Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was not present at Gov. Bruce Rauner's inauguration ceremony on Jan. 12. To Scott Reeder of the Illinois News Network, this was the ultimate act of sour grapes.
Reeder writes:
With the exception of the day Rod Blagojevich was impeached, the outgoing governor -- for at least the last 50 years -- has always been there to hand the reins over to his successor.
It's a gracious thing to do.
In a democracy power is handed over peacefully.
In Washington, on inauguration day the outgoing and incoming presidents and their spouses have tea together before the swearing in.
It brings a certain civility to the process.
Ryan said when his successor, Blagojevich, was sworn in he sat through it.
"It was hard. He took hits at me. But I sat there and took it," he said.
Good for George Ryan.
Former Gov. Dan Walker beat Former Gov. Richard Ogilvie. But Ogilvie sat through the inauguration and listened to Walker say, "The free ride is over."
Ogilvie, a tough former World War II tank commander, sat there and took it.
But on Jan. 12, Pat Quinn was nowhere to be seen.
Read the rest at Reboot Illinois to see why Reeder was so disappointed with Quinn's absence.
But the inauguration is over, and Rauner must now govern. One big challenge he faces is fixing the state's finances, for which he has appointed a "turnaround team" to spearhead to the effort. The experts on this team, which the governor announced Jan. 22, are Chief Financial Officer Donna Arduin, Deputy Governor Trey Childress and Senior Adviser Linda Lingle. Read more about their various qualifications and experiences that Rauner thinks makes them fit to take on the state's financial challenges at Reboot Illinois.
