The Pat Quinn of the Dan Walker Days – Part 6 – Why Did Quinn Leave State Government?

Why did Pat Quinn leave state government?

Pages 356 and 357 of Taylor Pensoneau’s and Bob Ellis’ biography of Dan Walker gives this insight.

Quinn enjoyed the excitement of the campaign, but couldn’t adjust to the daily tedium of state government.

Wearing a tie didn’t excite him either.

His jobs included being Walker’s personal ombudsman where he learned how state government didn’t work for people and even got a taste of handling patronage the book says.

Government was just too tame for him.

“…the energy and enthusiasm of the administration was obviously beginning to wane after several years in office. Walker was no longer enough of a populist for me…His administration had stopped being a vehicle for organizing citizens.”

He was frustrated trying to operate as a “government insider.”

“He was itching to get back on the streets again, eager to resume raising cain with the political establishment, to further nurture the spirit of political mutiny at the grass roots unleashed by Walker.”

(Isn’t that a marvelous sentence?)

Quinn told Walker “it was time to hit the road again, time for me to do what I do best—which was organizing people to bring about change.”

“…no hard feelings. I just old him I was a better outsider than insider.”

Tomorrow – From the perspective of the 1993 out of print book, what did Pat Quinn do after leaving the Dan Walker administration?

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The picture is of Lt. Governor Pat Quinn facing a camera wearing a tie about a week after his running mate, Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested woken by the FBI–as a courtesy–before being arrested.


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