CHICAGO -- Illinois' northernmost bit is north of Cape Cod and its southern tip is south of Richmond, Va. Scattered the length of the state, from the Wisconsin border to Kentucky's, are fragments of wreckage from the state party that produced the first Republican president -- who was born in Kentucky and nominated by a Republican Party born in Wisconsin, at Ripon.
In the past four presidential elections, Republican candidates have averaged just 40 percent of the Illinois vote. In 2004 the Republican Senate candidate, a raging resident of Maryland, won just 27 percent of the vote. Judy Topinka, 62, the effervescent three-term state treasurer and Republican gubernatorial nominee against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, thinks she can put Humpty Dumpty together again. Republicans everywhere should hope a new poll is accurate in showing her three points ahead among registered voters.
Continue reading A 'Straight Talk' Test For 2006
