Republican Andy McKenna officially announced his campaign to challenge Rod Blagojevich for governor of Illinois.
Nevermind that Blagojevich was booted from office last year -- McKenna's still taking aim directly at the former governor, or more specifically, his hair.
In an amusing, six-minute long web ad, McKenna uses Blago's hair as a symbol for corruption in Illinois.
During his announcement Tuesday in Chicago, McKenna called himself "the quiet cure" for government corruption and mismanagement; the web spot was his follow up.
The ad shows multiple characters in Springfield – including the capitol building itself – decked out in Blago-style wigs. It was made for McKenna by the same team that made McCain’s Anti-Obama ad featuring Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
It harps on a culture of corruption in downstate Illinois, and attempts to tie the current administration to that theme.
“Gov. (Pat) Quinn said he’d be different. He’s Rod Blagojevich with just a little less hair. He has not cut spending. He has not cut waste, he has not cut corruption,” McKenna said of the successor to the ousted Blagojevich. “Only someone from outside Springfield can say, 'Today it stops. Never again.' We’re changing the culture of Springfield.”
McKenna is expected to file his nominating petitions Nov. 2, the final day of filing for statewide office. The race for the Republican nomination already includes at least five people, and former Attorney General Jim Ryan says he's going to run, too.
