Three and a half months after becoming a candidate, Bill Daley decided he really doesn't want to be governor after all-- that's the spin coming from sources inside the Daley campaign on Monday night.
"This campaign is a vehicle to deliver the message that we can't wait," said Bill Daley, in a June 10th YouTube video.
From his June 10th YouTube video announcing an exploratory committee, to Monday night's news that he is getting out of the race, Bill Daley's campaign for Illinois governor lasted only 14 weeks.
"The voters should ask the question: who is actually running and managing this state?" said Daley, on September 10.
The former U.S. Commerce Secretary, White House chief of staff and banker made an issue of what he called incumbent Pat Quinn's inability to lead during the state's fiscal crisis. Daley tried to convince democrats Quinn could not beat a republican candidate in the November 2014 general election.
"The governor needs to show up for work and actually do the job," said Daley.
But Quinn won the endorsement of the Cook County Democratic Party and is the heavy favorite to win the state party's nod this weekend in Springfield. Last week, the governor rolled out a central theme in his campaign to beat Daley.
"He was the Midwest chairman of a bank that helped drive the American economy into the ditch and created the Great Recession," said Gov. Pat Quinn, last week.
The son of one Chicago mayor and the brother of another, Daley had problems rounding up support from downstate democrats where his family name is associated with the worst of city politics.
The Quinn campaign issued a statement in respect for Bill Daley's decision. It added that "a divisive primary would have only helped republicans who want to take this state backwards." That leaves former CeaseFire director Tio Hardiman as Quinn's only opposition in the March 2014 democratic primary.
Democratic candidate Tio Hardiman issued a statement Monday night regarding Bill Daley that said: "For decades the People of Illinois has had to endure failed politics, broken promises and corruption. The condition of the State of Illinois is so bad, that a Lifetime Politician in just 6 weeks had to question his own ambition and drop out. The People of Illinois are strong and determined, they deserve a Governor that reflects them, one who is prepared to endure and not weaken."
