December 4, 2003
BY LYNN SWEET WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF
Democratic presidential hopeful Howard Dean, who has worked Illinois more successfully than his rivals, returns to Chicago today and picks up the endorsement of Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn. So far, Quinn is the highest-ranking Democrat in the state to choose up sides. Quinn is valuable to Dean in the all-important January Iowa caucus because of his years of exposure in the Quad Cities media market.
Then on Sunday, Dean gets an assist from Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) when Jackson travels to Columbia, S.C., to make formal the endorsement he gave to the former Vermont senator last month in Chicago. The South Carolina primary in February, coming after New Hampshire and Iowa, is a crucial 2004 battleground for Democrats because it could be decisive in choosing the nominee.
Taken together, Quinn and Jackson represent a coup for Dean if the presidential primary is still in play by the time of the March Illinois primary. Quinn will introduce Dean today at a $50 fund-raising reception at Sidetracks, 3349 N. Halsted.
''He is independent-minded and willing to take on the powers that be,'' Quinn told me Wednesday. Quinn, a master political organizer, said he brings to Dean "the best grass-roots network in the state.'' On a related matter, Quinn, who has an appeal to independent and Green Party voters, said that Ralph Nader should not run again for president. Nader, who drew crucial votes from Al Gore in 2000, just launched an exploratory 2004 presidential bid. "I discourage Ralph Nader. We need to get behind the Democrat nominee,'' Quinn said.
http://www.suntimes.com/output/sweet/cst-edt-sweet04.html