On Barack Obama.

The race here in Illinois has been an interesting one to watch. Outgoing Senator Peter Fitzgerald, love him or hate him has been a loud and seemingly honest voice in our midst, and I personally am sad to see him leave the arena.

The republicans put up several candidates for the open seat but no one of them showed anything special, ( http://www.ilsenate.com/ )and to be sure it was a very diverse group. A couple of independent millionaire's, an Indian gentleman Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria , and pretty boy Jack Ryan who pretty much towed the party line.

Barack Obama has really distinguished himself from among the other democratic candidates. He is an excellent speaker, has been consistent in tone and character and I feel has shown a willingness to be open to discussion on a number of important topics.

The desperate Republicans here have been unable to find a suitable replacement for Ryan. So poor are the Republican choices that there was even brief speculation that Ex- Football coach Mike Ditka (Da Coach) would take up their cause. It was with great amusement that for one very amusing week, the mealy mouthed former coach splashed across our local TV screens with truly frightening tidbits of what type of candidate he might be. At one point in an interview, making a segue from banning smoking in restaurants (He owns a popular one here), to banning abortion. All tossed off with unfettered indifference to the touchy nature of the subject matter, as if they were comparable issues.

Barack's response to the potential showdown with the coach, was brilliant. When asked how he thought he would fare against the coach, his response was something to the affect of ... Well he brought us 1 superbowl championship season, a few more losing seasons after that, quit, went to New Orleans and traded away the next few years of their draft on ONE player, who subsequently went bust, then left football altogether. I can beat that!

Barack Obama speech at the convention has been received amazingly well here. I thought he was fantastic. I will watch and hope that he can fulfill the promise so many see in him.

Some information on Mr Obama...

http://www.obamaforillinois.com/index.asp?Type=NONE&SEC={8683FB66-C0DB-4FAB-85C7-2FBCF770436E}