From the Tribune:
Eric Zorn:

September 25, 2008
In ethics bill, Hynes' team spirit shines
Hynes Dan Hynes' one-word reaction to the success of an ethics bill this week in Springfield was fitting.
"Touchdown!" he said.
Fitting because Hynes, the Democratic state comptroller, played quarterback for the long, grinding drive that finally pushed major restrictions on "pay-to-play" politics into the legislative end zone.
More than four years ago, Hynes kicked off the effort by ordering research on the relationship between state contracts and campaign contributions.
Then in early 2005, he became the first state constitutional officer to sign an order barring contributions to his political war chest from those who did big business with his office. And, supported by a bipartisan team of legislators and reformers, he proposed legislation to expand such a ban to all constitutional offices.
"Dan was incredible," said Cynthia Canary, director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. "He went all around the state talking up this idea and reaching out to people who wouldn't return my calls."
Hynes "was the genesis of the pay-to-play ban," said Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago). "He stayed involved long after the ink was dry on the press release, working on the issue through its ultimate passage."
Ethics reform "is not part of the comptroller's job description, but he stepped up early and made it one," said Sen. Jeff Schoenberg (D-Evanston.)
So why are most of the cheers directed at Canary, Fritchey, Schoenberg and others on the team?
"It's just Dan's personality," Canary said. "He's the quiet, steady voice of reason, and I'm the one out there calling people 'delusional.' He's not confrontational, and this has been a very confrontational experience."
Hynes "is a workhorse, not a show horse," said Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park,) another often-quoted reformer who suggested the Hynes-as-quarterback metaphor to me in a conversation Wednesday morning. "He's more concerned about results than press coverage."
In that way, Hynes presents a refreshing contrast to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose grandstanding efforts to meddle with the pay-to-play legislation received a 55-0 rebuke in the Senate on Monday afternoon.
Blagojevich was the clear target of the narrow bill that now will become law. The other constitutional officers long ago had followed Hynes' lead and enacted pay-to-play bans in their domains. But Blagojevich continued to rake in contractor cash and use his influence to keep reform proposals stuck in legislative limbo.
Late last month, the governor issued an executive order barring the practice. About the same time, he began his ill-fated effort to greatly expand the scope of the pay-to-play bill. All of it looked like an effort either to run out the clock or to switch jerseys and start taking the snaps for Hynes' reform team as it crashed toward the goal line.
Blagojevich, who anticipates a primary challenge from Hynes as well as several other leading Democrats in the 2010 gubernatorial race, does not see the game as over. He's now running a hurry-up offense, trying to ram his omnibus expanded ethics proposal through the General Assembly in mere days.
He knows he won't score. Even though some parts of his proposal are solid, and the measure passed the Senate this week, others are still in shaky, rough draft form. The House of Representatives is almost certain to block him on those grounds alone.
But that won't stop the governor from taunting his opponents and whining to the refs. It's how he plays the game.
Meanwhile, someone ought to dump a bucket of Gatorade on Dan Hynes' head. He deserves it.