Rauner's New Campaign Ads Are Reminiscent Of 2014 Campaign

By aaroncynic in News on Mar 28, 2017 5:48PM

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is going back to his 2014 gubernatorial campaign roots, appearing in a new set of ads promoting what he’s now calling a “real reform budget,” featuring items off the menu of his ‘Turnaround Agenda.’

“Governor Rauner is working hard to enact a balanced budget that protects taxpayers and grows jobs,” said Jon Thompson, a spokesperson for State Solutions, an affiliate of the Republican Governor’s Association, in a press release first published by Capitol Fax.

The ads, a 30-second spot and 15-second spot, feature a dressed down Rauner inside one of the cleanest looking tool sheds we’ve ever seen, playing with a roll of duct tape, presumably because someone thought that’s how hard workin’ Illinoisans would best identify with a billionaire hedge fund manager.

“Illinois is broke and broken, and the politicians who got us into this mess—their solution is this,” Rauner says in the 30-second ad as he tears a lengthy ream from a roll of duct tape. “Higher taxes, more spending, no real reforms.”

The pair of ads both point to a website, called Fix Illinois, which give a brief synopsis of the governor’s plan—term limits, a property tax freeze, spending caps, and paying down the state’s massive debt. The site’s blog dates back to September of 2016 that also has a smattering of links on redistricting reform.

While State Solutions, paid for the pair of ads, the site is funded by Rauner’s super PAC, Turnaround Illinois. According to their press release, State Solutions is an arm of the Republican Governor’s Association, whose donors include the billionaire Koch Brothers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Citadel Investment Group CEO Ken Griffin, who is Illinois’ richest person and a top donor to both Rauner and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Between the duct tape and more than likely never used tool shed, the ads are reminiscent of some of Rauner’s early and awkward 2014 campaign ads that feature him proving a member of a $100,000 a year wine club can do regular people things, like showing off his $18 watch or eating lunch from a brown paper bag.

Looks like the 2018 gubernatorial election cycle is already nearing full-swing.

Update: 2:40 p.m.

The Illinois Working Together Campaign called the ads "another reminder of the governor's wrong priorities." "Not only has Rauner never passed a budget, the most basic responsibility for any governor, but he has never even proposed a balanced budget as required by the Illinois constitution," the group said in a statement.