McKenna to Quinn: "Bah Humbug"
Republican Andy McKenna is launching another round of ‘hair’ ads today, this time slapping Rod Blagojevich’s iconic mop on Gov. Pat Quinn and saying “Bah Humbug” to the Democrat’s claim that voters are happier this year than last.
The new TV and radio ad launch takes a direct shot at Quinn’s response to an earlier ad run by McKenna. Quinn was quoted in the Chicago Tribune as saying, “I think the people of Illinois are a lot happier today, in November of 2009, than they were at the beginning of this year.”
The announcer on McKenna’s new ad says “Bah Humbug” to that and then points to the massive budget deficit and claims the state is “facing bankruptcy.”
Quinn was responding to accusations by McKenna that he was mismanaging the state and keeping the public in the dark about the budget. Quinn was apparently attempting to draw a difference between himself and Blagojevich, whom he succeeded as lieutenant governor after the Chicago Democrat’s arrest and ouster.
Quinn has defended his leadership, saying he has been honest about how to deal with the budget shortfall by raising taxes, pushed for sweeping ethics reform and created jobs by passing a massive public works package backed by gambling expansion.
But McKenna’s new ad attempts to directly paint Quinn as Blagojevich by showing a mock photograph of the governor wearing a wig that looks like Blagojevich’s black hair. It follows a pattern that began with McKenna’s first TV ad in which he puts Blagojevich’s hair on other former governors like Republican George Ryan and even the statehouse dome in Springfield.
In the ads, McKenna — who headed the Illinois Republican Party for five years — maintains he is the “only outsider businessman running” in the seven-person GOP primary. Opponents have disputed McKenna’s contention that he is an outsider, and there are two other “businessmen” in the race who have never held elective office, Adam Andrzejewski of Hinsdale and Dan Proft of Chicago.
McKenna’s new ads come one day after state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale launched a cable ad touting his endorsement from former Republican Gov. Jim Edgar.
Meanwhile, McKenna also landed the endorsements of state Reps. Mark Beaubien of Barrington Hills and JoAnn Osmond of Antioch on Tuesday. Other GOP candidates in the primary for governor are DuPage County Board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom of Naperville, former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan of Elmhurst and state Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington.
The primary is Feb. 2.
Here is McKenna's new ad:
Here is Dillard's new ad:
How can the immediate past chairman of the state GOP be considered an "outsider" in any way, shape or form? Surely Minority Leader Cross is an insider, and he's backing Andy the Outsider. You'd think Cross would prefer a party insider.
Why doesn't Andy McKenna come to any of the Suburban GOP candidate forums??? Why won't he answer any tough questions in the newspaper. Because he can't take the heat and face the party loyalists who are furious over his dismal performance as party chairman. McKenna's tenure as Party Chairman was a disaster. We lost control of the Legislature and didn't win any statewide races. Why? Because McKenna was too busy plotting his next political move on his yacht or the golf course in Kenilsworth. He raided the party treasury and spent it on consultants and pollsters to benefit his next political move and to try to squash dissent from those who aren't part of the Chicago GOP. As a result we lost the ability to stop Blago and Quinn.
If you take ten seconds to google Andy McKenna, he did spend $5 million to finish at the bottom during the 2004 Senate race. It shows you that voters don't care for bored millionaires. From the Pontiac Daily Leader... 11/24/09
"McKenna ran as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate from Illinois in 2004 and said he spent approximately $5 million of his money on that campaign."
I was at the Will County Tea Party meeting last month. All the candidates were there from the GOP side, except for Ryan and McKenna. Not sure why Ryan didn't show but it was clear that McKenna was a no- show because he was scared. Why? Because almost every candidate met with him at one point this year because he was the party chairman. They told McKenna what there campaign strategies would be, how they would raise money, what their polling numbers showed. Basically, they opened up the whole playbook to him. And he just took all that information in, never saying that he was considering a run. Total backstabber to the candidates and the party on the whole. There's a word for that type of person. It starts with W and rhymes with easel.
At first I was not the biggest McKenna supporter but after seeing the weak performances by the 6 other republicans (read: Where has Ryan been?) and the continued lackluster performances by Quinn. It appears that McKenna is in fact the strongest republican candidate and with the support for these ads most likely the future governor.
* Rich Lowe - $5 million for the senate race, really? You sound like a disgruntled campaign worker trying to paint McKenna in a bad light. Try pulling his filing report from the race. I don't think anyone shelled out $5 personally.
Andy McKenna will say anything, do anything, and spend unlimiited money to try to buy the Governor's office. The guy is no outsider. The controversies and scandals surrounding McKenna's tenure as GOP Chairman are well known. Specifically, McKenna spent at least $50,000 of State GOP party on polling to test his viability as a candidate for Governor while he was still chairman... Consequently, money that should have been spent on worthy candidates was spent to benefit Andy McKenna. If you donated to the state party during this time, you were donating to McKenna's campaign for governor. He is no outsider. Further, McKenna's qualifications as a businessman are questionable. He inherited his business from his Dad, and subsequently spent $5 million of his Dad's money in a failed bid for Senate. He is trying to buy the nomination through a tv campaign instead of actually taking the time to engage the voters and answer questions about what is on people's minds. He hasn't been to any GOP candidate events down here except to do this interview. He doesn't even show up at GOP candidate forums because he doesn't have any answer for tough questions.