Just who is Pat Quinn?

It's likely that by the end of this week, Illinois will be under Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn. Whenever the state Senate chooses to vote to remove Gov. Blagojevich, and optimists expect this vote to come either today or on Friday, it will be Quinn who will become Governor. Also note that today is when the Governor will close his case. The Governor basically missed the first three days of his trial going to New York on a media blitz.

Anyway check out this AP article on, I suppose, the future Governor of Illinois:

As the third day of Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich's (D) impeachment trial continued in Springfield Wednesday, insiders say the only part of the outcome still in doubt is when they'll vote to impeach, not if.

As for Gov. Blagojevich and his national media blitz?

"I think he's making a fool of himself," Ill. Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (D) told The Chicago Tribune Tuesday.

If the state's Senate votes to impeach, Quinn told the Tribune that he's ready to immediately step into the position, going so far as to say he's planning to move into the Executive Mansion in Springfield, Illinois.

Gov. Blagojevich has kept his family's residence in Chicago during his tenure, a decision that went over like a lead balloon across much of the state.

Quinn also said Tuesday that he's planning to quickly tackle the state's floundering economy.

"When we find out what the facts are, we will tell the people of Illinois and we will come up with a rescue plan," Quinn told the Tribune. "It may involve sacrifice from all of us, but that's what Illinois is about."

With Quinn's future seemingly certain, public interest in Blagojevich's potential replacement is surely set to skyrocket, especially with the Illinois corruption scandals playing out in the national media.

What may the next roughly two years bring with a Gov. Quinn instead of Gov. Blagojevich?

You know when Blagojevich got re-elected just over two years ago, people were really voting for Quinn to become Governor. Kinda interesting when you think about it. People knew that this was one possible result. It could've been impeachment, indictment, or conviction.