| « Chicago Handgun Ban Struck Down by Supreme Court | Sunlight Foundation Reviews Illinois » |
IL-GOV Mon Jun 28 2010
Brady and Quinn Fail to Impress as Campaign Heats Up
It's looking to be an election of the lesser of two evils for the Illinois gubernatorial election coming up this fall.
This Thursday, Illinois minimum wage will increase to $8.25 an hour, a quarter more than before and a full dollar more than the federal minimum wage. But despite the aid this increase will offer suffering families in Bloomington, Brady's hometown, where the living wage amounts to a minimum of $8.08 an hour for an adult without a child, he considers the raise evidence of the state "micromanaging" the private sector, reports the Chicago Tribune.
"When you try to over-manage the private sector, the private sector has choices, and they move, which is why the state of Illinois, under Blagojevich and Quinn, has lost nearly as many jobs as the state of Texas has gained," Brady said at a VFW conference Friday.
He also stated his support for returning Illinois' minimum wage to federal levels, in a move that's likely to alienate undecided voters at a key point in his campaign--recent polls show he's lost nine percent of his support overall and 10 percent of his support among Republicans. Where in April Brady was polling 43 percent to Quinn's 33 percent, he's now got 34 percent support to Quinn's 30 percent. Is this evidence of voter backlash towards what have been characterized as Brady's ultraconservative policies, or is Quinn just beginning to campaign harder as the race heats up?
Perhaps Brady's polling losses can be explained by a shift in the gay vote--a demographic that he's obviously not courting, as he skipped this weekend's Pride Parade in favor of the Swedish Days Parade in Geneva. He wouldn't say if he would be willing to march in the Pride Parade, but my bet's on no, considering he claimed he didn't even know it was happening yesterday.
And although Quinn did make an appearance at the Pride Parade, he's not likely to win much support this week as he's forced to sift through the state's budget and make cuts as early as Wednesday of this week. Quinn was unable to pass gain enough support for a budget based on borrowing to pay for the state's pension program through the Illinois Senate before its recess, and Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, is refusing to call the Senate back to consider the plan again without some Republican support. This being unlikely, the governor will have to make some tough--and unpopular--choices on what to cut to balance the budget he's been given.
Chas Mahoney / June 28, 2010 11:17 PM
Alex,
The Governor does not pass a budget. The General Assemby (of which Bill Brady is a member) does. Quinn has gone on the record for a comprehensive, even if unpopular, budget including tax increases, budget cuts, and borrowing.
Voters who are paying attention understand that Quinn is cleaning up a mess he didn't make.
He's been honest, and I appreciate that about him.