Utter nonsense. Without Brady in the race, Oberweis would have won handily, as would Brady had Oberweis withdrawn.

IL is now broken, virtually beyond repair, and the 2006 elections will finish the job. Sadly, if this does turn out to be a tough year for Republicans, Topinka may even succeed in taking Roskam and McSweeney down with her.

With the weakness of both the candidates at the top, IL is perfectly situated for an Independent Conservative to run, but the sad fact is that there is no one in IL of enough stature to fill that slot.

Ah, the true believer--when every loss shows how right you are.....

The national pubbies wanted Judy, now they got her.

And they're wrong again.
How interesting, if Judy and the pubies got behind ousting Ryan, things might have been different.

There is no "Republican" party in Illinois. Nor Democratic, either.

There is just the "good ole boys" party, which has two wings labeled R and D.

They are all the same and all interchangable, and all as corrupt as the day is long. They look out for one another and wash each other's hands. They all steal the taxpayers blind.

I've watched the state income tax go from 0% to 2%, and then a "temporary surcharge" to 3%---but it's not a tax increase since it's only temporary. Which was then made permanent but still "not an increase, since it'll be the same 3% level that it is now".

ALl of this took place in the hands of governors with alternating (R) and (D) in their names.

The Sun-Times agrees w/this cockamamie idea to change the electoral college.

We're a 1-party state, nobody pays attention to us during elections whaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yet they promote stupid policies like their version of national health care.

Judy, the IL pubbie hierarchy and the national party helped.

Tin ear - stupid party.

The other guys had a shot.

ray:

Voters get what they want.

Sandy:

She wins. Oberweis loses. Both regularly.

I knew the IL GOP was in trouble in 1980, when my aunt, a committewoman and long-time local rep. from Park Ridge, was virtually horrified that Ronald Reagan was truly going to be President. Not that she voted for Carter, but a conservative cowboy as President? She was a Percy backer, and thought he should have been President.

Too bad Mike Ditka didn't take Ryan's place and kick some serious butt in IL (and not just donkey butt, either).

As Mr. Hamlen points out, it's all about Chicago and the collar counties. They think they're a different party but they're really part of the Daley machine.

Well, I voted for Brady. Oberweiss' anti-immigrant ads for the 2004 Senate primary convinced me he's not a good leader for the GOP.

Topinka, I'll vote for in the general, and I hope she wins. But honestly, Bagojevich isn't that bad of a governor. If I weren't a hardened anti-Democrat partisan, I'd think hard about the choice between him and Topinka.

I live in the Roskam/Duckworth Cong. Dist. That race I really care a lot about. I do think Roskam will win.

RDS, I am curious about the Duckworth race.

Is she stridently anti Bush/anti war or is there nuance to her position on Iraq. Is she a single issue candidate? It's hard to tell from the national news.

I think this Vet gambit will help the dems but only if the candidates are reasonable. Something is wrong when 8 of 9 Iraq vets running for Congress are Dems. That is almost the inverse of what you would expect in sampling military people, but it could work if the national republican party is not prepared to counteract the legitimate cred they get from being combat veterans.

Duckworth isn't well known in the district yet. To the extent she is known, all that people are aware of is that she was in the war and is anti-Bush. From what I've heard her say and do, she's not in the Paul Hackett crazy-whack-hater tradition of modern Dems, but she doesn't have a well-rounded (non-Iraq) issue profile at all.

On the other hand, Roskam is a well-respected and seasoned state-level politician who is a good ideological fit for the district. I think that Roskam being a good candidate will mean the difference.

Thanks. Interesting. I guess she'll win if it's a tidal wave, but otherwise Roskam should be able to prevail.

Maybe not, JAB - depends on when the dems signed up.