I find it pretty incredible that we have so many short-sighted people on FR, not to mention in Illinois. I'm sure y'all are going to love the likes of Senator Obama in the US Senate for the next several decades.
The short-sightedness was in the Illinois GOP, picking Keyes as a candidate, and in Alan Keyes, who never missed an opportunity to very visibly screw up.
I am extremely PO'd at Keyes for running as inept a campaign as he has. This is his third time out--you'd think he would've learned something from his previous efforts.
Jim, Keyes' standing among the voters in the State of Illinois is my fault?
No, I don't like the idea of Obama in the Senate for the next several years, nor do I like his using this to catapult himself into the national stage, and I blame the current numbers directly on the people responsible: the Illinois GOP.
From the day that this was announced, these results were predicted, as was the notion that it would be spun into a "blame anyone other than Alan" campaign.
I don't blame Alan Keyes, he's just doing what he does best, he's a pundit, not a politician. I blame the Illinois GOP because it was THEIR decision to bring Keyes in, so it was their obligation to bring the voters to Alan...they failed, and no amount of critical posts in FR could have impacted the poll numbers so negatively to bring them down to the current level.
They should have run Oberweis.
If being short sighted means seeing the reality of Keyes getting crushed on Nov. 2 by what is going to be likely the largest margin in the entire country, then call me short sighted.
If I posted on the Florida threads gloating that Betty Castro was gonna win and Martinez is a right-wing lunatic and a national joke, Luis Gonzalez would hit the abuse button so quick the thread would be zotted in a blink of an eye. But of course, it's OKAY when he does it on Illinois threads. Luis seems to be barely able to contain his excitement for Obama. I suggest he contribute to the DSCC because after his assistance in "taking back" Illinois and adding one more pro-Daschle vote in the Senate, they could use his help trashing our other "out of touch" Republican candidates languishing in Alaska, Colorado, Oklahoma, Florida, and North Carolina.
Hey, it's okay, Luis is voting for Bush. That makes him a Republican in good standing, so I guess Ed Koch is now a good conservative Republican by the Luis Gonzalez bar (nevermind all the liberal Democrats Kosh in backing on the rest of the ticket)
You can't underestimate Illinois voters. Think of Carole Mosley Braun. In any event, nothing on FR is going to affect the outcome of the Illinois senate race.
The Republicans there faced a difficult situation when their candidate bailed, and they took a big gamble which hasn't worked out. The best that can come out of Illinois is to learn the lesson of what not to do in a crisis situtation.
Between now and November, we need to concentrate all efforts on close, winable races.
Jim,
I don't think anyone here likes the idea of losing another Republican vote in the Senate. That is probably a major issue in the frustration of many of us.