Illinois is quickly becoming a one-party state — not just in Chicago, but everywhere.
If the Illinois Republican Party were a car, it would need a new transmission and engine, new brakes and a new paint job. If it were a man, it would be comatose, experiencing severe kidney, liver and heart failure. Its relatives would already be talking about pulling the plug on his ventilator.
I write today that Saturday’s loss of former Speaker Dennis Hastert’s (R) House seat to a left-liberal Democrat comes as devastating news for an already-decimated state party. Illinois Republicans could lose as many as four more U.S. House seats in November, especially if Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is heading up the Democratic ticket. They are guaranteed the loss of at least one more in 2012, after the Democratic legislature draws the lines once again.
Nationally, Republicans are handed yet another hard lesson about just how much loyalty one can really buy with congressional pork and campaign advertising.