If you had any doubt that Gov. Quinn has a tough road to hoe this election year, a glance at the op-ed pages across the state last weekend should have made it clear:

Peoria-Journal Star: "[G]iven Quinn's predilection for announcing something then changing his mind - a canoeing czar, then not; new Department on Aging digs, then not; for last year's campaign finance reforms, then not, then for them again, etc. - what the governor really needs is a Consistency Czar."

Kurt Erickson: "The man in charge of the executive branch of Illinois government changes his mind at a whiplash-inducing rate."

Doug Finke: "Quinn pulled the plug on [the canoe czar], too, but again, only after the move made it to the news. By then, obviously, the damage was done to the administration."

The "flip-flopper" narrative is one of the most damaging during a campaign. Dan Hynes easily painted it in his attacks on Quinn during the primary.  And last week's canoe czar episode has only stoked that fire.