Blue State Blues no More?

Sweet on the new Illinois primary date:

The unintended byproduct of Illinois moving up its primary to boost White House hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is putting the state in major play for the GOP presidential candidates.

"It really is wide open on the Republican side," said Illinois Republican Party chairman Andy McKenna.

"It's ironic," he said. "A move to help Obama helps the Republican Party.''

That remains to be seen. It'll take more than a presidential primary to bring back the walking wounded Illinois Republican party, with its wounds largely self-inflicted by the out-of-touch party elite. It does hold the promise, though, of substantive debate on the issues to clarify what it means to be a Republican, a message the party leaders could benefit from.

Whatever it takes to get those Blue State Blues out of our heads.

UPDATE: This is not promising.