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The other guys

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* Quinn and Birkett are profiled.

Yet for all of his history of seeking publicity for government reforms, Quinn has been quiet about the myriad investigations swirling around Blagojevich’s administration.

“I think the governor speaks for himself,” said Quinn, a lawyer. “If I see anyone in state government that’s doing something illegal, I’m duty-bound to report that to the proper authority, and I would do that without blinking an eye.”

Birkett, 51, a three-term DuPage County state’s attorney and running mate of Republican Judy Baar Topinka, has taken note of Quinn’s silence.

“I like a lot of the things Pat has said in the past and what he stood for, but I think he’s been largely silenced by this governor,” he said. “I certainly understand why.”

* And the Green Party gets a piece.

As the “other guy” in the race for governor, Green Party candidate Rich Whitney said he is often asked what makes him qualified to hold the state’s highest office.

“It’s true,” he said with a smile. “I have absolutely no experience screwing up the government.”

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 9:19 am

Comments

Nice of the Tribune to do a piece on Rich Whitney. Too bad they excluded him from their Editorial Board’s stealth debate between Blagojevich and Topinka. We call this media bias. Crystak Yednak on the other hand, she seems good.

Comment by Squideshi Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 9:23 am
Yeah right Pat Quinn. You must be the dumbest man in IL state Gov.

Comment by Wumpus aka Cowboy Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 9:23 am
My question is why Quinn decided to run for re-election? It isn’t like he didn’t know Blagojevich and friends were corrupt. We have been smelling the stench of public corruption from Blagojevich for two years. Is Pat so desperate he is willing to whore himself and close his eyes? We expected better from him.

Does Pat think that after his 30 year political mission he had to just accept corruption as part of the deal? That somehow just because Blagojevich pitched new social programs to targeted Democratic supporters, Quinn would have to accept the slime that came along with it?

Has Quinn given up believing that Illinois can have ethical administrations that also serve it’s citizens? Has he become too jaded?

Playing dumb to Blagojevich’s playing dumb routine is very dumb politically. It is about time Quinn turn in his halo. He pawned it at the Blagojevich Rezko Little Administration of Horrors, and he can’t buy it back.

Comment by VanillaMan Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 9:57 am
Rich Whitney’s comment that “he has no experience in screwing up government” will propell him to garner 15%-18% of the votes on November 7th. I would love to see him make that quote into a television commercial where he is “standing on his lack of a record and inexperience” and touting to the Illinois voters that is why Illinois voters should elect him. It would be hillarious and would get national media’s attention. Whitney would have the whole country laughing with him.

That would prove a welcome change from the whole country currently “laughing at” the citizens of corruption plagued Illinois.

Comment by Beowulf Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 10:24 am
If you want to see him on electronic media, send him a check.

A radio ad would probably be good enough. It would generate lots of word-of-mouth.

Comment by Cal Skinner Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 10:55 am
It would be nice for a change to have a Lt. Governor that actually has some involvement in the administration. From watching how involved Birkett is with the Topinka campaign, I believe he will play a major roll. Matter of fact I heard him mention at a recent event he would be spearheading Homeland Security issues. What has Quinn done during the campaign and in office - nothing!

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 11:13 am
Anonymous:

Actually, for a lite guv, I think Quinn has done plenty, just none of it with Blago, which is fine by me. Always liked Pat, never liked Rod. he is corrupt, dirty and just plain airheaded most of the time. Who is really pulling the strings? Getting back to Pat, he been on the forefront of veterans, environmental and plenty of other issues. He would make a far better gov than any JBT or Blago, and be a lot less corrupt. Birkett’s a decent enough guy, just a bit to the right for where the state is now. When Lisa moves up, he’ll probably run for AG again.

Comment by Niles Township Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 11:21 am
I see today where Quinn filed an emergency petition at the ICC to investigate the business relationship between ComEd and CORE, Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity. The filing is very similar to an earlier filing last spring by CUB.

Pat would be a nightmare for the Public Utilities. But as long as Emil is Senate President it wouldn’t be as bad as it could be without him.

Hey Rich, CORE is one of your advertisers, maybe you could help Quinn out!

Comment by aidanquinn Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 11:33 am
Oh good, Birkett can bring the fine skills to homeland security that he brought to the Jeanine Nicarico murder case.

God help us.

Comment by Peachy Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 1:17 pm
Hey Peachy, it’s not like we rally have to worry abour Osama and his scumbags targeting buildings like Chicago’s City Hall and the Thompson Center. After all suicide bombing isn’t like golf, as you can’t take a mulligan. If Osama’s kooks want to martyr themselves, they won’t go after our politicians here in Illinois, since if they did, people would just think something like “If they were in politics they must have been crooks, and if they were crooks, they probably got what they deserved.”

So there is a silver lining to having a bunch of corrupt pols around in office… they may provide the most cost-effective protection from terrorist attack around!

Comment by fedup dem Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 2:07 pm
Anonymous 11:13 - you said that Birkett would play a major “roll” - was that a Freudian slip or what? Criticism of Quinn is fair, but what about Birkett being mouthpiece for JBT, who wanted to give Bill Cellini a 75% discount on his state loans? BOTH Lt. Gov. candidates have things they should be asked about their running mates, not just Quinn … .

Comment by Smitty Irving Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 6:22 pm
Isn’t Judy’s friend Cellini Public Official A or B?

Comment by Titsophone Friday, Oct 20, 06 @ 10:41 pm
Isn’t it funny, Titsophone, that when a democratic governor is corrupt and is associated with a Republican that his Republican political opponent is to blame? So, when if I am ever governor, I can hire you to be corrupt and then blame Blagojevich, right???

Comment by Lovie's Leather Saturday, Oct 21, 06 @ 2:51 am
Why is Quinn running? Could it be that he’s expecting to end up in the Governor’s seat when the Gov’s hauled off?

Comment by NoGiftsPlease Saturday, Oct 21, 06 @ 4:51 pm
“Why is Quinn running? Could it be that heâ€™s expecting to end up in the Governorâ€™s seat when the Govâ€™s hauled off?”

When Larry Sabato was at the City Club earlier this month he suggested that someone should buy the Lt. Governor a Kevlar vest. If the Gov. wins and then is indicted - welcome Gov. Quinn. It would explain a lot.

Comment by Mr. Luxury Yacht Saturday, Oct 21, 06 @ 10:37 pm
Titsophone, Cellini is referred to as “Individual A” in the Rezko indictment.

He’s not an elected official - so can’t be “Public Official A”. But sure, same idea, and just as interesting.

He’s able to cash in more as the guy behind the guy.

Comment by Peachy Sunday, Oct 22, 06 @ 5:06 pm