On Wednesday, we noted that Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan -- in a quote buried at the end of a Beacon News article -- seemed to draw the first battle line in her potential primary challenge to Gov. Pat Quinn.  She said: "I think this economy makes it almost impossible to place an income tax increase on people." Of course, as the Tribune reported today, Quinn is considering increasing the income tax rate from 3 percent to 4.5 percent as part of his budget to be released next week.

Capitol Fax's Rich Miller got her office to elaborate and wrote about the exchange in his Sun-Times column today:

After waiting around all day for a response, Madigan's spokeswoman finally called to explain that her boss really meant to say all other options should be looked at before any tax increase was proposed.

That's not what she said, but whatever.

So, I asked, does Lisa Madigan support a tax hike?

"She's waiting to hear what the governor proposes in his budget address next week."

Is she open to a tax hike?

Same answer.

The message seems to be clear, however. She's reserving the right to bash Gov. Quinn for raising taxes during an economic downturn.

Miller goes on to explain why ruling out an income tax increase is just not realistic from a public policy standpoint.  We'll have more on Quinn's proposed hike later this morning. 

UPDATE (3:10 pm): The Tribune's Eric Zorn has more.