Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn crossed the Fox Network for the second time this week when his campaign re-used an image of "Simpsons" villain Mr. Burns in a video spot attacking Quinn's Republican challenger Bruce Rauner.
After Fox complained, YouTube yanked the 40-second anti-Rauner ad, posting the notice: "This video contains content from FOX, which has blocked it on copyright grounds."
Quinn first compared Rauner, a Winnetka venture capitalist worth more than $500 million, to evil nuclear power plant owner Mr. Burns back in March, releasing a video that was swiftly pulled down.
"All I can tell you is that FOX doesn't authorize the use of Simpsons imagery in any political campaign," network spokesperson Scott Grogin stated at the time while Team Rauner accused Quinn of engaging in class warfare, sniping: "Gov. Quinn is running his campaign as poorly as he is running state government."
Rauner, meanwhile, has issued a new, pre-holiday clip linking Quinn and his "inner circle" to the governor's scandal-soaked anti-violence program. It ends with a well produced and slickly effective call to "BRING BACK ILLINOIS" that makes Rauner seem more "maverick outsider" than "Mr. Burns." Too soon to tell whether that's enough to repair the damage caused by revelations that he used a special loophole to avoid paying his full share of income taxes.
Behold, Rauner's latest anti-Quinn propaganda:
