Quinn for Illinois

CHICAGO -- Today, the Hynes campaign hit yet another historic low by implying the endorsement of a man Dan Hynes called a "do-nothing," "pork pie" politician -- President Barack Obama.

This misuse of the words and image of an iconic Illinois leader follows last week's misappropriation of the late, great Mayor Harold Washington's words and image -- even though Comptroller Hynes worked alongside his father to defeat and destroy Mayor Washington and everything he stood for.

Just six years ago, Comptroller Hynes accused Barack Obama of voting "in lockstep with George Ryan because he wanted his share of the pork pie.” Hynes attacked Barack Obama for fiscal irresponsibility by voting for tax relief for working families, and health care for children who needed it. Hynes claimed that he fought alone against state laws to provide healthcare for children and reduce taxes on working families.

In response -- in a Chicago Sun-Times article headlined, `Hynes pounces on Obama at last debate' -- President Obama shrugged off Hynes' carping. “I think it’s a little disingenuous of him to say he was this warrior,” Obama said. “But we're six days away from an election. I think it’s to be expected that people are going to start throwing stuff out."

In using President Obama's words and likeness without his advance knowledge or permission, Comptroller Hynes once has shown he will stoop to any level to advance his political career. These tactics aren’t surprising, but they are deeply, deeply cynical.  He clearly underestimates the memory and intelligence of Democratic voters in Illinois.

We believe Democratic primary voters care about jobs, education, health care and ethics -- not stupid campaign tricks like this stealth endorsement. Governor Pat Quinn believes Democratic voters support his lifelong record of fighting for everyday people against corrupt Machine politicians and entrenched special interests. The people of Illinois have counted on Pat Quinn to stand up for them for the past 30 years. Governor Pat Quinn is counting on the people of Illinois to stand up for him on Election Day.

   A week after he invoked a recording of Harold Washington to slam Gov. Pat Quinn, gubernatorial hopeful Dan Hynes is using the image and words of another African-American icon — President Barack Obama — against his Democratic primary rival.

  A new flier mailed out by the Hynes campaign features a picture of the president and quotes him as opposing any tax hike on the middle class. It then states, "Pat Quinn's 50% tax hike on middle-class families is NOT what Barack Obama thinks we need."

In fact, Mr. Obama has made no endorsement for governor in his home state. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, has he said anything about whether he prefers Mr. Quinn's plans to close a huge hole in the state budget, or Mr. Hynes' call to hike taxes via a graduated income tax and boost state revenues by authorizing up to three more riverboat casinos in Illinois.

The White House — preparing for Mr. Obama's State of the Union speech tonight — had no immediate response. One source said it would like to avoid getting involved in an increasingly nasty race for governor in Illinois.

But the Quinn campaign is furious. "As Barack Obama said in 2004, Dan Hynes has a long history of being 'disingenuous,'" Mr. Quinn's spokesman said, referring to a comment Mr. Obama made in 2004, when Mr. Hynes was running against him for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

"This is a deceptive attempt to suggest an endorsement by the president when nothing could be further from the truth."

Mr. Hynes' spokesman shrugged off the attack and urged viewers of the fliers "not to read too much into it."

The flier does not say the president has endorsed Mr. Hynes, but merely repeats words he said about a middle-class tax hike at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the spokesman said. "He could not have been clearer."

The Hynes spokesman would not say whether the White House received an advance heads-up on the flier, or exactly how many copies went out. But he said it was "tens or hundreds of thousands" and it "wasn't just black neighborhoods" but is being distributed throughout Illinois.

It's almost impossible to say how the flier will play. Last week's TV ad citing Mr. Washington caused enormous controversy because, while it accurately quoted him, it neglected to mention that Mr. Hynes' father ran against Mr. Washington for mayor in 1987 and that the younger Mr. Hynes in fact appeared in one of his father's commercials.

While Mr. Quinn has been sagging in the latest polls, the Quinn camp is correct that Mr. Obama and Mr. Hynes repeatedly clashed in the 2004 Senate campaign, with Mr. Hynes at one point accusing Mr. Obama of being a "pork pie" politician. The race eventually was won by Mr. Obama.

Mr. Quinn has called for a 50% increase in the state's income tax. But as part of that move, he's also asked for a sixfold increase in the personal deduction, something that actually could cut taxes for middle-class families with four or five members.

Mr. Hynes says he'd limit his call to more than double the income tax to upper-income groups: households earning more than $200,000 a year. But some fiscal watchdog groups say that would not pull in nearly as much as Mr. Hynes says, leaving a multibillion-dollar hole to be filled by other means.

Finally, full disclosure here: Crain's has endorsed Mr. Quinn in next week's primary, but I obtained a copy of the flier on my own and called the Quinn folks for reaction — not the other way around.