Gov. Pat Quinn tried to ameliorate the effects of a controversial campaign advertisement yesterday, making a direct plea to black voters to remember his record on minority issues and ignore messages from rival Dan Hynes.
"I'm counting on you," Quinn said during a live debate with Hynes on WVON. "Don't listen to divisive commercials. Listen to your own heart."
Quinn's plea, broadcast during a debate on the black-owned AM radio station during the afternoon rush hour, highlights what has become a central campaign issue resonating throughout Chicago's black community.
Last week, Hynes aired a television advertisement that shows the late Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor, deriding Quinn's record as the city's revenue director, and calling his hire a political mistake.
While poll figures suggest that the ad may have damaged Quinn's standing among black voters, many prominent black community leaders have denounced the commercial.
U.S. representatives Bobby Rush and Danny Davis expressed contempt for the TV spot, while former Washington campaign manager Jacky Grimshaw said Washington's comments only reflect his famous temper — not a permanent disdain for Quinn.
The Chicago Defender also backed Quinn this week.
But Hynes said the ad reflects Quinn's performance as a financial manager, and that it's important for voters to weigh its relevance as the state suffers from a crippling financial crisis.
"The powerful nature of Mayor Washington's words are very clear," Hynes said during the debate. "People can factor that in and make a decision themselves."
In defending himself yesterday, Quinn specifically emphasized his ties with two of the most prominent black leaders of the past century: Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama, whom Quinn visited in the White House.
Quinn said that while a teenaged Hynes was helping his father defeat Mayor Washington, he was setting up student groups and memorial actions for slain civil rights leaders including King and Robert Kennedy.
"Mr. Hynes, over here, ought to be ashamed of himself," Quinn said. "When I was 18, I stood on the side of civil rights."
Again, Hynes responded that his intent was to inform, not instigate.
"We're not trying to be divisive. We have presented the words of Harold Washington," he said. "People can evaluate that."