Quinn is a one trick pony with no message for angry state employees.

I keep saying that if Pat Quinn has a chance to beat Bruce Rauner, he needs to say something to those who are so angry with his born to kill pensions mantra that they will trust him for the next four years.

I know the polls showing that the gap between Rauner and Quinn is shrinking. But that just means that a few thousand still-angry state employees will be the difference between a Governor Quinn and a Governor Rauner.

While I am not interested in making a choice between evils, some of my colleagues are looking for a reason to vote for Quinn. He has not provided one.

Quinn’s campaign seems unable to grasp his precarious position.

Mark Anderson is one of the sharper political observers around.

Writing a post today for NBC’s Ward Room, Anderson makes the same point I have been making for months.

To make sure everyone knows he understands poor voters concerns, Quinn made it his mission to live on what a minimum wage worker earns for an entire week.

Not like his wealthy opponent, who spends more on wine than the average Illinois family spends on everything in a year.

And you can hear it in the words of Quinn’s running mate, Paul Vallas, when he says Rauner is clearly “too rich to be governor.” As if there was some kind of net-worth limit candidates can’t pass and win.

Normally, I roll my eyes whenever a politician adopts a strategy based explicitly on the idea of class warfare. That’s because it’s usually a Republican candidate looking for an excuse anytime someone points out that his or her policies or positions are likely to benefit the wealthy or hurt the poor.

But from the vantage point of only a few months left before the November elections, it’s difficult to see what other strategy the Quinn campaign has up its sleeve.

And, to his detriment, it may not be enough for Quinn to win come November. Remember, this is a man who beat a much weaker opponent by only 32,000 votes last election.

More importantly, such a campaign narrative doesn’t do a thing to assuage those voters who would likely vote for a Democrat but are either too angry or disappointed in Quinn’s first term to pull the lever for him.

Make no mistake—those folks are out there. They’re the ones who see Quinn as colluding with Republicans, unprincipled Democrats and moneyed interests to unconstitutionally diminish pension benefits for retired state workers and teachers who rely on their retirement plan to get them by.

Or the folks who see Quinn as being too cozy with House Speaker Mike Madigan, and booed Quinn two years ago when he showed up for Governor’s Day at this year’s Illinois State Fair.

Or those tired of hearing of a series of ongoing scandals that have befallen Pat Quinn. Let alone those who may feel, after more than a decade of Democrats in the Governor’s Mansion, its time for a change.

Claiming Bruce Rauner is too rich to be governor doesn’t do a thing to help voters who may feel uncomfortable with another four years of a Quinn administration. Or are looking for a clear reason to back him on Election Day.

Yet, it’s all Quinn seems to have at the moment. A vague hope that fear of what a wealthy Republican might do once in office will be enough to win.

In a race that could easily be decided by a few thousand votes, such a strategy simply might not be enough to bring Quinn’s voter base home like he needs.

Read the entire post here.