Four -- not three, not two -- but four Congressional races in Illinois are on the national political radar, according to yesterday's Evans-Novak Report.
The good news for Republicans is that David McSweeney's 8th CD challenge of Melissa Bean may be the only -- yes the only -- GOP seat pickup in the nation.
The bad news is that Novak says the Roskam/Duckworth race to fill Henry Hyde's 6 CD seat may become a Democrat pickup, one in fourteen nationwide that could bring the Dems within one seat of gaining a Nancy Pelosi-led Democrat majority in Congress.
The third Illinois race mentioned in yesterday's piece says Democratic Congressman Lane Evans' chief of staff Phil Hare is likely to fill his 17 CD shoes over a Republican upset by Andrea Zinga.
And the fourth -- a surprise for many expecting Mark Kirk's 10 CD race to be edging towards being in play -- is Novak's attention to whether Will County's Cong. Jerry Weller's Republican seat is endangered. Novak says it is likely to stay Republican, but national attention on a race normally indicates something is going on in that district.
So as we enter the Labor Day weekend, Evans-Novak says Illinois' congressional races will go 50/50 -- one GOP seat goes Democratic, one Dem seat stays Democratic, one Dem incumbent seat goes Republican and the fourth stays Republican.
With a mood soured towards the President because of gas prices and the War on Iraq, an edginess developing because of the immigration issue and overall deflation of energy due to a lack of choice at the top of the ticket, this may be the most unpredictable election in many years.
Get ready for a two month long roller coaster ride . . .
