Trib, Sun-Times backgrounders on Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn capture the essence of the guy I once worked for

A sidebar by Michael Hawthorne in today's Trib profiles how "as the federal investigation of [Gov. Rod] Blagojevich's administration drew closer to the governor during the last year, Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn has "steadily pivoted back to his long-standing role as a maverick."

Which is more like the Pat Quinn I worked for in 1991 and 1992. In fact, Hawthorne's profile harkens back to the guy I knew, who once urged taxpayers to mail teabags to the governor's office to protest a long-forgotten legislative initiative. For what it's worth, I think he captures the essence of the guy.

Says Hawthorne:

During the spring, Quinn pushed, unsuccessfully, for legislation that would give Illinois voters the power to boot state officials from office in between elections.

The Chicago Democrat noted that he has backed recall measures for more than three decades, but made it clear he had Blagojevich in mind this time around.

Quinn went further Tuesday after Blagojevich was arrested by federal investigators. He called on the governor to step aside because Blagojevich is "seriously impeded from carrying out his oath of office."

The recall effort was among a constant stream of pugnacious, media-savvy campaigns that Quinn has waged over the years, most of which have upset powerful Democrats and Republicans even as he acquired more power of his own.

There's more, a lot more. Hawthorne recalls the days Quinn drove around the state "in a decidedly nondescript Chevrolet Chevette," touting populist causes to anyone who would listen and slowly building up a statewide mailing list. He even mentions the teabags:

His news conferences typically are spiced with political theater. Quinn once forced lawmakers to roll back post-election pay raises by encouraging Illinoisans to send 40,000 tea bags to former Gov. Jim Thompson's office.

The teabags, as I recall, were a not-so-oblique reference to the Boston Tea Party and the cause of "no taxation without representation." I remember once writing him up as "Citizen Quinn" in a column for The State Journal-Register and helping him carry a foamboard chart out to where he'd parked the Chevette a block or two from the Statehouse (probably a violation of journalistic ethics, but I liked the guy and at the time I thought his political career was going nowhere). But a few years later, he ran for state treasurer and edged past the slated candidate in the Democratic primary by a shrewd application of direct mail to his populist base.

Back to the present. In Hawthorne's article, Charlie Wheeler, who covered the Statehouse for the Sun-Times and now directs the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois in Springfield, is quoted as saying:

"Pat's evolved from a gadfly to a fairly competent public official," said Charles Wheeler, a former Statehouse reporter who directs the public affairs reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield. "But he's still very much a populist."

Hawthorne noted that along with his successful -- highly successful, uniquely successful -- efforts to get ink for a variety of causes, Quinn "often quietly attends funerals for Illinois soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Hawthorne gives some of the backstory:

Quinn, 59, was born on the South Side and grew up in Hillside. One of his earliest jobs in politics was as an organizer and aide to former Gov. Dan Walker, a Democrat who ran against Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley's political machine.

Quinn ended up as Blagojevich's running mate due to a quirk in the Illinois Constitution that requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run separately during the primary election. The two Democrats are not close and often have been at odds over policy issues. But Quinn was largely silent about Blagojevich's legal woes until after they were re-elected in 2006.

And this accolade, if accolade is the right word:

But as Blagojevich's feud with Madigan and other lawmakers intensified, some observers say Quinn can be seen in a different light.

"He's not the same bomb thrower and rabble rouser he once was," said Doug Whitley, president of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. "The governor has done so many irrational things that Pat Quinn looks like a moderate by comparison."

Later. I didn't find it till Friday when I picked up a print copy of Wednesday's Chicago Sun-Times from the dirty tray stand during lunch at Fulgenzi's on Sangamon Avenue, but Sun-Times political reporter Abdon Pallasch has a similar profile headed "Quinn 'has mellowed,' ready to be gov: ex-critics." It's worth quoting at some length, because it's also on target:

Blagojevich was an old-school insider and Quinn came up the ranks as a "populist" outsider, throwing rocks at the castle walls and sometimes scoring direct hits against Illinois' political establishment.

But over the years, as Blagojevich has alienated more officials in Springfield, even some former Quinn critics have become willing to embrace him as an alternative to Blagojevich, willing to forgive him for what they once decried as his demagoguery.

"You know, he has mellowed out over the years, and the work he has done on the behalf of veterans has really won him admiration," said former Senate President Phil Rock.

Rock's the guy who preceded Emil Jones as Senate president. Some of the oldtimers Pallasch talked to predicted Quinn will "have some of the same downsides as Blagojevich -- a preference to talk to news cameras instead of doing the hard work of negotiating with fellow legislators." But that's common among politicians. But other pols said he'd work with the legislature.

"I think he'll be a whirlwind of energy," said Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, a former Quinn aide. "He will take up some of the issues that have been ignored for the past decade. He will work effectively with members of the General Assembly to build consensus."

That squares with my recollection when Quinn was state treasurer, Claypool was his chief of staff and I was way down on the totem poll churning out press releases about farm loans and other non-controversial issues. Quinn hadn't been forgiven for pushing a "cutback amendment" that reduced the size of the Legislature by one-third in each house, but he worked hard and, more importantly in our political culture, quietly, at building roll calls for his issues. So it checks out.

Another recollection Pallasch picked up from somebody also checks out:

Quinn is legendary among staffers for his work ethic, his disorganization, and his ability to stay on-task.

"His organizational style is eccentric; however, it works for him," said one former staffer. "Anyone who has worked for Quinn will tell you about the little pieces of white paper, Whenever he has an idea, which is about every 30 seconds, he scribbles it on a piece of white paper ... and you better make it happen because he does not forget."

I remember those white slips of paper, too. In fact, any of my students or other associates who have noticed I always seem to have my shirt pocket full of little papers ... in this picture for example ... now know why.