Marathon Pundit: Ill. gov race: How can anyone trust Andy McKenna?

Since late fall, former Illinois Republican Chairman Andy McKenna has been running television ads declaring that he is an outsider running for governor.

But once again, he is the former GOP head; in fact, he held that position until several months ago.

So his TV commercials are disingenuous, and it appears that the McKenna campaign will continue his theme of hypocrisy.

This blog has endorsed Jim Ryan, a two-term former attorney general, for governor. His campaign has issued the following press release about McKenna's rumored manueuver:

A media report indicates that Andy McKenna is ready to launch a deep attack ad to revive his floundering campaign.

The Illinois news media needs to immediately ask Andy McKenna why his blind ambition is leading him to do exactly what he said as Illinois GOP chairman should not be done—unfairly attack his Republican opponents.

They should ask him why anyone in Illinois would believe any “pledge” he takes now when the upcoming ad he plans to run violates a pledge he asked Republican candidates to sign for the 2006 elections?

—In 2005, McKenna, as Illinois GOP chairman, asked candidates for office to sign a pledge to not condone “any misrepresentations, distortions, malicious untruths, unfounded accusations or innuendos about my opponent or my opponent’s family.” (Illinois Republican Party "Code of Conduct" memo, Dec. 22, 2005, authored by Andy McKenna).

—Less than a year ago, McKenna said this about attacking members of his own party: "Primaries of themselves aren't bad. They're bad if they become negative and people use it to destroy other candidates." (Chicago Tribune, April 13, 2009)

Yet, according to the media report, McKenna is ready to launch a TV ad that says Jim Ryan has a different position on taxes than he does. He knows that is not true. He knows that every Republican candidate for governor has said repeatedly they will not raise taxes. He knows that Jim Ryan as a candidate for governor in 2002 proposed a constitutional spending cap and has proposed the same cap in 2010.

McKenna is taking the low road after airing millions of dollars of ineffective ads photoshopping bad haircuts on people. So what does he do: Attack the person who is running nearly 20 points ahead of him in the polls and the first Illinois Republican in a decade to lead a Democrat for Governor in a reputable poll. The Rasmussen poll late last month showed Jim Ryan leading Pat Quinn by 7 points.

He needs to be held accountable for his hypocrisy. He needs to stop hiding behind his Rod Blagojevich-like remote control TV campaign.