Scorecard for the 2014 race for governor

JUNE 21

RAUNER UNFILTERED

You have to give Bruce Rauner credit for one thing: He doesn't change his message to suit his audience.

In Springfield, a metropolitan area with the highest concentration of state employees in the state, Rauner didn't back off one of the central messages of his campaign: government workers are overpaid and get benefits that far exceed those of private-sector workers.

Speaking on Springfield talk radio station WMAY-AM 970, Rauner said this: "Even Pat Quinn … has acknowledged that our government workers are overpaid by 23 percent compared to government workers in the five states surrounding us. And that number is low. It’s actually more overpaid than that. And they’re even more overpaid relative to the typical worker in Illinois, the typical voter in the private sector. That’s not fair. Government workers should not be getting more pay, free health care, an incredibly generous pension, just because they work for the government."

Audio of the interview is here (select the second clip from June 19).

WMAY morning host Jim Leach, whose audience is heavily populated with state employees, was quick to jump on Rauner's statement the next day: "What a great life you’ve got. All that money rolling in, FAR more than the people in surrounding states, that free health care, those pensions that will have you living the life of Riley ‘til the end of your days. Does this sound like the people that you know that work for the state of Illinois? Does this sound like your spouse, your neighbor, your friend, perhaps yourself?"

Rauner's statements made it well beyong the Springfield airwaves. On NBC 5 Chicago's Ward Room blog, writer Edward McClelland broke down the numbers on state employee pay, and noted that while Illinois does lead its neighbors in state employee pay, it's fourth when compared to large metropolitan states.

Writes McClelland: "Rauner’s message of austerity for working people would have more resonance if it weren’t coming from someone who has led a life of personal indulgence. 

"If you want Illinois to become Illiana or Illitucky, vote for Rauner. But remember, one reason Chicago became competitive in the global area is that Illinois’s public education and public infrastructure are superior to our neighbors. That helped us attract college graduates who saw no future in Midwestern states that refused to invest in themselves."

Whether Rauner's forceful messages -- like this week's statements on state employees (delivered in the heart of state employee country, no less) and his central theme of opposition to public employee unions -- attracts disenfranchised Republican voters or sends them to more moderate candidates will determine how Rauner fares in the March 18, 2014, primary.