Illinois was locked up for Kerry long ago. If Kerry loses Illinois, than he will be losing everything outside of New England, New York, DC, New York, and maybe Maryland and Hawaii. As Illinois goes, so goes California. You can write that down.
I can speak for Maryland. We've elected a Republican governor in the first time in 30 years and the first thing he did was overhaul the voting machines. As Hugh Hewitt says, "If we win big, they can't cheat." For the first time in my life I doubt they'll cheat in Maryland.
In addition, black Demo party hack Clarence Mitchell IV openly supported Governor Ehrlich. The black vote is in play in Maryland and for the second time in my life my vote may actually count.