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Our unfocused governor

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* Illinois political reporters often complain that Gov. Pat Quinn rambles on and on without answering our questions. Well, it’s not just us. Gov. Quinn was at Rich South High School in Richton Park over the weekend and was asked rather banal questions like what his first job was after college and what got him into politics.

He droned on and on and on. He never did answer the question about what got him into politics, but after at least a five-minute soliloquy about nothing, he finally answered the question about his first job - which was with a campaign, but he didn’t say which campaign.

It’s truly painful to watch. I felt sorry for those kids. View if you dare…

* Since you probably didn’t get through all that, I clipped the final question about what he thought his legacy would be. Ramble, ramble, ramble…

Oy.

Governor, please, focus.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:24 pm

Comments

Yet another example of why Quinn doesn’t have time to pay off his bet with Walker at a Wisconsin soup kitchen.

Comment by Cincinnatus Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:31 pm
Wow, super effective hit, Cinci.

His campaign staff is partly to blame for his increasing propensity to ramble. I have motioned to my watch during a candidate speech or tried to give him/her a heads up that they are losing the audience. Of all the campaign events I have been to with the Governor in attendance, I have yet to see one of his staffers give him a nudge. It is truly painful.

Comment by Obamarama Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:42 pm
Please, make it stop!!!

Comment by Springfield Skeptic Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:46 pm
Ugh, that answer about his legacy in the second video is just painful to listen to. He rambles on and on.
I think it’s too early to say what his legacy will be, but it sure won’t be his dynamic speaking ability…

Comment by Nikoli Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:48 pm
Well, when the likely accurate answer to what got you into politics was needing a job, falling back on your defense mechanism and rambling might not be a bad choice…

Comment by Ron Burgundy Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:50 pm
Obamarama,

Methinks Quinn is not a person that takes his staff’s recommendations to heart very often. And I mean this from both the campaigning and governance angle. I often wonder if anyone really has his ear.

Very often, if nobody else can get through to a candidate, the candidate can normally fall back on a spouse who may help with these appearance issues. After all, in most marriages, you gotta listen to your spouse whether or not you want to! I wonder if Quinn has anybody that he talks to, and that can talk to him.

Comment by Cincinnatus Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:51 pm
question “what was your first job in politics”
answer “I believe in smiling too”

Question “How did you get involved in politics”
Answer “I am commander in chief of the illinois armed forces”

Comment by Shore Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:52 pm
- Well, when the likely accurate answer to what got you into politics was needing a job -

Yeah, I’m sure a person that got accepted to Harvard and ultimately received a JD from Northwestern was terrified about job prospects.

Shore, have to say you made me laugh there.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 1:58 pm
Lord I was born a Ramblin’ Man. Kind of reminds me of those Bing commercials where someone asks a question and the person next to them blurts out random words that have nothing to do with the inquiry.

Comment by Bring Back Boone's Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:01 pm
Obviously Quinn is trying to conceal that he was not born in IL, but was in fact born in Hinsdale Canada and he is not a US citizen.

Comment by Ghost Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:07 pm
This is so depressing. This is the great State of Illinois, Land of Lincoln, and this is our Governor. The one before him was worse and the one before him not much better. With all of the great people we have in this state, how does this happen? This is our leader?

Comment by Old Milwaukee Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:24 pm
Just trying to make a living and doing the best he can. That’s not so different than most in a tough job that has a lot of different demands at all times.

Big Jim was always a lawyer, parsing every word in question and response very carefully. Edgar would hear key words and give a vetted, approved response. Blago was a liar.

But for those who might think that Quinn’s rambling indicates stupidity, I’ll say the same that I’ve said to my friends who questioned the brains of Reagan, Bush I, Bush II, and both Daleys.

If they’re so stupid, how come they won, and you lost?

Some are better ramblers than others.

Ike, under the tutelage of the first and indispensable press secretary, Jim Haggerty, made a living confusing the press corps on questions he didn’t want to answer. He’d play Grandpa Fuzzy in front the cameras, and laugh when they were off.

FDR left everyone that he ever spoke with under the impression that he agreed with every word they said. Only later did they realize he had stuck the knife in very cleanly and fatally.

Clinton, of course, could charm a possum out of a tree. By the end of their rivalry, Gingrich’s people would not even let him meet alone with Clinton. He would got into a meeting with Bubba, come out smiling, and after reviewing what had went down, realized that he’d been taken to the cleaners. And enjoyed it.

I’m not saying that Quinn’s in their league. But he ain’t dumb. And he’s in the Big Chair.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:30 pm
He’s not dumb at all, Word. That’s not the point. The point is he can never get to the point. It’s maddening. I’ve actually walked away after asking a question at a press avail because the “answer” had strayed so far from my inquiry that it became useless to remain standing there.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:33 pm
===Big Jim was always a lawyer, parsing every word in question and response very carefully. Edgar would hear key words and give a vetted, approved response.====

PQ does both. He’ll overly parse answers, but in a way that endlessly talks around the point. And, like Edgar, he’ll access talking points in his brain, but then decide that wasn’t the proper talking point, then access another one, then another, and another.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:35 pm
Most boring man in Illinois? If not, tied for first.

Comment by Stooges Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:43 pm
“If they’re so stupid, how come they won, and you lost?”

Amen, Wordslinger. I don’t think Quinn is dumb in any way, shape, or form. And this fact is why I always wonder why he (and not only him but just about any politician) so quickly gets a pass by the MSM and their most devoted followers. There is too little skepticism in politics, not too much.

Comment by Cincinnatus Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:51 pm
Also, I would add, that the unfocused, rambling nature of his speech is the same as his governing style. He’s all over the place.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 2:58 pm
- He’s all over the place. -

Maybe so, but he’s been presiding over some pretty significant, positive change, and I don’t think it’s been done in spite of him.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 3:01 pm
And to think the legislature doesn’t take him seriously…

Comment by Ahoy Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 3:03 pm
One of the things I always try to do is watch myself whenever I’ve appeared on TV. It’s the only way to get better in that difficult medium, but it can be an excruciatingly humbling experience. During the Blagojevich impeachment, I noticed I was twiddling my thumbs during a WTTW live shot. Oof. I’ll never do that again. Take it to the bank.

His staff ought to sit him down and force him to watch that full video of his appearance. Maybe that’d work, although I doubt it.

Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 3:27 pm
I’ll confess that I was too lazy to watch the videos but the painful rambling you described reminds me of Gary Busey on last night’s celebrity apprentice. He went on and on about some father’s day kite while he was supposed to be hawking meat.

Comment by thechampaignlife Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 3:36 pm
Rich, I agree it can be brutal. The worst, of course, was his James Joyce act in front of the GA a while back — State of State?.

I ascribe it to the fact that for many years no one listened to a word he said, anywhere. He’d beat the bushes with Betsy and his Chevette and he was lucky if anyone showed up. If they did, he’d chew their ear off.

Let’s face it, he didn’t take a traditional path to the Big Chair. I was shocked when he won it outright. Still am.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 3:39 pm
I couldn’t bear to watch. But for anyone who did, did he mention the mighty Mississippi River? I’d like to update my chart.

Comment by Responsa Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 3:46 pm
Perhaps he was trying to be an example for the kids as in ‘this is what happens when you don’t take your ADHD pills.’

Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 4:34 pm
If you sat down and made PQ watch this it would merely galvanize in his own mind that he’s the best governor the state has ever had.

STL: Exactly what on this landmark agenda of achievements did he initiate? Civil Unions, no. Death penalty abolition, no. The tax increase, no.

Then there was the capital bill — remember how he said he wouldnt’ sign it; and McCormick Place reform that he vetoed and then, believe it or not, had a news conference to take credit for it when his veto was overridden.

There was the 2009 tax incraese push that he was for until he was against until he testifed for it. And the ethics reform was all just window dressing so he could get gubernatorial recall.

If anything, his scantterbrain approach has frequently come close to jeopardizing all the accomplishments he takes credit for.

Comment by piling on Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 4:35 pm
Rich your advice about making him watch his own TV is a great idea, for most candidates.

The problem is that Quinn won with this goofy style so he assumes he never has to listen to anyone ever again. He knows what he’s doing.

Comment by siriusly Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 4:45 pm
I have to go with wordslinger. Quinns election is just one of several in recent memory where it seems the stars have aligned to allow someone into a position you would not have expected them to reach. I think we all aggree had someone other than Brady been on the ticket it may have been a different outcome. Step back farther and who thought star Blago would fall and allow star Quinn to shine. Oh and about that skinny black dude making senator?

Comment by Bemused Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 4:49 pm
When I hear the Governor speak I invariably begin to hear the “wah wah” sounds of the teacher from Charlie Brown.

Comment by Demoralized Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 4:57 pm
This guy just does not have the skills to govern the state.

Comment by mokenavince Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 5:03 pm
mokenavince,

I don’t think this video shows he doesn’t have the skills to govern the state. It proves he is not a good speaker, which has little to do with governance.

But in truth, I’m wondering what a skilled, ethical governor would look like. For the past 40 years we seem to have had governors that went to jail or should have gone to jail or at the least had some hazy, shady deals in their time in office.

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 5:26 pm
I nominate STL for the new cabinet post of Pat Quinn Apologist.

Comment by Park Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 6:28 pm
Park, Small Town Liberal doesn’t need the gig (or my defense) and Quinn needs no apologist. He was elected.

Both of them, like me, are lifelong Illinoisans who put the good of the folks in the state before any sort of horse-stuff, cable-TV ideology.

Quinn’s been all over Illinois, mostly in the wilderness, for 30 years. There’s no mystery there. The folks elected him.

In my neighborhood, there are plenty of Black and White Friars and Orange and Blue Huskies who know him and think Quinn, warts and all, is a pretty good guy. Let history judge whether he was a good governor. It sure was a mess when he got there.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 6:58 pm
cermak_rd,
In an alternate Illinois universe somewhere, the Chicago Dems supported Glenn Poshard in 1998. That meant no George Ryan, no Blago and no PQ. It also would have likely meant a path to fiscal sanity long ago.

Comment by someonehastosayit Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 9:02 pm
I wish that people who are called on to speak in public would take time to do it well. What did the kids come away thinking? Either, ‘the governor didn’t care enough about us to organize his thoughts’ or, ‘if I want to be successful, I need to develop a meandering, obfuscating speaking style’.

Comment by Quizzical Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 9:33 pm
PQ has been like this as long as I can remember, yes its hard to watch/listen but he is who he his. More focus would be great for the State but that is not who we elected. He is just a guy who when he “knows best” thats it. The bright side is Rich will be able to write a book by the time this is over on this topic alone.

Comment by Anon3 Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 9:43 pm
Somewhere Bill Brady is sitting huddled in a corner crying out - “how the hell did I lose to this guy”?

Comment by Ghost of John Brown Monday, Apr 18, 11 @ 10:13 pm