Not the Dan Hynes of 2004
ArchPundit
While I’ve been notably absent for too long of this campaign season, I early on backed Dan Hynes. There are many reasons for that mostly having to do with his ability to manage and Pat Quinn’s inability to be a good candidate with too much attention. This was before the prison furlough debacle became known and we now know that it would provide a particularly handy way to attack Quinn from now until November.
My biggest concern was Dan Hynes the wimp we have seen all too often. He has a habit of making a tough statement and then allowing whomever he was taking to task get back up and dust themselves off. I suggested Coffee is for Closers:
Dan Hynes will never be Governor until he learns to throw a punch and not help the guy get up off the floor. He’s a good public servant and a decent human being, but if he wants the Governor’s office, he has to take it for himself.
Hynes has been tougher this cycle and impressive, but hadn’t quite taken the step to prove he had the fortitude to take the nomination for his own.
Until the last 48 hours:
From Capitol Fax’s Youtube channel
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn2w5EwHsdE[/youtube]
Brutal, true, and fair. Extra nice touch using the white guy to avoid the racial overtones of Gore and Bush commercials with Willie Horton.
But the true measure of just how much he’s willing to go after Quinn is using Harold Washington’s blistering attack on Quinn.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zns-K8XrOAk[/youtube]
Those two commercials will dominate the debate for at least the next week going into the following weekend standing on their own. They offer incredibly effective attacks on Quinn’s competence and do it in a way that takes advantage of Quinn’s weaknesses which have long been seen as being a show horse and not a good manager.
Making things worse for Quinn, as usual, Quinn. Quinn denies he was fired by Washington. Who are you going to believe–Quinn or your lying ears? Huh?
The Washington piece is devastating–some initially thought because of the effect it would have in the African-American community, but it reaches nearly all voters. The description of Quinn as an opportunist who cared more about making a name for himself than governing punctures any argument he has to competence and it shows how vulnerable to a Republican challenger he would be.