See first Saturday's blog post "'Today a peacock, tomorrow a feather duster' -- Gov. Quinn" below.]
From today's Chicago Tribune, a profile that explores pros and cons of the new governor. I'm assigning it for two reasons. One is that it kind of balances Friday's profile in The New York Times, which was almost gushing. The Trib's, by comparison, is a pretty good "watchdog" story, a story that demonstrates the media's role of keeping government accountable to citizens and telling readers what government doesn't want us to know.
But the stories have a lot in common. Good quotes, from a variety of sources. Good reporting, in other words. Well-written, too. It's by Ray Long, the Trib's Springfield bureau chief, and Rick Pearson, its chief political writer. Their lede stretches over three or four grafs:
SPRINGFIELD — Coming after deposed and dysfunctional Rod Blagojevich, Gov. Pat Quinn is hoping to connect with an exhausted public by casting himself as an earnest reformer eager to start righting the ship of state.The body of the story is full of details, and obviously based on good reporting.
"Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and organize," Quinn said on each of his first two days in office.
It's one of the favorite bromides for the slogan-slinging former cross-country captain at Fenwick High School known for his energy, modest lifestyle and unceasing devotion to his pet causes.
Political gimmickry and populist rhetoric are also part of the mix for a man who's pushed some high-profile reforms but not always lived up to the lofty image he sells voters. He's an "outsider" who's been bouncing around politics for 37 years and once left state government amid a ghost-payrolling probe. And he's an ethics advocate who defended Blagojevich from corruption accusations until after both were safely re-elected.
Now the longtime populist warrior finally gets to see if his approach measures up to the reality of having to govern Illinois at one of the state's most desperate times.
Long and Pearson don't just talk to people, though. They (or someone) pulled Quinn's financial disclosure records on file at the State Board of Elections. That's where they get information like this:
After the election, Quinn began distancing himself from [ousted Gov. Rod] Blagojevich's scandal. But he has taken donations from some political insiders with ties to the ex-governor.Read on and you'll see more. The reported transactions are legal, but they show Quinn in a different light than political rhetoric. And they show more iniative than just reporting what people say -- the State Board of Elections reports indicate what people do as well.
Campaign records show convicted Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko donated more than $48,000 to Quinn's campaigns. Quinn said he's since donated all of that money and more to charities.
Raghuveer Nayak, an Oak Brook businessman and political fundraiser for Blagojevich, has donated $17,000 to Quinn's campaign fund, according to his reports. Nayak has come under federal scrutiny for his role in a scheme alleged in the criminal complaint against Blagojevich.
Like the Times' profile, the Trib's ends with what the Newsweek handout I gave you last week calls a "kicker." The Trib's isn't a quote though. Long and Pearson set it up by recalling Quinn was long-distance running captain at Fenwick High School, a parochial school in Oak Park, and recapping his 30-year political career up to the time he ran as a dark-horse candidate for lieutenant governor in 2002, won an upset victory in the primary and that way "joined with Blagojevich, who didn't necessarily want him as a running mate." That set them up for the metaphor they used in the kicker:
Seven years and one impeachment later, Quinn, the former cross-country runner is governor.
It's a type of running that requires stamina and hard work to go the distance. For Quinn, dealing with the state's massive problems is a race he's guaranteed just two years to finish.
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