For the GOP, McKenna

The Chicago Tribune

January 10, 2010

"... McKenna would aggressively push new ideas for education and job creation. He would be a no-nonsense governor after a decade of too many FBI probes and too much insolvency. We see him as a just-the-facts executive who could set, and sustain, a course to ethical and financial stability.

"When he and other candidates appeared before our editorial board, McKenna cut to the heart of Springfield's tendency to placate powerful constituencies by bulldozing billions of dollars their way. Nothing will happen to begin unraveling Illinois' financial fiasco, McKenna soberly offered, "until somebody says, 'Here's the spending level we're going to live with.'

"You can spend decades in Illinois and never hear a governor speak those words.

"...Andy McKenna wouldn't perpetuate the pay-to-play culture that has bankrupted Illinois and, amid humiliating scandals and federal crimes, broken its spirit. We hope Republican primary voters give him a shot at reviving Illinois."

Read the entire Tribune endorsement here.