1. - Mr. Know-it-All - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:21 pm:

   The Hynes/Washington ad is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Yes, I’d say it’s going to be quite effective - maybe even a game-changer.




2. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:21 pm:

   These are two of the best negative ads I’ve ever seen. The Washington ad is a game over unless Quinn responds quickly. It really is bold because not only did papa run against Harold he actually formed a new party to do it-then dropped out so Vrdolyac could have a clean shot.

   Never-the-less-Harold has spoken.




3. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:23 pm:

   The Harold ad is devastating. Geez, he put the wood to him.

   The Quinn ad is very well done, but I’m not sure if Hynes is wearing the jacket for Burr Oaks. It’s just counter-intuitive to think that a comptroller would be responsible for tracking down graverobbers.




4. - OneMan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:23 pm:

   A PR Plantation….

   If nothing else it will be great footage for the General




5. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:24 pm:

   This may be the “nuclear” ad that Rich spoke of. “The biggest mistake I made was to hire Pat Quinn….” Oof is right!




6. - Burrito Bandit - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:24 pm:

   That Hynes ad is disgusting and racist and a flat out disgusting lie. Hynes just lost my respect. I can say that this because I am a person of color. Harold Washington was a fair and honorable leader who was loved by all Chicagoans and people of all backgrounds. Tom Hynes, Daley the first and all other Irish ward bosses spent years undermining Harold Washinton and immigrant groups to protect the Irish ward bosses and patronage jobs at the expense of black and immigrant groups. Harold Washington actually led the protests against Hynes and his racist property tax schemes on the south side. Gutierrez, Jesse White, Danny Davis and JJ Jr are going to scalp Hynes for this.




7. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:28 pm:

   Burrito Bandit, try as you might, these are Harold Washington’s words from his own mouth. The ad isn’t racist, you fool. Every man has a right to stike out on his own and be judged for his own character. Not the character of his father. You, sir, are out of line!




8. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:29 pm:

   And please sir, Mr. Bandit, explain how the ad was a lie?




9. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:29 pm:

   ====That Hynes ad is disgusting and racist and a flat out disgusting lie====

   Um, huh? Are you saying Harold was a racist liar? That response of yours made no sense at all. The rest of it, about Hynes’ father, I get. But this ad is about Harold and Pat. Your point is about Harold and somebody’s dad.




10. - Anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:30 pm:

    Wow. Very effective ad by Hynes. You can say what you want about Hynes’ dad, but that’s Harold Washington speaking directly about Quinn and his job performance in Washington’s administration. That’s powerful.




11. - Burrito Bandit - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:32 pm:

    Sure its a good ad. If only Harold Washington was alive to talk about Tom Hynes and the days when 30,000 people were marching in the streets to protest Tom Hynes racist tax schemes on the south side of Chicago. Quinn better get the troops out on the streets now and over to Hynes hq’s to ask him about how Tom Hynes and Harold Washington got along.




12. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:33 pm:

    The Quinn ad is absolutely appalling! He hates to go negative, huh? yeah well this is fourth, fifth or sixth negative campaign ad in this short primary election season?

    Quinn’s Cemetary Task Force rightly absolved the Comptroller’s Office of any wrongdoing.

    I have much nothing but respect for Harold Washington, more than any other black Chicago politician (alive or dead). He was a man of good quality and character. He as brave and broke from the Machine. He was his own man, which is sadly something that cannot be said of many black Chicago politicians (dead or alive).

    A year or so ago I came across some old channel 2 video of Harold Washington after his first 100 days in office. It was riveting video. He proved his critics wrong in those 100 days and was for more competent than his critics thought. He even managed to gain white/ethnic support/praise for his leadership of chicago within his first 100 days, which was critical.

    A+ on the Harold Washinton ad! Washington was a class act.




13. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:34 pm:

    Burrito Bandit:

    Many a political obit started with: “If only…”




14. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:35 pm:

    BB, tone it down, or go away.




15. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:35 pm:

    Chutzpah is right…but Hynes MIGHT be over-reaching.

    He just opened the door for Quinn to bring up his father, which was a mistake.




16. - Small Town Liberal - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:37 pm:

    WCW - Are you kidding me? What is Quinn supposed to do when Hynes insists on making this a one issue campaign? Just lie back and take it?




17. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:38 pm:

    Given Quinn’s serious credibility problems as of late (e.g., trial lawyer ad, spa ad, his scapegoating mike randle and his press conference statement that alexi signed off and is on board with short-term borrowing when alexi g in fact wasn’t), how do we know that the footage his people purport to have hasn’t been doctored?




18. - Burrito Bandit - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:40 pm:

    I agree with Rich and lnome that the ad is damn good. My point is from a historical perspective, if you read the Biography of Harold Washington, Harold hated Tom Hynes and the Irish bosses and they hated Harold. This goes back to when Tom Hynes and Harold Washington in the State Senate and Hynes stiffed African-american members from getting seats on prominent committees. Then when Hynes was assesor and taxing poorer black wards at a higher rate than richer and neighboring Irish wards, Harold got people in the streets that helped in his rise to mayor. R.I.P Mayor Washington, we love and miss you.




19. - Rich Miller - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:41 pm:

    ===insists on making this a one issue campaign===

    The “issue” overall is competence, illustrated in dramatic form. It’s what Quinn hasn’t really figured out yet. It’s why his response ad didn’t work. It’s why the prison release ad is working well in the black community, despite the goofy “Willie Horton!” screams. It’s what makes this Harold Washington ad fits right into the theme, and it’s why the father doesn’t matter here.

    Y’all are getting whacked and you don’t even know what it’s about. Doom usually follows such mistakes.




20. - EIRE 17 - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:42 pm:

    dripping with irony that one ad is about the mess with the cemetary and one comes from the mouth of a man who has been gone for over 20 years. check and check mate right there.




21. - dave - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:42 pm:

    **how do we know that the footage his people purport to have hasn’t been doctored? **

    Seriously?




22. - anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:43 pm:

    Burrito Bandit appears to be on the Progress Illinois site as well, posing there as Richard - commenting with the same phrases anyway:

    Richard (not verified) on Thu, 01/21/2010 - 12:24
    I was still undecided in this race, but this ad form the Hynes campaign has crossed the line. Harold Washington was a good and decent man who was loved by all Chicagoans. The Hynes family has never been a friend of Harold Washington and no fried to African-Americans and people of color. Between the prisoner ads showing largely African-American and Latino faces, and now misrepresenting Harold Washington, a man that loathed Tom Hynes, I am saying it, Hynes is running a racist and dishonest campaign. The Hynes family openly feuded with Harold Washington and African-American leaders for years. People don’t forget this. Wake up and wpeak out people.




23. - Joe from Joliet - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:44 pm:

    Re: Quinn ad
    What else would you expect from Blagoyevich people.

    Re: Hynes ad
    Ka Ka KABOOM

    Washington’s comments after Quinn’s disaster SOTS?
    Thanks for playing, Pat. We have parting gifts for you.




24. - GA Watcher - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:45 pm:

    BB: And your point is what?




25. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:45 pm:

    YDD, nice try.

    But Quinn would look actually look bad doing that. His lashing out at Tom Hynes would only re-inforce for many that Quinn is weak, can’t take the heat and can’t fight like a man.

    STL, are you kidding me? Quinn keeps harping on the cemetery issue, specifically Burr Oak! Nobody keeps introducing/re-introducing it but him. He ought to be ashamed of himself.




26. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:46 pm:

    Hynes’ ad is the kind that wins elections.
    Let’s see which Democrats are awake after this, and after the Mass-acre two days ago.

    Purge all incumbants!




27. - Big Policy Nerd - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:48 pm:

    Wow. Any clue how many points behind both spots? Yep, its a bloodbath.




28. - dave - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:50 pm:

    **can’t fight like a man. **

    Again… seriously?




29. - Yellow Dog Democrat - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:50 pm:

    Rich is right.

    Quinn’s problem is that the issue is competence, and although the Chaos that is State Government isn’t all Quinn’s fault, or even mostly, there’s nothing that Quinn can really point to as proof that state government is working.

    And, unfortunately, with the early release program, Quinn handed Hynes Exhibit A in the argument that state government isn’t working ~ and its something that can’t be blamed on Blagojevich.

    Quinn should have blamed Randle and fired him or let him resign, pointed out that it was the GA’s failure to provide adequate revenue for Corrections that created this situation, but that train has left the station.




30. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:51 pm:

    Btw… Burr Oak is technically open now, so the end of the Quinn attack ad is out of touch with reality.

    it’s nice to know that he’s been sitting on this ad, and holding off. After his task force concluded that the comptroller’s office had not erred on Burr Oak, someone posted on this blog that if the race got close Quinn would exploit the burr oak issue.

    wow! and so he has/is.




31. - shore - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:52 pm:

    For some reason bringing back old leaders tends to work. The Paul Simon/Obama ad in 2004, I think won a version of the political emmy award. I wonder with people who started voting in Illinois after 1990, if they really know the significance of the ad.




32. - SweetLou - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:54 pm:

    Quinn’s ad is good, but OH MY GOD is that Hynes ad fantastic. Quinn needs to respond NOW and do it without attacking Harold. Good Luck.




33. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:55 pm:

    Hey, the Republicans are going to be enjoying all of this - and it will make it difficult for whoever wins the primary to bring the party together in the fall. Just imagine what happens whtn the issue affecting Miriam Santos is raised - we actually could have a historic level of voter suppression in the black and HISPANIC community.

    the Democrats lost the governor’s race in 1990 when the HAROLD WASHINGTON issue was raised. They got trounced after Governor Edgar vetoed a bill and put SANTOS back on the pension board - IN A GOVERNMENTAL ACT against the Daley administration. The party is just beginning now!!

    Sincerely,

    VICTOR M. CROWN




34. - Obamarama - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:56 pm:

    The Hynes ad is an absolute killer. But a bit of advice…

    Don’t trip over third base and fall flat on your face 10 feet from home. Play nothing but that commercial for the next two weeks and dump all of the rest of your money into media points and targeted GOTV.

    I am curious, however, how many people under the age of, say, 35 are familiar with Harold Washington. “The guy with the library?”




35. - Niles Township - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:58 pm:

    Quinn’s ad is solid B or B+, though I think there were better article/headlines to grab (i.e. more damning of Hynes) than the ones they went with.

    The Washington ad could be a Quinn killer, and I imagine it was held to this point purposefully. If he loses the African American community, he will be done.




36. - Kyle Boller's Clipboard - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 1:58 pm:

    It’ll be delicate to go after Dan Hynes for what his father did. We’ve seen a lot of politicians in Illinois who have the benefit of parental support but who, for better or worse, develop their own record (R.M. Daley, T. Stroger, L. Madigan, among others). Dan Hynes doesn’t have to defend his dad’s record, but Quinn does have to defend his own. And on that score the Harold Washington ad is a blockbuster.

    As for Quinn’s ad, it’s actually pretty effective if you don’t know anything about the subject. The people on this board may parse whether it was really his job or not and how he did, but most undecided voters probably won’t have been following it that closely.




37. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:00 pm:

    Obamarama: ==how many people under the age of, say, 35 are familiar with Harold Washington==

    Under 35 don’t vote as much as those over 50 who remember Mayor Washington well. And Mayor Washington is the most revered person to come from the African American community, more so than Mr. Obama, I dare say.




38. - Montrose - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:03 pm:

    “I am curious, however, how many people under the age of, say, 35 are familiar with Harold Washington. “The guy with the library?” ”

    For a subset of that age group - progressive Chicagoans who are inclined to back Quinn - probably have even more admiration for Harold than those that lived through his administration.

    Having such a long, uninterrupted rebuke of Quinn come directly from his lips is going make that group think twice about Pat Quinn.




39. - Obamarama - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:03 pm:

    ===And Mayor Washington is the most revered person to come from the African American community===

    More revered than Blagojevich?!




40. - some people call me "Maurice" - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:04 pm:

    hey I’m aman of colr too B.B., Hynes hit this one out of the park. “Grand Slam Dan” is what we should call him. WOW!




41. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:05 pm:

    Touche, Obamarama, touche!




42. - Dan Vock - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:06 pm:

    Obamarama: The kids under 35, like, say, me, might not remember Washington all that well. But we are probably not the target audience and, even if we were, a lot of people probably learned a lot about the legacy of Harold Washington by reading, you guessed it, “Dreams from My Father.” Obama waxes on about Washington quite a bit, from what I remember.




43. - Sonic Infidel - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:07 pm:

    I hope I’m not the only one that sees the irony in “Burrito Bandit” playing the race card. (In case you don’t remember the Frito Bandito, here’s a refresher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frito-Lay#Frito_Bandito)




44. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:08 pm:

    the under 35 y.o vote, are you kidding.

    We expect low voter turn out and we know that older people get out to vote, especially older black people who do not take voting for granted, or obvious reasons.

    if you are 35 y.o and black you probably do recall harold washington, and recall him quite fondly thanks to grandparents and parents who were admirers of his. not to mention the fact that there is probably a big portrait of Harold washingon in the grandparent’s home, just like the one that Danny Davis has in his capitol hill office




45. - dem in 47th - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:09 pm:

    Tell the governor to read his own task force report. another example of his asleep at the wheel type of governing.

    very effective ad for hynes. this is the most critcal point in our state’s history as the wrong choice will slip our state into insolvency as already referenced in crain’s. we cannot not make another mistake in out choice for governor.




46. - curious - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:09 pm:

    Both ads effective. However neither mentioned the candidates’ name, so I think it negates the full effect somewhat. The Hynes ad is especially damaging and I am not sure how Quinn can respond. Certainly both ads are Republican ammo in the general.




47. - ZC - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:10 pm:

    I don’t know what will be people’s reactions, but to bash _Dan Hynes_ for the sins of his father, seems like a stretch. Or bashing an 18-year-old Hynes for appearing in his dad’s ads.

    If the Quinn folks want to make this a race vs. Tom Hynes, and the Hynes folks want to make this a race vs. Pat Quinn, well, I know which one is actually on the ballot, and perhaps voters will too.




48. - Stuck with Sen. CPA - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:10 pm:

    I saw the Hynes ad without sound at lunch and thought it was a home run. With the sound? If Hynes has the money to keep running that, it’s just devastating.




49. - Reality - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:13 pm:

    I think “Burrito Bandit” is Pat Quinn. Seriously, the stuff about Papa Hynes and Washington is all inside ball politics. Joe Sixpack is just going to hear that Quinn is a bumbler and was fired from an earlier job. Hynes just took good old Pat to the woodshed with this one. I hope he makes a big media buy to get this one out to the masses. I didn’t think Hynes had it in him—but boy, he sure proved me wrong. Great ad.




50. - 2010 - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:16 pm:

    Oh my Gosh…the Harold Washington lines are astonishing footage. How embarassing for Quinn. Ouch!

    This ad will be effective regardless of the viewers race - someone mentioned that even the Republicans can use this in November if Quinn makes it passed February 2. So true.

    Ouch.




51. - Louis G. Atsaves - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:16 pm:

    The Hynes-Harold Washington Ad? Wow! That one will resonate across the state with all voters. “My greatest mistake in government was hiring him.” Ouch!

    Louis G. Atsaves




52. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:17 pm:

    Daley Jr. was at Daley Sr’s side during the 1968 Chicago Democatric Covnention and said some pretty ugly things about the reporters etc. who were being brutally attacked by CPD outside the convention hall one hot summer’s night.

    Are we holding Daley Jr. to his father’s infamous shoot to kill order? no. we have not done that in the past 20 years that Daley Jr. has been Mayor of Chicago, or for any other son/daughter of a pol.

    So, I agree with Kyle Boller’s Clipboard’s first paragraph.




53. - Niles Township - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:21 pm:

    Rich:

    How many points on the Hynes ad especially since it is a one minute ad?

    I know subscribe…..




54. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:22 pm:

    I’m sure Harold gave Quinn the opportunity to submit his resignation. Give me your resignation by 5:00 or security will escort you out or something like that. A technical point but accurate on Quinn’s part.




55. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:23 pm:

    Harold Washington to Pat Quinn: “You’re fired!

    Pat Quinn: If that’s how you really feel, then I resign!




56. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:24 pm:

    Oh, Quinn denies that he was fired by Mayor Washington. Really?????

    The other day during the debate, Quinn denied that his 2009 flip-flops that someone laid out to him when asking him a question.

    Quinn denied that he knew about the secret early release of prisoners, after admitting that he knew about it.

    Quinn denied knowing about an effort to have Dock Walls removed from the ballot.




57. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:26 pm:

    Quinn denied nodding off a debate.




58. - Captain Flume - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:27 pm:

    Unfortunately for the electorate, neither ad demonstrates how “good” a governer either Quinn or Hynes will be, only how mean that they are. I know that mean and negative win elections, but it really stinks, and almost makes me very unproud of my right to vote, when that vote nearly always wasted on the type of people who get elected.




59. - Obamas' Puppy - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:29 pm:

    Between the Hynes “Washington” ad and the first 30 sec “Hair” ad by McKenna two of the best in Illinois politics in a long time.




60. - Team Sleep - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:32 pm:

    Hynes hits another home run. Rich, is Hynes going to run the entire one minute ad? I wonder how many people will sit through a one minute political ad with a guy talking for 45-50 seconds.

    Washington’s criticism is similar to the current criticism of Quinn. Does the governor know what he’s doing?! If so, where is the evidence? He’s had a year to produce evidence to the contrary.




61. - Fed up - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:39 pm:

    It’s time to fireQuinn again. He was blagos enabler and has shown himself to be unable to get anything done except flip flop on every issue.




62. - Pelon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:40 pm:

    Captain Flume,

    The Hynes ad shows what is apparent to people who are paying attention: Quinn is not a capable leader. It isn’t mean to point that out. It is something that the electorate needs to know.




63. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:42 pm:

    Captain Flume,
    I ‘m sure a lot of people can appreciate your frustration/disappointment, and would agree with you. However, in defense of Hynes here, I think it is worth noting that in the instances where Quinn has received media endorsements even they acknowledge that he has been a bit of disappointment as governor, and that his leadership has not been very good. And they hold out hope that he can turn things around, make progress and get needed results.

    The sun-times was more subtle than the SW Herald News. if Quinn has anymore media endorsements than these two, I stand correct. But, these are the only two that I have seen.

    based on what we have seen of Quinn as governor, what his media endorsers have said, and what Mayor Washington says in the video, the Hynes ad is a legitimate and totally fair shot. The Hynes ad here is not a personal attack on Quinn.




64. - just sayin' - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:48 pm:

    Oof is right. Very bad for Quinn.

    I also have to say Washington comes across there as a serious public servant. Not how some might choose to remember.




65. - anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:48 pm:

    wouldn’t be surprised to see a sizable amount of earned media exposure on the washington ad. it will reach a lot of people hynes didn’t have to pay for, by the late local news running / talking about it.




66. - chitownhv - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:49 pm:

    You just know that this was Doc Walls “january surprise”, he just didn’t expect Hynes’ to be the one using it.




67. - Team Sleep - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:52 pm:

    Dold’s ad is pretty good. Though it has low production quality and though the ad participants are probably hand-picked, it’s not negative or angry. Thank God someone doesn’t want to go negative.




68. - A matter of trust - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:57 pm:

    I might be a Republican, but let me just say that the Harold Washington ad has to be one of the most effective attack ads I have seen in this State in a very very long time. WOW. Talk about a game changer. This ad pushes buttons on numerous levels.




69. - dupage dan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:59 pm:

    If the Harold Washington interview doesn’t get Hynes past the primary I bet the GOP candidate will be glad to use it. This is damning no matter how you look at it. Mayor Washington was a man who spoke his mind and he sure was clear on this! Wow oh wow oh wow. The sad thing is that it seems that old characterization seems to be spot on. It is uncanny accurate.




70. - Ghost - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 2:59 pm:

    On the various back and forths about whether certrain age grps will recognize Harold Washington I would just say, I would bet that the ad will spark enough water cooler conversation to help fill in the knowledge gap for a lot of voters.

    In context of this State and this race, I put it up above the often revered 3am phone call ad for overall impact and effectivenes.




71. - dave - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:01 pm:

    **In context of this State and this race, I put it up above the often revered 3am phone call ad for overall impact and effectivenes. **

    You mean the Hillary ad, that helped her win? Oh wait…




72. - shore - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:08 pm:

    I can’t wait to see Dan Hynes when he was 18, my burning question is if he was as boring and preening then as he is now.




73. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:09 pm:

    I agree with the previous poster who said that the Hynes ad needs to have the voiceover include/state vote for Dan Hynes feb 2nd.




74. - A Naughty Moose - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:11 pm:

    That’s it, the ad decides it for me. I’m voting for Harold Washington for governor.




75. - VanillaMan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:19 pm:

    Governor Quinn Responds To Hynes’ “Washington Ad”

    I appreciated the opportunity to work for Harold Washington. He was a modest man. Like Jesse White. Jesse is a great man, just like our late great Chicago Mayor, Harold Washington. Jesse has endorsed me in next month’s primary.

    If he was still alive, Mayor Washington would have been shocked at the horrific scandal at a cemetery in our state, Burr Oak Cemetery. It was a very, very horrific scandal. Remember that Mayor Washington is now in an Illinois cemetery. A cemetary in Illinois, that could also find itself in a very, very horrific scandal like Burr Oak. What went wrong there at Burr Oak and may go wrong at other cemeteries in our state, especially a cemetery where our dear late Mayor, Harold Washington, Jesse White’s and my dear, dear friend, is resting in peace.

    OR IS HE?

    Dan Hynes didn’t know Mayor Washington like I knew the Mayor. That is because Dan Hynes worked harder than a Burr Oak grave robber to prevent Harold Washington from ever becoming mayor. Because Dan Hynes didn’t know Mayor Washington, because he hated the Mayor, Dan didn’t know what a great sense of humor the Mayor, he hated, had.

    So now, Mr. Hynes has unleashed a moment of our great late Mayor’s more humorous moments. Coincidentially, it was a real knee slapper about my dedicated employment with our dearly beloved first African-American mayor of our great city, Chicago. Chicago - our inland island city within our great state, the Land of Lincoln.

    Mayor Washington and I were closer than the soy bean paint on the Shedd Aquarium! For Mr. Hynes, who is possibly personally responsible for our beloved Mayor Washington’s grave, Harold’s humor is misunderstood!

    I have never met a more humorless man in my entire life than Dan Hynes! Harold Washington’s cute jibe about my employment within his administration is nothing more than just another call of concern from a cemetery mourner about their beloved’s grave being upturned!

    Dan Hynes can, in the words of our greatest web journalist, Rich Miller, “bite me!”




76. - YEP - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:21 pm:

    RE:Hynes Ad is a game changer. If Quinn doesn’t come back with a better retort then “I resigned” He is done. Harold says not only did i fire quinn but i had cause to fire him for being incompetent.

    It does not matter how you left Pat but why you left is the important point.




77. - Waco Kid - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:24 pm:

    That Hynes ad is one of the best I’ve ever seen. What’s bad for Quinn is even if he wins the primary the GOP candidate can keep hammering him with this.




78. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:27 pm:

    I’m not sure the GOP candidate will get much use by rehashing this if Quinn somehow survives. In the Democratic primary, this is a knock-out punch. In a general, not so much.




79. - RobRoy - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:30 pm:

    Burr Oak = Bam!
    HW,”PQ yur fired” = KA BOOM!!!




80. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:32 pm:

    I looked at the Hynes ad a gazillion times now.

    I saw the Dold ad, and it’s pretty good/solid. I give it an A.

    Is there any concern in that race that Coulson is getting herself lost of the shuffle?




81. - unclesam - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:39 pm:

    As an aside, Governor Quinn may not want to make to much noise about how Dan Hynes, as a teenage boy, was in political ads for his dad.

    I’ve seen at least one Quinn “web video” that prominently featured Quinn’s sons talking about how great their Dad is.

    Hynes has an easy “gotcha” type counter.




82. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:39 pm:

    You can be sure that the GOP will be courting black voters this go round—they have to there’s no way that they can win without picking off parts of the dem base. If Quinn wins, and he’s still the frontrunner (Hynes has to rally people to get out and vote) the GOP should and will use the Washington footage.




83. - dave - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:47 pm:

    **Hynes has an easy “gotcha” type counter. **

    Not really. The point isn’t that Hynes helped his dad. The point is that Hynes helped his dad run a racially charged campaign against a popular African American mayor.




84. - casual observer - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:50 pm:

    So will Quinn now resign so the people of Illinois can’t say we fired him?




85. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 3:51 pm:

    A lot of water has poured over the dam since the Harold Washington era. What I am getting at is the fact that the sting of that racially charged time in Chicago history has subsided and voter anger over the Hynes family has waned considerably. I don’t think there is any ad Quinn can run that will un-ring the bell that Dan Hynes rang with that stunning ad!




86. - OneMan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:00 pm:

    But even taking the race thing out of it..

    Is anything Mayor Washington said that surprising? A lot of stuff he said is stuff I would expect had appeared on a Pat Quinn job review at some point over the last 20 years.

    If the best counter he can come up with is Dan Hynes appeared in a TV ad when he was 18 when his dad ran for mayor then score this as a direct hit from Hynes.




87. - Captain Flume - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:00 pm:

    So Dan Hynes is the better choice because he can dis Pat Quinn? What kind of a Governor is Mr. Hynes saying he will be? As Comptroller, his office is still using tapes to run payrolls and other function, and he has had the opportunity to really do some creative and progressive work there in the past how many years. I would much rather vote for something/someone that I believe in than for something/someone because there is no real choice. Anyway, it will be a hell of a day 02/02/10.




88. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:08 pm:

    == So Dan Hynes is the better choice because he can dis Pat Quinn? ==

    Correct me if I am wrong, Captain, but it was Harold Washington who “dissed” Pat Quinn….




89. - quinn fan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:11 pm:

    this ad is something beyong belief. the video is
    succinct and clear. alomst impossible to respond to.
    how to respond to this?
    there really isn’t a good answer.
    the gov was fired by the late great mayor




90. - Anonymous Springfield - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:22 pm:

    The cemetery could be easy for Hynes campaign to refute since what the Sheriff found there was not part of Hynes’ oversight authority. Maybe Hynes is glad for the new regulations which finally allows the State to step in. I agree, I think the Harold Washington ad has broad appeal.




91. - Ghost - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:23 pm:

    === You mean the Hillary ad, that helped her win? Oh wait… ====

    Nope, I was reffering to the original ad which had become an icon in political advertising and which clinton tried to duplicate and failed to achieve either the impact or effectivenss. Having one of the people in the ad come out as an Obama supporter was also not part of the original ad.

    But then again you were probably more interested in being pithy so were unconcerned with the archetypal ad or its meaning.




92. - Vibes - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:25 pm:

    A few thoughts:

    1) Quinn has a point, it sounds like Washington corrected himself to say “should have been dismissed”
    2) Who the heck cares, if you’re ’splainin’ you’re losing, and this one will need a massive and equally creative counter
    3) Where on earth did they get that footage? It’s not “wow what a great ad”, because the production wrote itself, that was just a straight cut and paste job from some amazing interview archive.

    It’s hard for anyone who has worked with Quinn — especially anyone who worked with him prior to 2002 — to rebut a single thing Washington says about the guy’s style and approach.

    When Kirk Dillard runs audio of that all October on black radio, Quinn is toast. Anyone leaning Quinn for partisan reasons just shifted to Hynes.




93. - cassandra - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:28 pm:

    Well, if Mayor Washington did fire Quinn for being incompetent, he was right on. He is incompetent. He can’t prioritize, can’t negotiate, can’t stand up to powerful political interests and greedy unions, can’t bring himself to replace the Blago bureaucracy, can’t count. Tells a lot of fibs too.




94. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:31 pm:

    Vibes please. Washington says “he (Quinn) was dismissed. He should have been dismissed.”

    In saying “he should have been dismissed”, Washington is simply justifying the dismissal.

    He’s bascially saying I disnissed him because he deserved to be dimsissed. I do not regret dismissing him.




95. - quinn fan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:36 pm:

    will county woman has a point that is very hard to refute. the late great mayor washington meant our governor was dismissed and deserved to be so.
    does anyone kow what our great governor did to warrant the dismissal?
    if our only reaction is to screech at candidate hynes about burr oak, then our campaign is in alot of trouble. this has been a long day..




96. - Big Policy Nerd - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:40 pm:

    To my good friends in the GOP and their respective Gubernatorial candidates…Running around the state attending “tea-parties” where you call Barack Obama a “Socialist” isn’t going to win you any votes in the African-American Community.




97. - 47th Ward - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:40 pm:

    Quinn fan,

    Judging from the context of Washington’s remarks in the ad, it sounds to me like insubordination was the reason for Quinn’s dismissal. If I recall correctly, Quinn didn’t go quietly either, he fought back in the media. That probably explains the Mayor’s need to so publicly and forcefully respond to firing his Revenue Director.




98. - Niles Township - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:41 pm:

    Quinn is out with statement of support from Washington’s campaign manager, Jackie Grimshaw saying they were friends after the departure, and that Quinn was with Washington long before it was the in thing to be.




99. - culatr - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:41 pm:

    While the Washington ad is certainly well-done, I do not view it as a death knell for Quinn. Do the views of Harold Washington (taken from the past) really resonate with Democratic Primary Election voters? I’m not convinced that is the case. There might be some traction on the competency issue but this ad, alone, doesn’t get there. Quinn’s best strategy is to respond that this ad is from a desperate candidate who is trailing in the polls. Remember, Quinn has won many elections as being an “outsider.” He should portray this ad as the old guard,party regulars trying to retain control. That’s his best shot to minimize the impact of this ad and energize his base.
    At some point, Quinn needs to focus on his “vision for Illinois” and give voters a reason to choose him rather than not choose Hynes. Looks like the race will be a tight one!




100. - Pelon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:46 pm:

     “Quinn is out with statement of support from Washington’s campaign manager, Jackie Grimshaw saying they were friends after the departure, and that Quinn was with Washington long before it was the in thing to be.”

     None of which addresses the fact that Quinn is incompetent. I have tons of friends who I wouldn’t want running the State.




101. - wordslinger - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:47 pm:

     Quinn’s denial is curious. The newspapers at the time had him being fired.




102. - Knome Sane - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:49 pm:

     ==Do the views of Harold Washington (taken from the past) really resonate with Democratic Primary Election voters==

     culatr, you may not know it but you showed either your young age or the fact that you live in Southern Illinois….




103. - HiFi - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:56 pm:

     “Do the views of Harold Washington (taken from the past) really resonate with Democratic Primary Election voters?”

     In this case, yes. It isn’t who Washington is, it’s what he’s saying. He’s showing that many people’s biggest concern about Quinn today — his lack of focus and discipline — has always been part of his character; that nothing about him has changed, and it never will.

     Quinn’s denial that he was fired reinforces more concerns about his character. It makes him come off as a person who will often speak before he sees the facts, and then be forced to walk it back. I like Quinn, but if he shoots off his mouth and then has to take it back the next day, what good is his word?




104. - Niles Township - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 4:56 pm:

     The newspapers at the time had him being fired
     ———-

     Somewhat true, but ingores the inside politics that was going on there. A couple more enterprising reporters digged a bit deeper and saw that it wasn’t so simple.




105. - Anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:01 pm:

     culatr - Quinn’s won a lot of elections as an “outsider.” I think you’re forgetting history - he hasn’t been able to win a big one yet - 1996 U.S. Senate Primary against Durbin, 1994 General election against George Ryan for SOS. All he’s won is one term as Treasurer and two terms as Blago’s running mate.




106. - FJ - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:01 pm:

     DH has NO chance in the african american community. Daddy ran against Harold, and Jr ran against the O’Bama….that says it all




107. - Jake from Elwood - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:07 pm:

     Wow.
     That Harold Washington tape is quite a well-timed trump card. I particularly cherish the line about government being Pat Quinn’s easel for self-promotion.
     Man, I wish I was old enough to have a clearer memory of the Washington mayoral years. This ad may have inadvertently served a second purpose other than the obvious purpose of wholly discrediting Quinn. It will make some of us youtube to see if we can find video of Mayor Washington’s speeches. He is refreshingly candid for a politican.




108. Pingback Is It Still the Economy, Stupid? « The 10th District Advocate - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:11 pm:

     […] Dold’s ad is simple and straightforward.  He has chosen to highlight his history as a businessman and his status as a political outsider, two distinctions that should serve him well in our current anti-government atmosphere.  The ad looks good. […]




109. - Chicago Cynic - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:13 pm:

     Single most devastating ad I’ve ever seen.




110. - Kyle Boller's Clipboard - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:31 pm:

     FJ, even if that’s true, if the African-American community sits on its hands in the election and doesn’t come out for Quinn, that’s a huge advantage for Hynes.




111. - Justice - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:32 pm:

     Wow!! Talk about a potentially lethal blow….! Problem is, these guys will give the Republicans all the ammo they need going into the general election; but the Republicans can easily blow that.

     Still, I do love campaign ads. They are kind, magnanimous, and emphasize the decency of politicians. It brings out their finest work. Unfortunately for us many continue to act that way when they do get the job. That is what makes me want to vote them all out.




112. - That's what friends are for? - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:32 pm:

     No offense to Grimshaw, but doesn’t her organization get state funded grants?




113. - ToddAF - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:34 pm:

     Quinn may be technically correct that he resigned. I just saw some old CBS file tape of a press conference with Washington in which he says Quinn resigned, but after Washington demanded his resignation. But in the long run, it’s not important whether he quit or was fired, but that Washington says the reason he wanted Quinn gone was incompetence. This will give Hynes a big boost in the African American community in Chicago. Whether it’s enough to win, we’ll find out Feb. 2.




114. - Cindy Lou - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:45 pm:

     Reading the Chicago Tribune of Friday 26 June 1987 article by James Strong “Reform Revenue Chief Ousted”, does say that Washington requested the resignation of Quinn and was because of “a difference in management style”.

     So I guess Quinn can nitpick on the word ‘fired’ shown in Hynes ad, but really….does he want to do that? I just watched Mayor Washington for 45 plus seconds using his own words on dismissal. If Quinn wants to once again come out looking as the ’sputterer’, hung up on words…well I guess he can refute the Mayor. Good luck with that one, Gov. Quinn. Me thinks it my be best to leave this one alone though.




115. - rudy - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:48 pm:

     –does anyone kow what our great governor did to warrant the dismissal?–

     As Revenue Director, Quinn refused the orders of Ernest Barefield and Lucille Dobbins, Washington’s chiefs of staff, to nullify
     (forgive) certain outstanding debts to the City of Chicago owed by taxpayers with connections to City Hall. Barefield and Dobbins then told the Mayor, “it’s either Quinn or us”. Mayor Washington, who relied heavily on Quinn’s support to win re-election in 1987, found Quinn to be more expendable than his two closest aides.




116. - Thanks for the history... - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 5:58 pm:

     Interesting Rudy, I’m gonna research that…

     but Washington’s version in the video clip that Quinn did not put the proper systems in place that he told him to in the Dept. Of Revenue and that he used the his position to garner PR has the ring of truth because we saw last year how Quinn did not heed sound advice. Whether the advice is from Speaker Madigan urging Quinn to get rid of Jon Filan or Mayor Washington telling Quinn how he wants the City’s Revenue Dept to run, 25+ years later we see Quinn still doesn’t listen. Also, we know how much loves press attention.

     NOTE TO HYNES:
     You cannot afford to be complacent and get all big-headed reading these posts. You still need to get out and work hard over the next couple of weeks to ensure that people come out and come out for you.




117. - RJW - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:02 pm:

     I’m not sure why people are getting into this whole “do people know or remember Harold Washington” thing. It doesn’t matter if you know who the person is in my opinion. It is an ad of an employer saying in his own voice that Quinn was incompetent and was fired. Enough said.

     Also, this whole argument about Dan Hynes helping his father against Harold Washington is just ridiculous. Hynes was 18?? It was his Dad. Um, I would have been doing the same thing then if it were my Dad. And then to try and imply that Hynes is a racist because of that is just beyond the pale.

     I’m pretty sure that if Hynes ad stays on and Quinn were to put an ad on implying Hynes was a racist that Quinn could just pack up and leave the Governor’s office right now.




118. - FJ - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:10 pm:

     Kyle, historically the black community always comes out in the primary, AND there are over 20 african american candidates on the ballot in the democratic primary. Jessie White, Robin Kelly, David Miller, Art Turner etc….This White guy seems to get a lot of votes.




119. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:14 pm:

     The sad part is it was Tom Hynes who was saying Harold Washington was incompetant at the same time Washington was saying Quinn was incompetant.

     Quinn was busy supporting Washington and now he might get beat by the team that was doing all they could to dump the mayor. Ain’t politics grand.




120. - Sam E. - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:17 pm:

     Both ads are excellent, but the Harold footage is devestating.

     As pointed out above, we will no doubt see Dan Hynes in his Dad’s commercial from ‘87 in a Quinn come back ad. I think we will also see footage of the ugly white mob out in front of St. Pascals yelling at Harold in ‘83 with a dramatic voice over (delivered by an African-American) saying something like this:

     “It was an ugly time in Chicago….a time of conflict and hate….Pat Quinn stood with Harold Washington for change and hope….while Dan Hynes and his father stood with the forces who tried to divide us….Pat Quinn supported harold washington and joined his administration, while the Hynes family left the Democratic Party in a cynical attempt to unseat the mayor. Now, two decades later, Dan Hynes is seeking to divide us once again, trying to cash in on the legacy of the man he once opposed in a desperate attempt to slander Pat Quinn. Dan Hynes, have you no shame?”




121. - Gregor - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:19 pm:

     Well, Quinn’s done thanks to that ad.

     And Hynes takes the Primary only to be squashed like a bug in the general.

     At least all the Blago cronies will finally get fumigated out of the gov’s office.

     Dold’s ad is quite a step up from the ridiculous jingle ad.
     Very slick and pro looking, and the humor touches about Chicago voting are just right, winking, without snarling. Right on the line, well executed.




122. - Alex - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:21 pm:

     As a Quinn supporter, and a political junkie, I see the Hynes ad as being pretty devastating, but I think Hynes just opened a real can of worms. Too say Harold is a respected figure in the city is an understatement, and to have him resurrected as mudslinger for the son of one his former opponents seems like a stretch. We’ll see how this plays.




123. - Raymond Moley - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:23 pm:

     I’ve known Quinn for over 20 years and had great expectations when he took over from Blago. He has been a great disappointment. His DOC mismanagement is only the tip of the iceberg of his habitual mismanagement.




124. - Responsa - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:32 pm:

     Man, ya go away for the afternoon and look what happens! I have little to add to this excellent discussion except: these ads once again point out some of the unique and intricate “insider” problems Chicago pols have to maueuver around because of the political dynasties in this town. Hmmm, wonder why Lisa didn’t decide to run for a bigger office.




125. - Thanks for the history... - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:54 pm:

     July 1, 1987 Sun-Times editorial states that Quinn was “fired”

     I found a scathing old Chicago Reader editorial/article about Tom Hynes in his effort to unseat Harold Washington. Too bad for Quinn that he is running against Dan, not Tom, Hynes.




126. - Objective Dem - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:57 pm:

     Quinn’s response is the equivalent of Clinton’s definition of sex. Yes he may have “resigned” but he was fired.

     Plus Quinn just gave the media more of a reason to look into why he was fired. Stupid move.

     I would love to know who Quinn and Hynes campaign managers are.




127. - phocion - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 6:58 pm:

     To Sam E. and others who think Quinn should answer this ad by reopening racial wounds: Do you think that Quinn won’t get massive media and voter backlash for going there?

     There is absolutely nothing racial about the Hynes ad. For Quinn to use racially divisive tactics in response to the ad will doom him in the primary and forever tarnish his legacy.

     But then again, I guess Quinn could ask his buddy Ken Dunkin to do the racist mud slinging for him.




128. - Michelle Flaherty - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:00 pm:

     So Quinn didn’t do what his boss told him and he got fired.
     Now, Quinn’s the boss but when his prison director ignores direct orders, he doesn’t lose his job?
     It would seem Mr. Quinn failed to pick up on the lesson of accountability in his service of taxpayers.




129. - Anonymous - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:02 pm:

     WOW! The Washington ad was one of the best I have ever seen. I never thought that one single ad could change this election, but this one probably did. I wasn’t in Chicago during the Council Wars, but if Tom Hynes was as culpable as the others say he was, Quinn needs to “get down and dirty” and attack like crazy. Finally, for what its worth as a Black person, I don’t think it’s racist (just scary effective).




130. - Quizzical - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:04 pm:

     Too funny! Like others, I was a kid when Washington was mayor have few memories of his tenure. The impolitic language is so refreshing — and squares with what I’ve come to understand about Quinn. I too may be up late on the you tubes looking for old HW speeches to see what it took for him to win acceptance from the white community.

     I think this will be effective, especially in the black community and any rebuttal from Quinn will be too complicated to score with voters.




131. - Paul S. - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:06 pm:

     I know the the discussion is great centering around the African American vote. I am not african american and I have to say, I have just re-evaluated my support of Pat Quinn. What Harold Washington says really shows what Quinn has been doing. Saying a tax hike, no tax hike, election a voice on tax hike — what is it?? He doesn’t stand for anything. The scandal, he knew about it, he didn’t know about it, it was his fault, it wasn’t his fault, again — what is it?? The words are perfect and they paint a picture of Quinn that everyone was thinking about but could not elaborate on. Huge bonus points for Hynes. Now he needs to counter this ad with a positive ad of Hynes can do it and it’s a One-Two punch for Quinn. (BTW: Someone tell Quinn that the Burr Oak issue is really old news and he just makes himself look out of touch.)




132. - Paul S. - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:06 pm:

     Second thought: This ad will make people wonder what Quinn really did back then and start digging up Quinn’s past; while Hynes’ past (with his father) really doesn’t seem like it will hold water.




133. - Quinnevastated - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:09 pm:

     Pat Quinn has failed time and time again as Governor.

     This add isn’t about old politics and rivalries. It is about being able to get the job done.

     I had hoped Quinn could live up to reputation as a reformer. Instead he has lived up to his reputation as an incompetent failure and gadfly.

     I’m putting my hope in Hynes.




134. - Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:21 pm:

     If Quinn does come back with an ad like the one Sam E wrote at 6:17, it will be quite effective. I think dredging up the sorry racially divided past is ridiculous, but I guess it is fair game now.

     The Quinnster must have really gotten under Mayor Washinton’s skin cause he kaboshed him good.




135. - Responsa - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:22 pm:

     Don’t you just wonder how many new pairs of underwear had to be purchased for the Hynes campaign team the first time they were presented with that almost unbelievable Harold Washington tape?




136. Pingback Ads getting harsher as Quinn/Hynes polls narrow « Peoria Pundit - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:39 pm:

     […] And the exuberant Rich Miller has some background info. […]




137. - lost in translation - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 7:51 pm:

     Quinn accepts the endorsement and money of Blago Father in Law Dick Mell, the guy who supported Ed Vrdolyak and opposed Mayor Washington in the council wars. Quinn should talk about who his peeps supported in the past.




138. - Geneseo Gent - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 8:17 pm:

     If another ad is required how about this one; Quinn with buddy Blago, Quinn with buddy Burris, and Quinn with his long time bud Boland. Those three rocks in a box should provide the final weight necessary to put Quinn’s political career in the Burr Oak Cemetery six feet under!




139. - Amalia - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 8:49 pm:

     wow, the can of worms is open now. daddy hynes ran for mayor, well, sort of, against Harold. does Peg Roth still work for
     Dan Hynes as chief of staff? and what did she run for way back when?




140. - bill - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 8:50 pm:

     still with quinn. Not sure what happened long ago but clearly Quinn is superior to Hynes. Hynes has no offered on postive solution to anything that I have seen. His tax proposal requires a constitutional amendment and Illinos will have long gone the way of Califoria that imploeded before a Hynes proposal becomes law. And the Republicans say no tax so look Illinois we are in a long hard ride. Quinn tax proposals is modeast and just might help us survive.
     My suspicion we will have a very low turnout, 30% and this is ridiculous but a tiny minority of both parties will be making decisions largely based on the wheeler and dealers of the parties. Where or where is our democracy??




141. - Thanks for the history... - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 8:54 pm:

     Hynes won the SIU debate!!!!!




142. - Thanks for the history... - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:06 pm:

     The Quinn ad states that “Hynes was stripped of oversight or authority of cemeteries.”

     Can’t be stripped of something he never had. Quinn lies too much and he kept saying throughout the SIU debate that he is “honest” etc.

     I guess if he says it enough, it makes it true?




143. - anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:28 pm:

     I think more african americans will vote for Quinn after seeing the Harold ad. It basically in a very subtle way is saying, “We don’t think your community is that smart and you will run and purchase what I am selling.” The product of course, is Dan Hynes for Governor. We are smarter than that. I see a backlash. It’s a great negative ad but by using Harold I think it definitely will work against him.




144. - quinn fan - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:28 pm:

     our splendid governor did not have his best evening today… while watching lttery ads on channel nine right now, my thoughts are with all of the families that are truly hurting w/o help from our state.
     a long day has become longer after watching the debate. scolding candidate hynes about the greal late mayor washigton will not work. i was hoping that he would have an effective answer to being fired, but he did not.
     our governor may try to have reverend jackson, secreatary white try to help–but alot of us remember they were not allies of the late great mayor when he was here with us.
     what mayor washington said was very straightforward. i am very sad, and missing our great mayor this evening very much.




145. - this is getting fun - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:29 pm:

     If Sam E. isn’t on Quinn’s payroll already, they should hire him because that’s exactly the kind of ad they should run.

     Remember, this low turnout primary should be dominated by older voters, liberals, and blacks. They should respond to that kind of message.

     That being said, you gotta give it to the Hynes people. What a great ad.




146. - Boone Logan Square - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:31 pm:

     The Harold Washington footage is from an interview Joel Weisman conducted with the mayor in late 1987. Weisman was on WGN tonight saying that Washington made a point to bring Quinn up.

     It’s the most effective ad I’ve seen Hynes run in any of his campaigns. If he can pivot with a closing ad making claims about his own competence and give voters a sense that he can manage the state’s economy, he may well win this primary.

     The Burr Oak counterattack is insufficient. Quinn has to come back to reassure voters that he’s a responsible, competent manager. I do not know how he does that in the next 12 days.




147. - Irish Eyes - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:34 pm:

     Dan Hynes got into office and then encouraged people to send him complaints about cemeteries. He welcomed and encouraged them. He used to send out public service announcements on the taxpayer-dime around veterans and memorial day telling people to call his office with complaints about cemeteries. Now he claims to never have any authority over cemeteries. Well why did you tell people to call your office to complain about them??? Funny how things change.




148. - Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:37 pm:

     Maybe an old timer remembers, but I’m pretty sure that same Harold Washington audio was used against Quinn in radio ads back in the day, I think when he ran against Ryan for SoS?




149. - Boone Logan Square - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:38 pm:

     Meanwhile, the Tribune’s poll of the Cook County Board President race has Preckwinkle taking a substantial lead over the field (up 12 over Dorothy Brown with 12 percent of voters undecided). Her bio ads are reasonably slick, very positive (a real contrast from the gov candidates) and up in Chicago with reasonable frequency. She claimed she would make a late surge and it looks like she is doing that now.

     Dorothy Brown has an ad that looks like it was made after hours at a public access station. Unless she has a ground game that can dull the emerging narrative of corruption out of her office, I see her in real trouble the rest of the way.




150. - this is getting fun - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:48 pm:

     Yes Ron, George Ryan used the Harold quote against Quinn in the ‘94 sec of state race. But as I recall it appeared as just a quick one-sentence clip in one of George’s ads.

     Hynes used it much more exstensively and effectively here. And it will play better in a Dem primary.




151. - Pooh Bear - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 9:51 pm:

     It’s too late for Hynes - although a nice try. What’s happening is now. The Office of the State Comptroller is assigned to regulate funeral homes and cemeteries, something the office hasn’t even remotely accomplished - as seen in the Burr Oak fiasco. Even Dawn Clark-Netsch previously handled Cemetery Care and Burial Trust within the office much more constitutional. Pat Quinn will be re-elected based on his unprecedented track record including efforts to assist military families and working to create jobs.




152. - Irish Eyes - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 10:07 pm:

     Google Dan Hynes and Cemetery Complaints. This is what you find.

     “During the next few months, Illinoisans will be encouraged to speak up and tell Comptroller Dan Hynes about any troubles they’ve encountered with the cemetery and funeral home industries. a forum for consumers to voice complaints, he said, and they will raise public awareness that the comptroller’s office is the primary regulator of cemeteries.” Springfield Journal Register- 6/15/1999




153. - Windy - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 10:14 pm:

     dude did anyone see Hynes/QUinn exchange tonight? It was significant. Gov showed real passion, outrage.




154. - Pooh Bear - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 10:22 pm:

     Irish Eyes, thanks for your comment. Just would like to add that all of us share the pain with those families who had loved ones buried at Burr Oak - undoubtedly a preventable disaster.




155. - Anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 10:29 pm:

     Game over Quinn. Whether you like the ad or not, it’s Quinn’s former boss giving him a poor job rating. He just lost my vote. I also saw the Burr Oak Ad and don’t really know what to think but I find it hard to believe that we can point fingers at only Dan Hynes - where was the staff on the site?




156. - ZC - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 10:31 pm:

     My problem with Quinn is, a campaign isn’t just marking a checkbox of the candidates’ issue positions. It’s also their record and demonstrated history of competence.

     I agree with Quinn more on the issues, but to be governor, you have to have a fundamental competence in how you run the state. I’ve yet to see it from Quinn, and without it, even though his issue positions are lesser, I think I have to vote for Dan Hynes.




157. - Irish Eyes - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 10:54 pm:

     And where has Dan Hynes taken his orders from the last 12 years? His Dad- Tom Hynes. Google “Tom Hynes, Harold Washington and Dan Hynes” and you get this.

     Mayoral candidate Thomas Hynes launched a personal attack on Mayor Harold Washington, describing the mayor’s record as “one of sleaze.” “Who does Mayor Harold Washington think he is?” Hynes demanded at a press conference Tuesday in his headquarters at 350 W. Kinzie St. “Harold Washington should be the last person in the city to question the integrity of anyone. His history and his record are one of sleaze.” “He has served time in jail for repeatedly evading the federal income tax laws. He has twice had his law license suspended for cheating his
     own clients. He has a record in his own community as a deadbeat for not paying his taxes and bills.” (Chicago Tribune, March/1987)




158. - Anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:00 pm:

     Irish Eyes - you make some great points but last time I checked this wasn’t about Tom Hynes. So he called his opponent names but this goes back to Pat Quinn being able to manage the state. Clearly Tom Hynes wasn’t the voters choice or fit for the job, thus, he lost and that story has already been told. This is about Pat Quinn.




159. - Truth serum - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:09 pm:

     I hope Mike Madigan is paying Tom Hynes a lot of money to run such a blatantly negative campaign. Could it be that King Michael wants a Republican to win so daughter Lisa can run in four years? If Danny Boy wins, it’s a lock the Repub nominee — whoever it is — will beat the stuffing out of this one note, negative candidate.




160. - Will County Woman - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:12 pm:

     “If for some reason or another, he doesn’t like that approach, he has the right to fire that person,” Quinn is seen saying in a 1987 TV interview.—nbcchicago.com

     During tonight’s debate Quinn re-asserted that he resigned. But NBC Chicago found Quinn in his own words in 1987 admitting that he was in fact fired.

     WOW!




161. - Truth serum - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:21 pm:

     Well, there’s also footage of Harold saying Pat resigned. But yes, trying to run government honestly (especially back in the 80’s) will ruffle feathers that way.




162. - Irish Eyes - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:29 pm:

     @ Anon

     Who is Dan Hynes? A Product of the Irish Ward/Madigan/Daley/Mell/Tom Hynes system. Period.

     The Hynes family has made a political career out of opposing progressive candidates like Harold Washington (Ton Hynes) and Barack Obama ( Dan Hynes). Dan Hynes graduated college, his dad got him a job with the Clinton/Gore Campaign. He went to law school. Then his dad got him on the ballot as Comptroller. Dan Hynes aproved every Ryan Budget and Borrowing Plan, Every Blagojevich Budget and Borrowing Plan and never vetoed anything until Pat Quinn came into office.

     Dan Hynes dad, who got his son the job as comptroller, gets three tax payer funded pensions (one from the city, one from the county and one from the state legislatture). As a public offical in the State Senate, and then again as County Assesor, he took a taxpayer funded check and a check from the law firm simultaneously.

     Dan Hynes brother Matthew, and his father Tom, are registered lobbyists, who have represented State Pension board interests, and gotten rich while the taxpayers paid and continue to pay for failed investment strategies.

     In 2004, Hynes challenged Barack Obama and accused him of “stting on the sidelines and never having to make tough decisions.”

     Now the Hynes Campaign brings out the Ghost of a dead man, Harold Washington, to talk about Pat Quinn 25 years ago. And what did Tom/Dan Hynes have to say about Harold Washington, “Mayoral candidate Thomas Hynes launched a personal attack on Mayor Harold Washington, describing the mayor’s record as “one of sleaze.” “Who
     does Mayor Harold Washington think he is?” Hynes demanded at a press conference Tuesday in his headquarters at 350 W. Kinzie St. “Harold Washington should be the last person in the city to question the integrity of anyone. His history and his record are one of sleaze.”

     The Hynes family will do and say anything to get elected. They get rich off of it, we get screwed.




163. - Truth serum - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:36 pm:

     Well put, Irish Eyes. Hopefully, Gov. Quinn will follow in the footsteps of Harold Washington and Barack Obama and put the final nail in the Hynes family’s sad tradition of negative politics.




164. - Anon - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:36 pm:

     Irish Eyes needs to give it up. This race isn’t about Tom Hynes. It’s about Pat Quinn and his record. He’s shown he can’t run the state, and Harold Washington said he was basically incompetent in his administration. I really don’t care what Tom Hynes did. It has no bearing on where the state is today and where it’s going tomorrow.




165. - Average Joe - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:50 pm:

     Nobody cares. Will County Woman, (A.K.A., Hynes’ Campaign Staff) is right… they are expecting a low voter turn-out…but here’s why Dan Hynes still loses….

     1) for months now, voters have been asking…Who the heck is Dan Hynes? The one question that is going to ring in the minds of voters this primary is “what has he done for me lately?”. These are hard times… most people (i.e. those who don’t even know this blog exist and have never heard of the name “Rich Miller”) don’t care about state-wide or even national issues right now. They’re hurting. They want to know who this guys is and what is he going to do to help them…and quiet honestly, Dan Hynes has done nothing to help the “average Joe” and has not proposed anything that gives hope that he will.

     When the “average Joe” is faced with two candidates…he picks the one he can best relate to. Hynes has done nothing to shed the cold and heartless image he personifies…in fact, he’s solidified it with a campagin of negative ads. (I think he had one neutral ad since he announced)

     The Washington Ad is good, but come on, not everyone is cut out for every job. Quinn may not have made a very good Revenue Director, but he’s been a great advocate for the people…and as for Hynes, he isn’t very personable, but he can proably handle a spreadsheet better than any other candidate out there. People need to play to their strengths…I would have liked to see Hynes run for Treasurer….and Quinn was a great Lt. Governor..and I wager that if Blago wasn’t such an iddiot, thereby forcing PQ into the hot-seat, he would have ran for Lt.Gov again.

     When are we going to cut through all the B.S. and get to the real problem with Illinois… mein fuhrer MJM.




166. - Irish Eyes - Thursday, Jan 21, 10 @ 11:54 pm:

     @ Anon

     _Irish Eyes needs to give it up. This race isn’t about Tom Hynes. It’s about Pat Quinn and his record.-

     And what is Dan Hynes record on reform? $325,000 worth of fines from the federal government? Unpaid fines to the federal government for receiving illegal campaign contributions from a man what wanted an appointment to a Federal Health Panel?

     What is Dan Hynes record on reform? Oh he said giving people the power to recall corrupt officials (like Blagojevich) would “open the door to special interests and corrupt practices.” This is about one year after Dan Hynes brother got rich off a toilet pension deal. That taxpayers are still paying for.

     What else? Transfer of Illegal funds from Tom Hynes to Dan Hynes campaign committee via the 19th ward…Where Tom Hynes used to arrange patronage hires for people that never showed up to work.

     Where has Dan Hynes been the last 12 months? Just like he was in 2003. Driving around the state and campaign and fund raising meetings without bothering to show up for more than an hour or two at his day job?

     Some of us that work in state government believe in showing up for work and not using the state government to our personal financial advantage.




167. - Quizzical - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:09 am:

     I wonder what Carlos has to say about this.




168. - Chicago Cynic - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:47 am:

     Quizzical,

     Great question. Knowing Carlos, he absolutely LOVES the Washington ad and would think it’s the kind of bare knuckled Chicago politics we’re known for in this state. I’m sure he’d tip his fedora to this well-planned move. I thought about that today as I watched the ad for the first time with my jaw agape. It may not be totally fair (people often think differently about someone 25 years later), but boy is it powerful.




169. - quinn fan - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:59 am:

     poo bear and irish eys- it is apparent that you are tring to help our good governor. although, it
     comes across that you are campaign workers.
     please be honest as our good governor is. no hype or stuff. we did have a bad day, because our late great mayor said what he said. those words are the mayors.
     we all know the governor is a good man. have to hope that the voters see it too. the late great mayor was just a little unhappy with our good governor.
     please ignore the candidte hynes. yelling at him wont work. we need to help our good governor




170. - Raymond Moley - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 4:35 am:

     I’ve known Pat Quinn for 20 years. Campaigned with him, supported much of his state legislation and personnally like him. However, after watching Quinn’s inept senior management team and his repeated poor decisions concerning Corrections, I have to agree with Mayor Washington….”I wouldn’t appoint Pat Quinn” to manage anything. Although, Quinn would make a fine Senator or legislator. He should have resigned when Speaker Madigan stiffed him last spring and ran for the US Senate.




171. - Disagree - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 9:08 am:

     Irish Eyes - Tom Hynes did not “get” his son the job as Comptroller. It’s an elected office; the VOTERS gave Dan Hynes the job as Comptroller.




172. - Niles Township - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 9:22 am:

     I have yet to see the Washinton/Hynes ad air. It wasn’t on the 9 or 10 pm news last night. Quinn’s ad was on each newscast twice.




173. - Niles Township - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 9:23 am:

     Irish Eyes - Tom Hynes did not “get” his son the job as Comptroller. It’s an elected office; the VOTERS gave Dan Hynes the job as Comptroller.
     —————

     Disagree….you must be new to IL. Turst me, Tommy Hynes got his kid that job, no question.




174. - dupage dan - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 9:26 am:

     The issue here is appearance and impact. Mayor Washington speaking about PQ is his opinion about his employee. Whether or not PQ was fired or he quit, was competent or not, insubordinate or not, honest or not, is immaterial.

     That ad will strike a chord in folk because a forceful statement is being made by a third party outside of Hynes campaign. The comparison made is striking because of the uncanny way in which those words from over 20 years ago seem to describe how PQ is viewed by many today. A pattern is established that can not easily be countered.

     At least, the ad may very well depress voter turnout in the African American community who will choose not to vote because of the Mayor Washington ad and their views on the Hynes family. That alone is enough to hurt PQ significantly. Game ender? Maybe not. It is certainly a game changer, no doubt.




175. - quinn fan - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 10:22 am:

     governor quinn will be fine, as long as he stays positive and reaches out to female voters. when the good governor talks about the excellent tax plan he has, the voters respond to his vision.




176. - Publilius - Friday, Jan 22, 10 @ 12:28 pm:

     This ad is more devastating because Quinn has catered to only a handful of elected African-American officials, including the scandal plagued Cong. Jackson, as opposed to actually dealing with the community as a whole. I guess he thought that because he did so much in the African-American community in the pass that he could just put us on the back burner and turn off the heat.

     Meanwhile Hynes took a page from Pat Quinn’s old play book and brought together the grass roots community leaders who have been totally locked out of Quinn’s office.
     Quinn worked with these groups for years but they have now went with Hynes.
     Quinn also surrounds himself with Irish grads from Fenwick High so he can’t beef about Hynes’s 18th ward connections.

     More incredible is the fact that Mr. Ethical has appointed to state boards a horde of Daley picks. Meanwhile he continues to feed the Irish Chicago Machine by not firing Blago patronage hires.

     Quinn as Governor has been a big disappointed

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