In November, IL will be a dark dark shade of blue, whether or not Topinka wins.

I sent G. an email today. How he carps about Iraq and other Bush admin. shortcomings, but writes an entire article skirting Topinka's record of corruption and stabbing conservatives in the back is a wonder.

2-4 seats per chamber lost, with a the largest tax increase in IL history by March 2007.

If Topinka wins, she signs it, strong arming stupid republicans to join her. If Blago wins, he vetos it and has the veto proof chambers d his work by overriding him. He gets to run in 2010 as a tax cutter.

Under no circumstance is Topinka "red". She's a pig. The "r" after her name stands for "Rod".

She's the only Republican left who wins statewide and beats Blagojevich, for which you'll never forgive her.

Your Irish might get the socialist out of their blood in another couple hundred years or so, so cheer up.

Republicans lost California because the influx of immigrants legal and illegal caused Republican voters to leave.

If Bush had won 79% of the Latino vote in California he still would have lost the state to Gore in 2000. You can claim prop 187 reduced the number of Latino 'natural conservatives' who vote Republican in California, but it's absurd to claim that in the absence of prop 187 Republicans would be getting more than 79% of the Latino vote when they don't do that anywhere.

Judy is George Ryan in skirts. Previously, she was the Illinois state senator from, where else but the district of Berwyn-Cicero.

Bruno;

You have to remember, the 'R' after the candidate's name forgives all bad policy, except for ones OJ doesn't like. That's the definition of rank opportunism, if not outright moral degeneracy.

I can understand voting for a Rino for congress or even president, but Ill guv? Why?

I supported Glenn Poshard in, what was it? 1998? over that weasel George Ryan on the basis of the only issue that really separated them -- abortion. Ryan's a squish, Poshard was pro-life. Game set and match.

The GOP lost CA because they ran against the fastest growing cohort of the population.

Gore won California by 1293774 votes. 1.6 million Latinos voted in that election. Unless the GOP was getting 80% of the Latino vote prior to Prop 187, it's impossible reaction to Prop 187 was the reason Gore won California.

Being non-competitive for Latinos makes them a non-competitive party. Arnold was competitive for them so won.

something more than 187 happened. i might be mistaken but i believe wilson won another term as govenor after 187 passed. and keep in mind that it did pass, so a majority of voters must have thought it ok. also, it is a proposition not a legislative diktat.

can't say what changed in california for sure, but my theory is that many of the american citizens who actually work for a living, i mean nativist scum, have cashed out and moved out, to be replaced by more liberal voters (and their house keepers).

even previously heavily republican districts are now deep purplish.

it's too bad oj has such a stultifying effect on this topic because there are some fascinating historical patterns re-emerging, so that a long cycle is now perceptible. but let's keep it at the ward churchill level of discourse, because that's so much more interesting.

Topinka is a one-off. Unless the Repub party in Illinois plans on cloning glib female schmoozers, her ascendancy means zip.

Whatever Topinka does, I'll be amazed if a Repub candidate for President ever wins Illinois. The legacy of Dem corruption and control, the strength of unions, and the weakness of the Repubs here all point to the continuation of the trend. Nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong someday, though.

FYI, we were discussing Tammy Duckworth recently, and the question of how she got drafted into the Congressional race for Henry Hyde's seat. I found this post, on a site run by Dennis Byrne, a well-known Chicago journalist for many years, and he claims Dem power broker Rahm Emmanuel enlisted Duckworth. Shocking, I know.

1. That does not change the math.

2. The exit polls show Schwarzenegger got 31% of the Hispanic vote. How can you describe 31% as being "competitive"? Is it because you've never even bothered to look at the actual numbers?

Competitive at the margin.

If the GOP regularly drew 30% of the black vote, Dem leaders would be jumping off of bridges.

Actually, by 2040 the GOP will be getting 30% - 40% of the black vote.
It'll be interesting to see how the Dem. Party changes in response.

Posted by: Michael Herdegen at April 9, 2006 5:45 AM

Any chance of a Republican/Conservative rebirth in IL will have to built upon a backlash.

With the state bankrupt, and a massive tax hike looming, the best scenario is something akin to the backlash against Florio (and look how well that turned out).

This can't happen if Topinka wins and gets 30%-40% of Republicans to rubberstamp a huge tax increase.

Few non-Illinoisions realize the extent to which the Republican Party in this state is a subsidiary of Democratic Machine politics.

The state needs a Reagan (we'd settle for an Arnold), but all it has are Abramoffs and Cunninghams.

Reagan was never reticent about massive tax hikes.