After taking the stage at the Democratic National Convention to the tune of Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People," Illinois Governor Pat Quinn sought to highlight the distance between them and the GOP's presidential and VP candidates.
"I want to talk to you about a scary subject for many, many Republicans," Quinn began early on in his speech. "I want to talk about facts."
(Scroll down to watch his full speech.)
"Facts are stubborn things," Quinn said, accusing Romney, Ryan and other Republicans of misrepresenting facts, specifically Obama's welfare record and job creation.
"Now in Illinois, we know President Barack Obama. We know his record, and we know that President Obama has made sure that work is always part of welfare reform," Quinn continued. "As an Illinois State Senator, Barack Obama spearheaded welfare reform in the Land of Lincoln. And the fact is, under President Obama, states can get flexibility only if they move 20 percent more people to work."
The speech represented Quinn's first remarks at a convention since he first entered politics in the 1970s, the Chicago Tribune reports.
The DNC heard from another Illinois politician on Tuesday night: Tammy Duckworth, Obama's former assistant secretary of Veterans Affairs. Duckworth, a veteran born to an Army officer and a foreign-born mother became a citizen in her 50s, drew on both elements of her identity to explain how social services championed by the Obama administration would impact military and immigrant communities. (Read Duckworth's full speech here.)
Following remarks from Republican Illinois Congressman Joe Walsh earlier this week urging Quinn and Illinois Democrat Jan Schakowsky to focus on "fixing the fiscal problems of Illinois and this country" instead of voicing their criticisms about Walsh, the Illinois governor pointed to Romney's economic record:
"Mitt Romney promised Massachusetts three things: more jobs, less debt and smaller government," Quinn said. "Then he left his state 47th out of 50 in job growth, added $2.6 billion in debt and on his watch, government jobs grew six times faster than private-sector jobs. What does Romney promise today? More jobs, less debt and smaller government. But he didn't do it then, and he won't do it now."