DU QUOIN, Ill. — In his thick country drawl, Darren Bailey stood at a lectern clutching a microphone, trying to convince a crowd in his rural home base of southern Illinois that he speaks their language.
“I’m a farmer. This is an agricultural fair. How many farmers do I have out here with me today?” Bailey asked in late August at the Du Quoin State Fair as several people raised their hands. “All right. You guys get it … agriculture is the backbone of this nation. Agriculture is the backbone of this state. And we’re getting pushed aside. Our futures are getting pushed aside and ignored. And we must stand up and say, ‘No more.’”
A few weeks earlier, the burly Republican candidate for governor was 329 miles north at a pro-law enforcement event in a forest preserve by O’Hare International Airport. He climbed behind the wheel of a hulking, black, heavily armored SWAT vehicle for a photo op as if it were a combine on his farm back in Xenia and took a flippant swipe at his campaign rival, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
