Rauner's ad blitz: Slow now, could ramp up later

Last week, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner released a TV ad campaign aiming to convince regular Illinoisans to side with him, and not House Speaker Michael Madigan, on the state's budget debate. Capitol Fax's Rich Miller says the governor's ad was not as foreceful as some might have expected them to be, but it still wasn't not necessarily productive:

Gov. Bruce Rauner's much-anticipated TV ad isn't as over the top negative as we might have thought it would be.

"Exactly," was the response from a Rauner official I spoke with after watching the ad and making that above observation about its somewhat muted tone.

"There's plenty of time for that if it's necessary," the official added.

In case you haven't seen it, the governor's ad begins with shots of downtown Chicago then moves to a photo of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan.

"Illinois is at a crossroads," says the female announcer. "Mike Madigan and the politicians he controls refuse to change.

"They're saying 'No' to spending discipline, 'No' to job-creating economic reforms, 'No' to term limits.

"All they want is higher taxes. Again."

At the nineteen-second mark, Gov. Rauner appears in the ad. "Change in Springfield isn't easy," Rauner says in voiceover as he's seen on the screen talking with a couple of male workers. "But you didn't send me here to do what's easy," he says as he's seen talking to a woman standing at a counter near some flowers.

"With your help," Rauner says to the camera as the phrase "Join Bruce Rauner" appears next to his head, "I'm gonna keep fightin' to grow our economy and fix our broken state government."

Read the rest of Miller's column at Reboot Illinois.

Another political player at odds with Rauner is the union that represents most government workers in Illinois, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. Members' current contracts expire June 30 and Rauner and union leaders are trying to stay open to negotiations from both sides, says Mark Fitton of the Illinois News Network. Learn more about the situation at Reboot Illinois.

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