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Dennis Hastert's seat lost in Special Election today
Fox News-Star Tribune ^ | March 8th, 2008 | AP

Posted on 03/08/2008 7:56:08 PM PST by The_Republican

A longtime Republican district fell to the Democrats Saturday when a wealthy businessman and scientist snatched former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's congressional seat in a closely watched special election. Democrat Bill Foster won 52 percent of the vote compared to 48 percent for Republican Jim Oberweis. With 565 of 568 precincts reporting, Foster had 51,140 votes to Oberweis' 46,270.

(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: 110th; billfoster; crap; deathofthegop; foster; hastert; il2008; oberweis
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To: The_Republican

Wonder what skeletons are hiding in Hastert closet?


141 posted on 03/08/2008 10:05:14 PM PST by restornu ( God provides what one could not, not what one, would not!)
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To: Alter Kaker
The real crime is that Oberweis is a millionaire who could have and should have self-financed. If the NRCC had any brains whatsoever, it wouldn't have given him a dime -- candidates with plenty of money shouldn't get help from a nearly bankrupt party committee. If Oberweis didn't think the race was important enough to invest in, then the NRCC sure shouldn't have come to the opposite conclusion -- to the tune of $1 million+.

Oberweis did self-finance, and he screwed up the paperwork. Hence he couldn't spend any more of his money down the stretch. John McCain is the gift that keeps on giving.
142 posted on 03/08/2008 10:07:34 PM PST by Justice4Reds
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To: Kuksool
Jim Oberweis is a lot like Mitt Romney. Both are successful business people. Both change positions every election cycle. Both blast rival Republicans for having RINOish stands on the issues when they held the same positions a few years ago. Both Romney & Oberweis try to bully supporters of other Republican candidates into joining their sides. When Romney & Oberweis lose, they blame the RINO establishment for rigging the system against them.

Jim Oberweis is not a RINO. I think there aren't any positions Oberweis takes that are not solid conservative positions. Unfortunately, he's managed to piss of the RINO's running the Illinois Republican Party, and gets no support. Frankly, he was damaged goods after 3 previous primary losses.
143 posted on 03/08/2008 10:11:31 PM PST by Justice4Reds
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To: b4its2late

Four years of a Marxist president and a leftist House and Senate might lead to such disasters that people will abandon the socialists. However, all the leftists have to do is give illegal aliens the “right” to vote and boost their welfare entitlements, then bring in 20 million more illiterates, give them the vote, etc. and America will be finished as a free, relatively uncorrupt, prosperous country. And once the leftists get in some more Supreme Court Justices, they will furiously work at dismantling the Bill of Rights. America will be about where Venezuela is now, with a corrupt, one-party state and a virtual dictator.


144 posted on 03/08/2008 10:11:37 PM PST by Wilhelm Tell (True or False? This is not a tag line.)
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To: dhs12345
"They had control of the Congress, the Pres, and an opportunity to do some good and they fiddle farted around."

Yep. They were so scared that they wouldn't be liked by the MSM if they actually governed as conservatives. Guess what? They were never going to be liked and they ended up pissing off their base. If Bush were hard-core conservative he'd have an approval rating in the 50% range. He wanted to be "liked" by liberals. How'd that turn out? Do republicans simply not know how to exercise power? Do they think that democrats will reach out to conservatives? We're all going to get a very painful lesson in how to use power when the dems completely take over. The only silver lining is that the GOP may finally grow a pair.

145 posted on 03/08/2008 10:13:24 PM PST by boop (Democracy is the theory that the people get the government they deserve, good and hard.)
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To: Justice4Reds
Oberweis was not a good candidate. He is a neo-RINO who used lies and an enormous advantage in personal campaign funds to beat a decent, reliable conservative in the primary. Hastert turned out to b a complete jerk. He backed Oberweis in the primary solely because he is a mega-millioaire.
146 posted on 03/08/2008 10:14:24 PM PST by Godwin1 (T)
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To: Slump Tester
"the disappearance of donations "

It's a very long time till November. The contributions to the RNC will be a Great Sucking Sound. It will get ugly.

147 posted on 03/08/2008 10:19:57 PM PST by matthew fuller (United We Stand- Diversified We Fall)
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To: rfp1234

I’m glad you brought that up.

We can’t restore the Republic or our families if we continue to leave our children in socialist government schools.


148 posted on 03/08/2008 10:21:27 PM PST by SecAmndmt (Arm yourselves!)
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To: Godwin1
Oberweis was not a good candidate.

I think we can both agree to that, and agree that Hastert made a major tactical error not staying out of the primary. I think Lauzen would have won tonight; he definitely would have cut into Foster's numbers in Aurora. Keep in mind that Oberweis is from Aurora, and got trounced in his hometown.
149 posted on 03/08/2008 10:22:28 PM PST by Justice4Reds
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To: Clintonfatigued
Why would you say Jim Oberweis was “unappealing”?
150 posted on 03/08/2008 10:22:50 PM PST by ConservativeMind
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To: Slump Tester
I wonder if the idiots will learn anything from the next 4 years and the disappearance of donations from conservatives.

I learned a long time ago not to send them a cent. They responded to my unsolicited donations not with simple "thank you" letters, but with mountains of junk mail demanding more money.

Two types of letters especially bothered me. First, the letters that claimed that I had joined some sort of Republican club and now owed dues, payable immediately. This was a complete fabrication, I had joined nothing and I owed them nothing. Then there were the letters that used "Department of Audit and Control" in bold letters as a return address. These looked like dunning notices from the IRS or some other official government agency. In fact they were just more demands for money, designed to look as threatening as possible. Since I hadn't responded to their other requests, they figured they would frighten me into sending more money. This seemed a very strange way for them to say thank you.

I wrote them some letters and eventually they gave up on me. They probably spent every cent I gave them on those damn mailings.

That was maybe twelve years ago. Maybe the NRC does things differently now. I hope so, but I have no intention of finding out. I learned my lesson.

151 posted on 03/08/2008 10:23:05 PM PST by TChad
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To: The_Republican

Depressing but not a blowout. I didn’t even know the race was going on at this moment or I’d have given some money to help hold the seat. That is what these special election races come down to. Money and activism. We need more organization so that this kind of thing doesn’t happen. This was a highly winnable race in what has become an increasingly blue state.

McCain and the GOP had better start crafting a national strategy now while the Democrats are distracted because McCain can not run around apologizing for conservatives like he has of late. The press is playing the wedge game purposely to try to separate him from those who are key to his chances of winning. If he feels the need to distance himself from something that he doesn’t feel comfortable being associated with he should simply say that he has no comment on it and that he speaks for himself as he expects others will speak for themselves.


152 posted on 03/08/2008 10:26:17 PM PST by Maelstorm (Heroism is something that when it is manifest it is undeniable. The same can be said for cowardice.)
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To: Migraine
"I am here to interject HOPE. I tell ya, people criticize me for interjecting HOPE;"

Didn't you forget CHANGE?

153 posted on 03/08/2008 10:26:31 PM PST by matthew fuller (United We Stand- Diversified We Fall)
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To: The_Republican

All I can tell you is that we WILL take a Senate seat away from the Dems this fall in Louisiana. The post-Katrina fallout, which led to the Republicans more than doubling their representation in the state House of Representatives coupled with the seizure of the Governor’s chair and much more last Fall, will continue. Mary Landrieu is going down.


154 posted on 03/08/2008 10:27:05 PM PST by StJacques (Liberty is always unfinished business)
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To: ConservativeMind

He came off to voters as arrogant and abrasive, like dealing with them was something that was beneath him. Also, he’s changed his ideology over the past few elections. When he first ran for the U.S. Senate in 2002, he was the establishment RINO, comparing pro-life religious activists to Nazis. But he became more conservative after he realized that conservatives were an important force in Republican primaries.


155 posted on 03/08/2008 10:27:32 PM PST by Clintonfatigued (You can't be serious about national security unless you're serious about border security)
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To: Kuksool
Can you elucidate on what Oberweis equivocates?
156 posted on 03/08/2008 10:27:45 PM PST by ConservativeMind
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To: MinuteGal

What made Oberweis a poor candidate?


157 posted on 03/08/2008 10:29:01 PM PST by ConservativeMind
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To: billorites

My wrestling coach could teach you a thing or two. Also could do damn near anything he wanted, to whomever he wanted to do it. Evidently, including your wrestling coach.


158 posted on 03/08/2008 10:29:03 PM PST by Humble Servant ( Keep it simple - do what's right.)
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To: Justice4Reds

How did he screw up the paperwork? It sounds like McCain-Feingold was involved in the special election.


159 posted on 03/08/2008 10:31:46 PM PST by ConservativeMind
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To: Mika4life
Oberweis is a conservative. I'm not understanding why people are having a problem with him, because it sure shouldn't be from his positions.
160 posted on 03/08/2008 10:32:58 PM PST by ConservativeMind
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