how he is competent and able to effectively govern.

All that would tell me is that Quinn is a nice guy.

But being nice doesn’t make him qualified to be governor/leader.

Illinois is in a terrible position and we cannot afford to give Quinn more time to knock and bang around, like a bull in a closet, trying to figure things out. For us (the 12million + illinoisans), tomorrow is NOW. We’ve got to move forward now, we need to make sure that we have the right person in place to move us forward. Just as it didn’t work at the Chicago Department of Revenue, it’s not working at the governor’s Office.

We basically had to write much of 2009 off as a loss.

Then he steps on 2010 to give a state of the state and is not on point or where we needed him to be it—it was seriously defficient on the most fundamental of levels even. We’re already not off to a good start, we need to cut our losses and move on. If this were the private sector you would’ve gone by now. People are willing to give you a chance, but you’ve got to actually do something with the chance you are given.

if this were the private sector, Quinn would be gone already. the private sector doesn’t get caught up in emotions and sentiments, and for good reason. nothing would/could thrive or survive in the private sector if it did.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:24 pm
VM has the right strategy for Quinn….admit he made mistakes 20 years ago….learned his leason….and changed. Unfortunately, Harold Washington’s comments sound pretty close to the same problems Quinn has in managing state government. Quinn’s only hope now is come up with something that’s changes the subject.

Comment by Raymond Moley Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:24 pm
Moreover — and this is the important point — what HW said then is consistent with what Quinn seems to be doing now (using his office primarily for PR value and not making the decisions that need to be made). That’s what makes it effective. –secret square

and that is what is truly bothering him about wasington’s words. his feeling are hurt and he has a year as governor with very little in terms of actual accomplishment to show. you’re right fast foward to 2009-today and HW’s words a hauntingly prophetic.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:26 pm
The “connect the dots” strategy is lame at best. The Harold Washington comments “connects” some “dots” to perceived competence demonstrated by the Governor. It resonates across racial lines because of the issue of competence.
The Governor may have some video that can be taken out of context that would show Mr. Hynes in a negative light. That just means that he has not always stood on the “right” side of the fence on every issue at every time. Times change, people change, alliances change over time.
Who your friends were twenty years ago is one thing. Where you stood on an issue twenty years ago is one thing. Even competence twenty years ago if you learned from it and better demonstrated competence now, it would not be an issue.
Were you competent then, and are you showing it now is QUITE another issue which is why this ad by Mr. Hynes resonates. The budget and bond rating alone makes competence a legitimate question to ask. The Governor can show better.
The Governor would be better served to take Harold Washington out of the equation, call it a low blow and show how he has learned in the last year and why we can expect better in the future.

Comment by Richard Afflis Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:29 pm
The real problem with the Washington ad is that’s it’s not a sound bite. The late Mayor was talking calmly, and explained in great detail his problem with Quinn.

There are GREAT sound bites in that ad, but the real damage is how calmly and clearly the Mayor explained why Quinn is not a good financial administrator.

Comment by Pat collins Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:33 pm
The only real effective response is for Quinn to demonstrate that he is a competent Governor, and I don’t see how he can make that case.

Comment by Pelon Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:41 pm
Meh, two middle aged well-off white guys arguing about who’s more of a friend to blacks is a very weak debate. Proft made a good point on that score earlier.

The Harold ad will be a neutron bomb to Quinn everywhere north of I-80. Where they don’t know or remember Harold, it will hurt less but it will hurt. Harold was good but he certainly didn’t walk on water.

If I’m Quinn’s strategist, I want to change the subject to who is most responsive to an under-represented community, an underserved community, one that needs and counts on state services like welfare, child care, job programs, utility underwriting, health care, education… the entire panoply of services that are currently cut or underfunded and waiting for reimbursements that the state is not making.

I point to that collection of needs and services and I ask the question: who wants to solve this shortage by making more draconian cuts, and who wants to fix it by raising revenue to an honest funding level, and not doing more crazy borrowing?

The AA community, the Hispanics, heck ANY minority community, wants to vote in its own self-interest. You have to make the case that your guy is more in tune with their needs, more sympathetic, and more committed to those needs.

Hynes is great on the negatives against Quinn, but where is HIS vision for meeting those social needs? Up in some abstracted layer I don’t think connects to this voting block.

I think the minority block as a whole may go with the familiar and sympathetic incompetent guy they know better and who might be steered into making the programs and services work… over the guy who is just another ambitious white guy with lots of other constituencies to answer to, whom they’ll never see after November except for a some south side press pops in February.

Comment by Gregor Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:02 pm
Pelon hit the nail on the head.

You’re all struggling to come up with a rebuttal ad that wins this campaign for Quinn, and that ad doesn’t exist.

If you’re defending, you’re losing.

Good government is Quinn’s best and only defense, and he doesn’t have it to show.

His only hope is to go on earth-scorching offense.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:04 pm
Quinn’s only possible come back is, “That’s not what Harold Washington meant”. The problem is that I saw the ad and that is what Harold Washington said. Period.

Comment by One of the 35 Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:07 pm
Between the early release fiasco, the financial meltdown of the state and now this? All within 30 days? Ouch, ouch and triple ouch!

The only response is to pull out some examples of responsible competent governing that isn’t window dressing or symbolic. Any ideas as to what he can use?

Other than that, the Quinn campaign should put on their crash helmets and hope the airbags deploy. The brakes have failed and that brick wall looks pretty unforgiving.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:07 pm
My point exactly, YDD. Not playing offense will doom Quinn.

I’ve noticed that some reformers are often never willing to admit mistakes or shortcomings. John McCain is a similar case study to Quinn, although I think McCain is much more competent.

Comment by Team Sleep Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:15 pm
PQ has got less than 2 weeks to undo what he has done/not done in the last year. That is the only way to counter the Hynes/HW ad. Mayor Washington was right - PQ is not competent to run an important office that requires management. He is a PR gadfly, king of the PR event that gets him time on the 10PM news. That does not a governor make.

I think one point already made is that people in Cook Cty will already be at the polls voting for a new board pres. Turnout could be high for that race alone. Who will they vote for as the dem gov candidate? Do they leave it blank? Vote for the man who Mayor Washington fired, or the man whose dad worked so hard, even fought dirty, to prevent HW from being the mayor of Chicago? Tough choice.

Either candidate loses in November.

Comment by dupage dan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:17 pm
Louis G. Atsaves,

His whole campaign should have been about anti-corruption and reform. He should have been leading the charge to re-invent McCormick place.

He should have been contrasting him as the honest reformer who empanelled the Pat Collin’s Commission with Dan Hynes, the ward hack who is running to keep the corrupt status quo.

He didn’t do that and it is too late now.

Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:20 pm
All of this is great news for Cheryle Robinson Jackson.

Comment by Brennan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:25 pm
Brennan,

=All of this is great news for Cheryle Robinson Jackson.=

Explain, please.

Comment by dupage dan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:32 pm
Cheryle needs turnout. Nothing spells city voter turnout like rehashing the council wars debate in addition to a split black vote for Dem County Board President.

Wasn’t Burke the big Burris booster? Wasn’t Burke the Chicago 2016 minority contract guarantee mediator?

The goal is to boost Democratic voter turnout to keep voters from even thinking about pulling Republican ballots.

Comment by Brennan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:44 pm
Good luck on that one.

Comment by dupage dan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:46 pm
As far as either Quinn or Hynes go, they have ads on all over the local news constantly,(WGN-9, WGN radio 720, CBS2, NBC5, ABC7) negative ads, and it is really nasty. It’s making both of them look bad. They both have spots on CNN. It’s getting hard to watch the news without all their ugliness. In my opinion they both are in excess of negative campaigning.

Comment by Third Generation Chicago Native Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:47 pm
You know, if that Washington ad is not on the air yet, it might be too late. Early voting is going on NOW!

Comment by Pat collins Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 1:52 pm
Phineas, you and I are on the same page on that one. It’s too late. They just need to buckle their seat belts, put on their crash helmets and hope they survive the next two weeks.

Comment by Louis G. Atsaves Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:02 pm
Quinn can do two things.

Create a radio ad with Jesse White and have it run on heavy rotation on urban radio.

Totally go on the offensive and hard-core offense whit a scorched earth policy.

Comment by OneMan Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:04 pm
Secret Square, you call the Cutback Amendment an accomplishment? It was the worst thing that ever happened to Illinois government.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:26 pm
I like what this lady says.

I was determined to catch up on my work today, but this is really important: So instead, I am writing to every Democrat I know in Illinois urging you to vote for Governor Quinn. We will be in terrible trouble if Hynes wins. Very simple:

You have all heard of course that our state is in huge financial trouble There are four ways to deal with this, and in our case all four ways must be utilized. There is no either/or:

Tighten our belt

Get federal $$

Borrow

Raise taxes

We have done about as much of the first three as we can. If we don’t raise taxes, we will end up taking billions from human services (there’s nothing left to take from the prison system, and AFSCME is protecting officers’ salaries).

No good-government person doubts that we must raise taxes. Quinn is facing up to this. Hynes is not.

So not only is Hynes playing the Willie Horton card regarding early prisoner release, but he is opposing tax increases, which is not a game..

He turns out to be more of a political hack than I thought. Please vote for Quinn. We need him. We have no choice.

Aviva

P.S. And of course, you should vote for Arthur Turner for Lieutenant Governor. If you don’t know why, please let me know, and I will tell you about him.

Aviva Futorian

futorian@mymdu.com

773-348-3899

fax 773-348-3769

2440 N. Lakeview

Chicago, IL 60614

Comment by bill Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:45 pm
Ha, Aviva, that’s priceless. It’s like she intentionally ignore Hynes’ more progressive tax plan he’s been pushing for months now.

And you wonder why IVI-IPO is a chump’s organization. With leaders like this…

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:49 pm
In spite of all of the previous posts I’m still going to say that Pat Quinn is the the front-runner at this point. He’s still up by 7 percentage points.

Comment by Will County Woman Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:50 pm
47th Ward -

you neglect to mention that Hynes’ “more progressive tax plan” requires a Constitutional amendment and because of that wouldn’t likely provide new revenues for as long as 11 years.

Meanwhile, 200 school districts are set to lose their state aid NEXT YEAR if something isn’t done.

I’m glad that Dan Hynes has a plan to redesign the hull of the Titanic, but unfortunately, the iceberg is right in front of us.

The time for Hynes to call for making our tax code more progressive was, oh, about 11 years ago when he was first elected. What’s he been doing all this time?

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:56 pm
WCW -

That poll is a snapshot of where things are today…and the trend line is not good for Quinn. I’d also give Hynes a slightly better advantage on Election Day.

Nothing against Quinn and his crew (and props to SEIU), but the building trades and teacher’s unions have a pretty good election day operation.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 2:59 pm
YDD, it may not be a good plan, but to suggest he opposes a tax increase is patently false.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 3:53 pm
A tax increase is inevitable whatever Democrat is elected and the reason is simple: No Democrat would drastically cut services for the poor, the sick, the elderly, foster children, the disabled, students in community colleges, etc. The question is who will get it done faster and with more compassion. On that score, Quinn is the clear winner and thus deserves our vote. Any Republican who says he will not raise taxes is either a liar (because he must do it to protect the most vulnerable), or a scoundrel (because he means it and is willing to cast the weak and the poor into the gutter)!

Comment by moby Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 6:07 pm