From the Associated Press:

Has Lt. Governor lost that reformer feeling?

By The Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Pat Quinn spent 25 years building a reputation as a maverick, a regular guy who never hesitated to challenge the establishment.

Now, for the second time, he is part of the establishment, and a part that traditionally has little power or freedom -- lieutenant governor. But Quinn insists he won't be changed by his role as Gov. Rod Blagojevich's sidekick.

"I'm never, ever going to be part of the woodwork. I don't want to be," he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Two months into his new job, Quinn has done little to show that independence. He has appeared with Blagojevich at a few news conferences, filled in for the governor at public events and spoken out on a few minor policy issues.

"It's been fun. I got to be on stage with George Strait -- my musical hero," Quinn said. He added that he also met the Chinese ambassador and China's best pingpong player.

Some observers hope to see a more active Pat Quinn soon.

"It's early yet," said Martin Cohen, executive director of the consumer group Citizens Utility Board. "We haven't seen much, but we hope maybe Lieutenant Governor Quinn is playing a behind-the-scenes role that isn't obvious to the public."

Quinn, 54, first made a name for himself in 1976 when he and the Coalition for Political Honesty managed to end the practice of lawmakers collecting their entire annual salary on their first day in office.

"A couple weeks after it passed in the Legislature, I was sitting in the gallery of the House minding my own business and some guy spotted me," Quinn said. "The whole Legislature stood up and booed me. A standing boo-vation. But a nod from them is a plug for our efforts."

Four years later, Quinn made lawmakers angry again. He led a successful effort to pass the "cutback amendment" -- a change in the Illinois Constitution that cut the size of the House from 177 members to 118.

After years as an outsider and political gadfly, Quinn ran for statewide office in 1990 and won the post of state treasurer. He became part of the government he had spent years criticizing, but he was still his own boss. As treasurer, Quinn cut his budget each year and promoted consumer programs such as college savings plans and low-interest loans for small businesses.

Quinn found himself on the outside again when he ran against George Ryan for secretary of state in 1994 and was trounced.

Then he lost the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in 1996 and another Democratic primary for lieutenant governor in 1998. His push for a public referendum on the oft-criticized plan for the rebuilding of Chicago's Soldier Field fizzled, as did his online petition to oust Gov. George Ryan.

But Quinn won last year's lieutenant governor primary over a field of unknowns and then marched to victory in the general election with new boss Blagojevich.

Now Quinn has a $115,235-a-year job with no specific duties -- a job so dull that two of the last four Illinois lieutenant governors resigned.

Quinn says he is tailoring the new position into a voice for average citizens. He promises to speak out on health care funding, job creation and the environment.

Quinn also hopes to pass legislation to let voters use the Internet, rather than hand-circulated petitions, to place referendum questions on state ballots.

"We have to figure out a way every day -- 10 ways every day -- to make the voice of the citizen stronger," he said.

Quinn is quick to praise the governor's priorities when it comes to balancing the total state budget (the lieutenant governor's budget is being cut 15 percent), reducing government corruption and supporting education and health care.

Quinn even peppers his conversation with phrases Blagojevich often used during the campaign. "We are going to shake things up," Quinn says, and "get rid of business as usual."

Reform groups say they aren't surprised Quinn has stuck close to Blagojevich so far.

"Who knows, in a couple years maybe he will go public and go outside of the administration," said Dan Johnson-Weinberger, director of the Midwest Democracy Center in Chicago. "For right now he is really making his best effort to keep it inside."

"When push comes to shove, he is really a reformer," said Cindi Canary, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. "He is not a guy that rolls over easily."