No Losing Dede Strategy Here

In the race to succeed Mark Kirk, when a liberal Republican can't even win the moderate New Trier Republican endorsement for the 10th Congressional District she can't win the primary--nor the general election. Those who would agree with her positions would be Democrats--they'll vote for a Dem, duh. Republicans will NOT hold their noses and vote for a fiscal disaster like Coulson who provides political cover for the Dem machine which has bankrupted, and corrupted, this state.

WSJ's Dec. 4th Political Diary (subscription) has a piece by Stephen Moore, who originally hails from New Trier, on "The Dede Scozzafava of Illinois?", State Rep. Beth Coulson. Moore points out what we all know around here--she has a liberal record in Springfield--most importantly on supporting tax hikes and the Dems' ruinous budgets. Despite this apparently the RNC may be playing favorites:

There are at least seven candidates running for the Illinois seat, including two solid conservatives. But when visiting the district in August, National GOP Chairman Michael Steele held a private meeting only with Ms. Coulson, which many interpreted as a semi-endorsement. Bob Dold, who runs a family business, and Dick Greene, founder of Briefings.com, are two candidates more appealing to conservatives. Doug Ibendahl, co-founder of the Republican Young Professionals and former general counsel of the Illinois Republican Party, complains that Ms. Coulson "got special treatment" from the RNC despite being "one of the GOP officials who remain the problem in Illinois."

I would actually say there are 3 conservatives now, but the race comes down to two, Robert Dold (who got the New Trier endorsement--which Kirk got before him) and a newer entrant, Arie Friedman. As far as Julie Hamos being the Dem opponent I wouldn't count on that. (She may be employing the same losing strategy the RNC is considering.) I would add, neither she nor Seals actually live in the 10th district. (Which has prompted some hilarity in the past, and I imagine will again.)

Look--this year, especially, folks in Illinois have been stung by high taxes (pols are starting to get a bit sensitive) especially those of us in suburban Cook County, which makes up part of the 10th. Illinois has been losing jobs for years, driven out by high taxes and a bad business climate and the national downturn has only exacerbated that. Add to that the anger at Blago and Dem corruption and a lot of independents will join with the GOP this year. (Not to mention disaffection with the magic of The One.)

So stay out of out this RNC. The grassroots are riled up this year--and they trend Right.