This year may bring many sweet and unexpected turns in politics; one of them is the strong possibility that Illinois Democrats may cease running the president’s home state:

Democrats thought they received a break when Bill Brady surprisingly won the Republican nomination for Governor of Illinois, but with Pat Quinn’s approval rating at just 25% it may not have mattered that much who the GOP put forward. Brady leads Quinn 43-33 in our first poll of the general election. He’s getting 80% of the Republican vote while Quinn earns just 53% of the Democratic vote, and he also has a 39-31 lead with independents.

Finally, Rod Blagojevich has a reason for pride: he may have helped end an era of one-party rule in Springfield.