DEBATE TURNS NASTY
Gov candidates accuse the other of lying about his record
Each accused the other of lying about his record and refusing to take responsibility for his failures.
The second televised debate of the gubernatorial campaign on Tuesday night was a dirtier, more contentious affair than the first, with Gov. Pat Quinn and Republican Bruce Rauner readily dredging up each other’s vulnerabilities before a live crowd.
The most intense exchange came at the end of the 60- minute debate, televised live by CBS/ 2 at the DuSable Museum of African American History, when the candidates were given a chance to question one another.
Quinn’s query to Rauner escalated the tension that was already building between the bitter opponents.
“On the 27th of February of 2001, Mr. Rauner, you fired a woman executive at your firm for not laying off enough workers, and you threatened her. You said you would bury her. You said you would bankrupt her and her family. You said you would hurt her and her family,” as Quinn asked the question, Rauner shook his head, smiling.
“Why did you say that Mr. Rauner? It’s never right to threaten anyone.”
The crowd laughed a bit in reaction to Quinn’s last comment, teeing up Rauner to unleash a visceral attack at Quinn.
“Gov. Quinn, this is more of the baloney you throw out continuously. I can’t keep up with the lies that you spin.
“Let me be clear: You are running an ad about a false accusation, a frivolous lawsuit that was thrown out in court by a judge who dismissed it on summary judgment,” Rauner retorted.
“You are taking an accusation and spinning it into an ad because you can’t run on the truth. The truth is, you’re the worst governor in America. You are failing the people of Illinois. . . . You can’t run on your record, you’ve got to make up lies about me in order to win.”
The two were referencing a Sun- Times/ NBC 5 story published last week detailing a lawsuit in which a former CEO of a Rauner- run company accused Rauner of relaying a threat to her if she filed a lawsuit against him. The parties to the lawsuit settled in 2008 after a judge threw out most of the counts for various legal defects.
Rauner repeatedly hit Quinn over Illinois’ economy, blaming him for overseeing six years of failure.
“Quinn is the Outsourcer in Chief. We’ve lost over 40,000 jobs in his time in office,” Rauner said, throwing Quinn’s own attacks on Rauner’s practices with outsourcing back against the governor.
But Quinn responded with a zinger that had the audience at DuSable Museum laughing.
“My opponent has made and raised millions of dollars by laying off workers, by outsourcing jobs,” Quinn said. “His jobs program is a great program for China, India and the Philippines. It’s not helping us here on the South Side, the West Side or any side of Illinois.”