Chicago Tribune | Blagojevich blasts Ryan volunteer

The already ugly race for Illinois governor got even more unsightly Friday as Democrat Rod Blagojevich and Republican Jim Ryan exchanged attacks over dirty tricks and the alleged sexual misconduct of a campaign worker.

The Blagojevich campaign ripped Ryan for accepting volunteer help from former Cass County GOP chairman John Butler, who was charged earlier this week with criminal sexual assault on a teenage female relative. Butler received pardons last year from Gov. George Ryan for burglary convictions.

Meanwhile, Ryan accused Blagojevich of engaging in "Chicago machine politics" for purchasing the rights to the Internet site www.ryan2002.com and linking it directly to the Democrat's Internet site.

The Blagojevich campaign highlighted Butler's arrest to counter Ryan's repeated attacks on the Democrat for accepting campaign help in the past from two convicted felons, including John Boyle, who stole millions of dollars from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Blagojevich has said the two individuals have no role in his current campaign.

"Guilt by association is a bad campaign tactic, and what's good for the goose is good for the gander," said David Wilhelm, a senior Blagojevich adviser.

Countered Ryan: "This is hardly the same situation. There's a big difference. [The two] are integral parts of his field organization."

Ryan's campaign described Butler as an unpaid "low-level volunteer" whose role amounted to little more than putting up Ryan signs in Cass County northwest of Springfield.

When Ryan raised questions about the Internet prank Friday, Blagojevich and his aides at first denied involvement in purchasing the rights to the Web site. However, records showed the Internet address registered to Scott Kennedy, the assistant treasurer of Blagojevich's campaign, at the Democrat's campaign headquarters.

A Blagojevich spokesman later blamed a "long gone" intern for obtaining the site and promised it would be shut down. As of Friday night, it was not.

Also Friday, hundreds of union members cheered a joint appearance at a West Side union hall by the top Democrats on the ticket, including Blagojevich, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lisa Madigan, the party's nominee for attorney general.

Tribune staff reporters John McCormick, Mike Dorning and Ray Gibson contributed information for this report.