Scandal shadows race for governor (polls on Illinois governor's race, other statewide contests)

The scandal that cut short Gov. George Ryan's political career looms heavily over a wide-open race to succeed him, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows.

The survey shows Democrat Rod Blagojevich and Republican Jim Ryan locked in a neck-and-neck battle, with more than 9 in 10 voters saying the issue of government corruption will be an important factor to weigh in deciding between the two in the Nov. 5 general election.

They've got to be kidding!! Chicago DemocRAT=corruption.

Perhaps, but King George the RINO is just as bad. Unfortunately, with the aid of DMV bribes and a few confused Republicans, King George was able to eke out a 51-48% victory over an opponent who would have been better than most Republicans.

BTW, I don't really trust Jim Ryan very well either, though he'd almost certainly be better than his opponent. Too bad Poshard didn't run again this race.

If the GOP carries a majority of Cook County suburbs in the Gov. race, it might be enough to put Jim Ryan over the top. It worked in 1990. Unfortunately, 10 years later we are stuck with an more "diverse" (translation: liberals from Chicago have taken over a lot of Cook 'burbs) area that has ALSO been redisticted so most of the remaining Republican majority-areas (i.e. Oak Park, Palos, etc.) have NO voice who their state and federal representives will be thanks to being redraw into a Chicago-controlled district. Alot of angry Republicans might stay home to protest the GOP's failure to maintain local control and because Jim Ryan is still squishy on the issues Republicans care about.

Still, there is much to be optimistic about if Jim Ryan is already back in a dead heat with B'ag-o-$hit. I believe he'll pull this off if he drops the boring, poll-driven empty rhetoric and goes for the bully pulpit. Also, Maureen Murphy do far better with GOP turnout in Cook County than her predecessor, the RINO Manny "I love George Ryan and defend EVERYTHING he does" Hoffman. The Buchanan brigage-like Skinnerites will continue to throw a temper tamtrum over RINOs and ignore the questionable background of their boy, but maybe this can be canceled out if we find an equel number of disgruntled Dumbocrats to vote for Skinner thinking he'll abolish the death penalty and legalize drugs "unlike Rod Blagojevic" It is in the LP's best interest to try and draw votes from both parties anyway, not try to pretend their candidate is O'Malley II so they rely on angry conservative Republican votes. Remember, the strongly candidate for President that the LP ever had was Ed Clark, and he went for Carter votes just as much as he did Reagan's.

Personally, I think the most vunerable Dem is Lisa Madigan. Yes, I KNOW, her daddy made sure every Democrat on the planet backed her during the primary. That may have ensured she'd win in April but it works differently in the general. The Chicago machine is great at getting their base out, but she will need a couple Republican and Independant votes to win in November. This woman's "credentials" are a joke and even half the Dems know it (they backed her anyway). All we have to do is make sure independants know the truth: that my grandma is probably more qualifed for A.G. than she is!

Too bad Poshard didn't run again this race.

While not generally inclined to vote Democratic, I did hear a lot of good things about Poshard. Were I still living in Illinois, I really think I would have given him my vote back then. I can't stand ole Rod and Jim Ryan doesn't impress me either.

I currently live in Indiana but Illinois politics still have a hold on me. Is there something I can take for that?

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