For Brady to have a chance against Quinn, he needs Chicago face time

During his first run for governor in 2006, Republican state Sen. Bill Brady told the Daily Herald his favorite song was Neil Diamond's "I Am... I Said."

One of the song's passages goes:

"'I am,' I said

To no one there

And no one heard at all

Not even the chair."

Those lines may well aptly describe Brady's position in the suburbs as he now launches his bid against Gov. Pat Quinn.

More than 94 percent of Chicago area Republicans picked someone other than Brady in the seven-candidate Feb. 2 primary. He received just 23,579 votes in all of Chicago and the collar counties, where 406,655 of the state's 767,485 Republican votes originated in the primary for governor.

The longtime Bloomington lawmaker secured a razor thin victory of 193 votes by dominating downstate, where he and his family operate a string of real estate, entertainment and investment companies.

If Brady is to have a real shot at unseating Quinn, Republican leaders make no secret that it is critical for him to get known in the most populace region of the state, and fast.

"He needs, obviously, to spend more time in metropolitan Chicago," said state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale, who threw his support behind Brady after finally conceding Friday. "He needs to get better known up here."

Meanwhile, Democrats are taking advantage of the vacuum, rushing to paint down Brady as a cruel right-winger before he can cast himself as a businessman with the chops to root out corruption and stimulate jobs.

Quinn recently blasted Brady for briefly introducing legislation that would allow animal shelters to euthanize multiple dogs at once in gas chambers. On Friday, when Brady secured the party's nod, Quinn's campaign sent out a blistering statement describing the fresh opponent as "the extreme right wing of the party."

The missive highlighted Brady's votes against raising the minimum wage and equal pay legislation, among other proposals.

Democrats are all too familiar with the dangers of having a candidate not well known in the Chicago region. In 1998, downstater Glenn Poshard won only one of the collar counties, Will, in the primary and went on to lose all of them by wide margins to Republican George Ryan in the general election. Poshard did win Cook County and many downstate regions, but not by enough to overcome his suburban trouncing.

Gov. Jim Edgar, another downstater, also had to work to gain recognition in the Chicago region. He said Brady needs to target the suburbs in the coming months.

"He has to be very careful and move fast so that he is not identified as a right wing radical," Edgar said recently. "He is not known up north."

For his part, Brady says it was a tactical necessity to gear his efforts downstate, a region he has been campaigning in since he came in third in the 2006 GOP primary for governor. His campaign lacked the money for expensive TV and radio ads in the Chicago market, Brady says. He also was counting on the six other Chicago area Republicans to split the suburban vote.

Republicans maintain this is the perfect year to take power back from the Democrats.

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Chicago Democrat, is likely to be on trial for corruption during a long span of the campaign. An open Senate seat at the top of the ticket is expected to draw national attention and money to help Republicans. And Quinn, who barely survived his own primary challenge, continues to push a tax hike as he struggles with a mammoth budget shortfall leading to service cuts and mountains of unpaid bills.

"This is our year," Edgar said. "If there is ever going to be a year for us."

Party leaders hope the drive to win will bring party forces together behind Brady as he tries to build his brand in the suburbs.

Even amid the uncertainty of who would carry the Republican banner after the close Feb. 2 primary, suburban Republicans were speaking of the need to fall behind Brady if he eventually won.

"I know that the suburban Republicans, the elected officials, will come behind (Brady)," said DuPage County State's Attorney Joe Birkett at the time. "We are going to work for him. We are going to try and help him."

Much of the effort, however, is up to Brady.

Pat Brady, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party and no relation to Bill Brady, said he believes the candidate can win over suburban voters easily by focusing on Quinn's tax hike and his own plan to create jobs.

"He has to get out in front on the fiscal issues," Pat Brady said. "If he can do that - that is the message voters will react to."

Daily Herald Senior State Government Editor John Patterson contributed to this report.