©2011 Galesburg Broadcasting Co.
| Republicans Claims McKenna is MIA |
One Republican candidate for governor has been noticeably absent from the debate scene, and that has given his opponents more to criticize.
Former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party Andy McKenna has skipped several of the candidate debates, the latest and final ones in Chicago on Tuesday and Wednesday. His absence has his opponents talking about his lack of leadership.
Republican candidates for governor including former Attorney General Jim Ryan, State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale), State Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), political strategist and commentator Dan Proft and businessman Adam Andrzejewski all took issue with McKenna after he skipped a recent debate.
"I think Andy McKenna should be here," said Ryan. "The guy wants to lead the Republican party and he wants to cleanup Springfield, he says, and he's gonna butt heads with [House Speaker] Mike Madigan if necessary and the guy doesn't even have the guts to come here to face the rest of us and answer some questions. Basically he's hiding behind millions of dollars in TV ads."
Proft agrees that McKenna is trying to win the primary over the airwaves. "The issue with McKenna is he is sitting at home and his wife is writing him checks and his dad is raising him money and they're gonna try and buy it over the airwaves by snookering Republican primary voters," Proft said.
Dillard also wants to know where McKenna has been.
"Why don't you campaign?" Dillard questioned of McKenna. "All of us are in Champaign, we're in Springfield. Where is he? If he is not gonna show up at a debate and face us and face the voters of Illinois how is he going to deal with Mike Madigan or [Senate President] John Cullerton? I mean you can't go into the ground like a mole."
The other candidates mentioned McKenna's lack of ethics for using the Illinois State Republican Party's money to conduct a political poll in which he was included.
(Illinois Radio Network) |
|
| 01 29 10 by Newsroom |
Click here for the WGIL News Archive
Click here for national news
The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.
