Good points, though I’ll throw one other thing in there. I don’t think it would’ve mattered whom we nominated for IL Governor in 2006, since any Republican would’ve lost under the circumstances. Numerous troubled or controversial Democrat incumbents or ones with subpar approval ratings were swept to 2nd terms (Blago, Napolitano in AZ, Baldacci in ME, Granholm in MI, Kulongoski in OR, Rendell in PA, Bredesen in TN, Doyle in WI).
I was initially supporting State Sen. Steve Rauschenberger for Governor, but when he bizarrely decided to become the running mate of some rich liberal candidate named Gidwitz, I figured the cycle was going to end up being a sideshow... and it was.
Going back to the Oberweis race, I hope the clarion call goes out that he needs to recuse himself from making anymore runs for office again and immediately needs to drop out for November. This guy is absolutely toxic and a perennial loser.
Baldacci is so far left he could make Hillary look almost conservative. And yet he wins in a state that elects two R senators(RINOs though.)
Let this be a warning to those who blithely assume that a Democrat elected president automatically will screw things up bad enough that they will lose re-election. More likely, they screws things up bad enough that more are dependent on the Government dole and vote to continue Govt handouts in 2012!!
This is what you see in Michigan today and its what happened under FDR in the New Deal - the economic pain and distress led to big Democrat wins in elections, even if their policies are the *cause* of the economic pain and distress.