by Fran Eaton
I guess I owe the Topinka Tattler an apology for being confused. It's absurd to suggest he or she (or both) is promoting Blagojevich for governor.
The fact is, TT writes that neither Republican Judy Baar-Topinka nor Democrat Rod Blagojevich are acceptable as gubernatorial candidates:
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We at FTN have been accused of “pushing Blagojevich.” That’s absurd. What we have said is voters don’t have a choice this year because Blagojevich and Topinka are both unacceptable. We’ve also had the spine to say the obvious that Topinka is worse from a Republican point of view because she continues to destroy our Party from the inside in a way Blagojevich never can. We recognize that the IL GOP can’t make progress under a George Ryan clone that is willing to trash all and anyone that is Republican.
We aren’t just being negative. We've proposed a solution. We’ve called for Topinka to remove herself from the ballot and an actual Republican clean of George Ryan baggage slated in her place.
So, let me get this straight, TT. You don't want Blago and you don't want Topinka. You want Topinka to remove herself from the ballot. You want people to call the White House and let the President know that he shouldn't come to Illinois to raise funds for her next week.
A couple of questions, simply because I don't want to come to an incorrect conclusion once again . . .
1. Are we to assume the GOP candidate you're pushing, which you describe as "clean of George Ryan baggage," is GOP primary runner-up Jim Oberweis?
2. What if Judy doesn't follow your sage advice, and doesn't withdraw? Who will you back then? Someone will win on November 7 -- even if he or she receives one vote more than his or her opponent.
3. As a backup plan to make sure you have an acceptable candidate to promote this fall, are you then helping the Constitution Party's Randy Stufflebeam slate gather petition signatures in order to get on the ballot?
4. If not Rod, if not Judy, if not Jim, if not Randy, then who?
If it's none of those, TT, it seems like you may just be back to pushing -- by process of elimination -- the one who's currently holding office. And who's that? Hmm. . . I think it's Rod Blagojevich.
But that's absurd.
