Scorecard for the 2014 race for governor

JUNE 20

ON THE TRAIL

The 2014 governor's is becoming a regular player in the daily news cycle, even if the field of candidates for the March 18 primaries aren't yet complete. Here's what's up today:

• Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, never a fan of House Speaker Michael Madigan, adapts a fairy tale to describe Attorney General Lisa Madigan's quandary regarding her political future. Writes Kass: "Have you heard the fairy tale about the political princess and the pea? She was not some ordinary princess. She was the high princess, the Princess Lisa, heiress of the mythical land of Madiganistan. Madiganistan was once a green and fertile domain where strangers came from far-off nations to work and prosper. But that was long ago. Now, the land was in ruins. Decade upon decade of pillage by the noble houses had left it parched and dry and brown."

•  Crain's Chicago Business political columnist Greg Hinz references yesterday's poll from the campaign of Bill Daley that showed public perception of Lisa Madigan's father may affect voters' decisions if she runs for governor. He doesn't put too much stock in the poll, but takes notes that it calls out the attorney general for her silence during the pension debate: "But I do think there is a question in all of this that deserves more airing. That is whether Ms. Madigan ought to step beyond her role as the state' chief lawyer, act as a state leader in a time of crisis and give voters some guidance on what kind of government pension reform might be constitutional."
• The National Journal turns its attention to Illinois politics, focusing on the Madigan-Daley rivalry.
• GOP hopeful Bruce Rauner was in Springfield Wednesday as lawmakers assembled for a special session on the state's pension crisis. He repeated his anti-union message. From The State Journal-Register: "'You know what? They control Springfield,' Rauner said when talking to employees at Brandt Consolidated, a company that serves the agriculture industry. 'That’s the reason our taxes are so high. That’s the reason our schools are busted.'Asked by a reporter if he was saying government unions should be eliminated in Illinois, Rauner said, 'We need to modify their power.' Asked how, he said, 'I won’t go into it today. We’ve got a detailed plan.'"