A few weeks ago, I asked a top Republican what his party's plan was in the ongoing war over campaign-finance reform.

"We are not for some sham ethics bill," the official said, then added with tongue slightly in cheek, "We stand with the reformers, until they capitulate, then I'm not sure where we stand, but I'll let you know."

The Republicans are badly outnumbered in both the Illinois House and Senate, they don't raise as much money as the Democrats, their party has been on the outs with voters since Governor George Ryan went down in flames and President George W. Bush alienated most of the state.

So the Republicans did the politically smart thing and eagerly professed their undying love for reform and pledged their never-ending loyalty to those plucky reformers -- all the while using the reform issue and the reform groups as a partisan sledgehammer against the Democrats. It was a smart political play.

Underdog Democratic U.S. Senate candidate David Hoffman has a new poll that purports to show that he's in the hunt, but the camp of primary Democratic rival Alexi Giannoulias says there's no way the poll is accurate.

Hoffman's survey of 505 likely Democratic primary voters was conducted October 2 through 4 by Hart Research Associates. The initial head-to-head has state Treasurer Giannoulias leading with 18 percent, followed by Urban League President Cheryle Jackson at 7 percent and 5 percent for former Chicago Inspector General Hoffman.

The Giannoulias campaign, however, points to a poll it took July 28 through August 2 that had their guy at 45 percent, with 17 percent for Chris Kennedy and 13 percent for Jackson. No way, they say, could they be as low as Hoffman's poll shows.

One of Governor Pat Quinn's favorite lines is "I speak truth to power." He uses it almost all the time, and has for years.

It appears to be a verbal tic. Quinn has grown so accustomed to saying it for so long that he can't stop himself. He said it once while explaining how he would pitch his income-tax-hike plan to average voters.

The governor has several of these verbal tics. He talks about the "chirpers on the sidelines," and how there is always "more than one way to get to Heaven." His favorite little phrase for his Democratic primary opponent Dan Hynes is "ankle biter."

Quinn's constant use of those little phrases, but particularly his "truth to power" line, gives us a window into how he thinks. It's no surprise. He's been a populist forever.

The "truth to power" phrase also defines how the media has covered Quinn throughout his career. The unwavering story line is that Quinn is the outsider, the rock thrower, the lone voice in the wilderness shouting for the common man.

A couple of years ago, Rod Blagojevich told me during a private conversation that all the talk about how close he supposedly was to indicted fundraiser Tony Rezko was just that. Talk.

Ah, but Chris Kelly, Blagojevich said, now that's a real friend, a close friend, a confidante. Blagojevich said he genuinely admired Kelly on multiple levels -- his success in business, his family, his people-judgment abilities, and his uncanny knowledge of all things sports. The two men talked almost every day, Blagojevich said, sometimes several times a day. He said it seemed like he was as close to Kelly as he'd once been to his own brother.