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* I’ve been saying for months that Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign has not properly publicized the work of their underpaid, over-performing in-house video guy. The young man has cranked out one good video after another in almost complete obscurity.

Well, the Sun-Times picked up on his latest effort today…

In the never-ending battle over gubernatorial hair, Gov. Quinn is sending a video to supporters that aims to kill two birds with one stone.

It shows Quinn getting a haircut from the same Hinsdale barber, “Herb,” Quinn has gone to for 32 years.

This comes after a Quinn commercial that made fun of rival Dan Hynes for going to a “spa” during budget negotiations. The “spa,” Hynes said, was his barber. Quinn uses this video, likely to become a commercial, to show that his barber works at a barber shop with a blue-and-red-striped pole — not a fancy place called “Tou Jours.”

Herb charges $16 for a men’s hair cut. Tou Jours charges $40.

A debate over hair isn’t exactly the way I’d like to see things go in the campaign, but this is a bit of fun, so whatever. Plus, I’ve been demanding it, so I can’t say much now. Have a look…

*** UPDATE 1 *** The Hynes campaign responds…

Haircuts aside, the video is nice and Herb seems like a great guy. It’s a real shame Pat Quinn wants to stick him with a 50% tax increase.

*** UPDATE 2 *** From the Andy McKenna campaign…

It’s good to see “Hair Today” has generated so much talk from the Democrats…however, it would be nice instead of talking about who pays the most for a haircut, if they would talk about how to fix our state’s budget problems without a tax increase on Illinois families.

[ *** End of Updates ***

* Also, the Illinois Republican Party has posted video of last week’s gubernatorial candidates forum…

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 9:55 am

Comments

Maybe the Governor should let Herb take a shot at trimming the budget…

Cute video, but c’mon. Hair is the pressing issue of the day in this campaign?

Comment by 47th Ward Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:04 am
I have had Herb cut my hair a few times a few years ago, always thought he was bs’ing when he said he cut Quinn’s hair

Comment by Oneman Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:10 am
Hair today, gone tomorrow?

Comment by Bring Back Boone's Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:17 am
The introduction of the candidates at the GOP debate.. Hilarious.

Comment by Apple Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:22 am
These are hairy times in Illinois politics. One hair raising thing after another! Sigh.

Comment by A Citizen Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:24 am
After reading Rich’s post, I took a few minutes and looked at Pat Quinn’s youtube page. Who is the firm that is doing this?? It is just some young staffer?? The videos are excellent. Very well produced and well edited. They aren’t canned. It gives you a feeling that you are right there at the event. They should use footage of these for their commercials.

Comment by Irish Eyes Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:24 am
P.S. The video of the GOP candidates was hilarious. Especially given how sparsely attended that event was. Egad.

Comment by Irish Eyes Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:25 am
Great to see an issues oriented campaign in Illinois for once.

Hair we go again.

Comment by Cosmic Charlie Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:27 am
Hey Irish Eyes…

Yes, Simon Edelman is the extraordinary young filmmaker who is creating all those terrific videos on our Quinn for Illinois channel on YouTube. There’s no “firm” — just a young man with a Mac, a great eye, an amazing work ethic, and a heartfelt belief in Governor Quinn’s vision for Illinois. We are incredibly lucky to have Simon on board — the guy is amazing.

And let it be said — Simon Edelman went into Herb’s barbershop with a luxuriant crop of curly hair, and came out looking highly respectable.

That’s devotion.

Comment by Elizabeth Austin Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:32 am
Love the Platinum Amex in the wallet. Must be nice to be able to afford a Platinum Amex with all the new taxes.

Comment by DuPage Moderate Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:44 am
Great response by Hynes - so true too!

Comment by 2010 Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 10:47 am
What a fantastic, heartfelt video for Quinn. Put some of that
heart on tv!

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 11:00 am
Hey, DuPage Moderate — get a high-def monitor.

That’s a Capitol One card. Not quite the same thing…

Comment by soccermom Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 11:10 am
So Quinn has a guy that produces great videos, but it looks like Hynes has a guy that produces great snark.

Comment by the Other Anonymous Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 11:17 am
Why shouldn’t Hynes’ haircut cost more? After all he actually has hair to cut. I’m not sure what point Abdon Pallasch is trying to make. Whatever.

With the serious issues that this state faces, I would hope that the focus would be more on the serious issues than hair. I can understand why the Quinn camp may not want to address/focus on the serious issues. Strategically it appears that they are trying to appeal to emotion. At some point the Quinn camp is going to have to own up to the fact that the state is in serious trouble and take ownership of decisions that have been made over the last 10 months and how those decisions will impact everything that happens in 2010.

Under the circumstances and given all that is at stake in terms of quality of life in Illinois, I find the mirth approach taken by the Quinn camp inappropriate and somewhat unbecoming.

An appeal to emotion versus an appeal to intellect. I’d rather be governed by latter because the state is in way too much trouble. I appreciate the Hynes camp response to the Quinn ad because they do bring the focus back to where it should be centered.

But, I will admit that Herb does seem like a pretty decent guy.

Herb for Illinois Governor in 2010????????????

Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 11:29 am
7 Republicans in the race and they couldn’t get a bigger crowd than that? Pretty sad.

Comment by no wonder Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 11:45 am
As I guy who produces video professionally, I tip my to Simon. Great work young man. I’ll be hiring you soon for some projects (don’t worry Elizabeth, I mean after the campaign).

That said, as much I like the video, the response from Hynes is even better and way more on point and on message.

Comment by Chicago Cynic Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 11:46 am
People complain when all the candidates for statewide office come from Chicago. Right now we have two Republicans and one Democrat from Hinsdale. What’s up with that?

Comment by GA Watcher Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:06 pm
Chicago Cynic, after next November he’s all yours.

Comment by Elizabeth Austin Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:10 pm
Its a well-produced video, certainly fun. I don’t know that it moves any undecided voters, but it does remind Quinn supporters why they like him: Honest, Folksy, Frugal.

No offense to my good friends over at the Hynes camp — and you’ve got to run your campaign as you see fit — but you might want to dial back the snark just a bit.

One of the hardest things for true believers to do is NOT attack at every opportunity. But it makes you seem acerbic, threatened and weak.

Moreover, it undermines your credibility when you really do need to go on the offensive.

You want to create a narrative that frames the debate, not engage in a Spit Ball Fight.

Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:13 pm
It’s not a question of if Quinn is honest or dishonest, it’s a question of can the man govern? So far, not so much!

Comment by Whatwhat Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:19 pm
YDD, i think Quinn’s credibility as a governor has been damaged, so I disgree with your first sentence.

Hynes has two really powerful ads:

#1 his first ad explaining how Quinn’s tax proposal does in fact tax those making less than $50K

#2 the $14K editorial board ad, in which Quinn speaks for himself. (That ad has to be one of THE best ads ever! It really does cause one to ask: do you really want someone like that making decisions that affect you and your family? Does that seem like good leadership to you?)

(We all know that) Hynes has to make the case for why Quinn is not doing a good/effective job as governor. His negative ads have been totally approrpiate, truthful and hard-hitting. Hynes does have to introduce himself and get his name recognition, but that doesn’t mean that he should not and cannot make the case against Quinn.

Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:39 pm
sorry #1 should have been $60K

Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:43 pm
“however, it would be nice instead of talking about who pays the most for a haircut, if they would talk about how to fix our state’s budget problems without a tax increase on Illinois families.”

And has McKenna said anything about how he would accomplish this???

Comment by Don't Worry, Be Happy Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:44 pm
Good post by Rich because I hadn’t seen any of this stuff until I followed the links. Whoever this kid is- he is the real deal. Since I am an old man with too much time on my hands, I checked out some of the other videos. The one with the Operating Engineers- especially when they are talking about jobs is powerful and gets to the heart at what the election is about, jobs and who is going to create jobs. The videos prove that people like Quinn and trust him. Other candidates would be smart to be doing this kind of stuff, but they probably can’t because they don’t have the same kind of name ID and don’t get out all over the state as much.

Comment by Old History Professor Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:46 pm
===if they would talk about how to fix our state’s budget problems without a tax increase on Illinois families.===

There’s a reason they’re not talking about that. It isn’t possible. What’s your answer, Andy? Abolish medicare? Close all public schools and roads? Keno?

Comment by Obamarama Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:49 pm
That should be “medicaid.”

Comment by Obamarama Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:56 pm
Old History Professor,

Outside of jobs aided with federal stimulus money, what sustainable, non-seasonal, non-political jobs has Quinn created? when he took over the governor’s office, he started off this year talking about two things: jobs and education.

Was this an SEIU worker talking about job creation? That was part of why they endorsed him.

Frankly, his talk all year on jobs has been very much in the abstract. I don’t think that going to D.C. to simply lobby for more federal money is exhibiting good leadership either. At some point, and really this should have happened long ago, he’s going to have to articulate specifics on how he plans to accomplish anything.

Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 12:56 pm
death, taxes, and will county women having multiple posts on a Quinn entry are things you can count on.

Comment by sal Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 1:41 pm
Sal, I like Quinn.

Comment by Will County Woman Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 2:12 pm
It’s a nice, fuzzy spot, Pat’s a frugal, regular bald guy pretending he needs a haircut (did you ever notice how barbers fuss over bald guys?).

His barber’s in DuPage County, so maybe he’s not a “Chicago Dem.”

Well done ,inside baseball, playing off the McKenna ad and the knock against Hynes about the spa.

Hynes’ greatest warm-and-fuzzy asset is Christina and the kids. You’ll see more of them in the future, I’m guessing.

Now, enough with “Hair.” It’s like the Oak Brook Butlers are putting on another show.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 3:39 pm
If you look at the crowd from the videos of recent Tea Party forums, then compare it to the crowd at the State GOP debate, it tells you which part of the GOP base is better organized and energized. And it ain’t the Pat Brady/Andy McKenna/Jim Ryan sect of the party. Mark Kirk probably has internal polling that shows this, along with strong anti-incumbent sentiments.

These in-house Pat Quinn videos are really good. I am surprised at the video and production quality. They should have opened with more stuff like this and I bet they start to use this stuff in their advertising. Hynes’ mistake is that he thinks people know who he is. People don’t know who he is, don’t want to know who he is, and are burnt out already by all of this back and forth. If Pat Quinn’s folks change up their ads with more of this homegrown stuff, look for Hynes to counter with shots of his family or similar homegrown stuff. Anecdotal evidence says it is way too early in the game for these ads to make much traction. Maybe someone will leak a poll.

Comment by Giant Burrito Tuesday, Nov 10, 09 @ 6:57 pm
Nice work on the Cap Bill video:

http://www.youtube.com/user/QuinnForIllinois#p/c/D096AC5DAD0E90F4/4/xGQuWbVk9DE

“Thank you to a very effective and strong Governor” -Tom Cross

“Governor Quinn, it’s been a delight to work with you” - Christine Radogno

Comment by chubs mahoney Wednesday, Nov 11, 09 @ 12:03 am