For the first time since Pat Quinn became governor, a Rasmussen Reports poll of Illinoisans shows that more than half of all voters disapprove of his performance.

The poll of 500 likely Illinois voters taken October 14 found that 53 percent disapproved of Quinn's performance, while 45 percent approved. That's a six-point switch from August, when Rasmussen had Quinn's approval at 47 percent and his disapproval at 49 percent. Back in June, Quinn's approval was measured at 57 percent, while his disapproval was 41. In April, Rasmussen had Quinn's approval rating at 61 percent and his disapproval at just 37 percent. There's an obvious trend.

You may have read the news by now that former Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan is seriously considering another run for governor. Ryan commissioned a poll that shows him leading the GOP pack and running neck-and-neck with Comptroller Dan Hynes and trailing Governor Pat Quinn by five points.

That ain't bad considering Ryan's been out of politics since he lost the 2002 gubernatorial race to Rod Blagojevich.

Ryan's last name, however, will always be a liability in the wake of George Ryan's conviction and imprisonment. Nineteen percent of those polled thought Jim Ryan was the former governor, for instance, and only 10 percent knew he was the former attorney general. Ryan's name identification in the poll is only surpassed by Quinn, although Ryan's negatives are as high as Quinn's - likely because of that toxic last name.

Governor Pat Quinn brought out one of the biggest Democratic Party guns possible last week in his latest fight with Comptroller Dan Hynes.

As you likely already know, Hynes is running against Quinn for the Democratic nomination. Hynes recently refused to process several million dollars worth of state payments for tourism programs and various consulting contracts. Hynes said he'll pay them only if Quinn insists that they are vital to the state's interests.

So Quinn held a press conference with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley last week. Daley and Quinn were preparing to leave for Denmark for the final push to bring the Olympics games to Chicago.

There were no spectacular backdrops in place when Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes officially announced his campaign for governor the other day.

No pretty pictures for the TV cameras. No gathering of his adoring family who could not keep their enraptured eyes off of him. No flowery rhetoric. No huge crowd. No brass band. No rows of oversize American flags. No razzle-dazzle at all, in fact.

Instead, Hynes stood in front of a blue curtain, a single flag, and a campaign poster and calmly laid out a plan to cut the state's budget, raise taxes on annual personal income above the first $200,000, tag certain "luxury" purchases with a new service tax, hike cigarette taxes by a dollar a pack, and expand gaming.

That's not a bad strategy for a Democratic primary.