Fat cats, banjo players and mud slingers go at it on Nov. 4

It’s less than a month to the November elections and a tasty time to nosh on pre-election tidbits:

On the Nov. 4 marquee is the governor’s race, which has devolved into a morass of mud-slinging and character assassination. Few offerings about how to address Illinois’ policy and financial nightmares.

So far, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has held his own, batting off a barrage of negative ads from private equity guru Bruce Rauner.

Quinn pegs his opponent as a fat cat, out-of-touch businessman with ties to scandals from bribery to nursing home abuses. Rauner hammers at the multiple investigations of Quinn’s administration, and charges the governor is incompetent and corrupt.

Quinn can hold on if he can convince voters he may be a flawed manager but “I am not a crook.” Rauner will prevail if voters believe his wealth and business acumen are a prescription to cure the state’s woes.

The end will be excruciatingly close. No matter who wins, the rest of us will lose.

Down ballot, Democratic Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon must be thinking, “if only dad were here.”

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