1998 Illinois governor's election

[ButterflyBlood]

The Republican George Ryan (yes the guy who caught for corruption and ended all death sentences in the state) is in blue while Glenn Poshard, the Dem, is in Red. Poshard carried Cook County (Chicago) by only 9 points. In constrast Blagojevich won it by 36 points and Gore by almost 40. Yet Poshard did excellent downstate, carrying many of those dark red counties by far larger margins than Cook. What was the deal?

[jiacinto]

1. Easy

Poshard was pro-life and pro-gun. Ryan was pro-choice and anti-gun. Poshard fared well downstate because his seat was down there.

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. Poshard also was from downstate Illinois.

Plus, downstate Illinois is fairly depressed economically.

[greekspeak]

3. Go through Cairo, Illinois during the summer sometime

I have been through that town several times in the summer. If you were asleep on the trip and someone told you that you were in rural Alabama, you would beleive them. I say that with the straightest face possible. Pretty depressed in the south part of Illinois, for sure.

[greatauntoftriplets]

4. I've been to Cairo

And I agree.

[seemslikeadream]

5. Its really a whole other state down there

Southern Illinois University. Giant City, Shawnee National Forest it doesn't get any better.

[dansolo]

6. Poshard is a DINO

Glenn Poshard was a horrible Democratic candidate. He is basically a Republican. That is why he did so poorly. I even voted for George Ryan over him, even knowing that Ryan was corrupt.

[tsipple]

7. Daley is a DINO, Too

Daley usually likes to be the top Democrat in the state (more power), and so Ryan (the moderate Republican) was his pick, quite clearly.

[ButterflyBlood]

8. DINO vs. RINO

interesting

[poskonig]

9. Pro-Life + Moseley-Braun

Poshard lost because he was pro-life, which butchered turnout from women in the suburbs. In addition, Moseley-Braun could not defend charges of using government money to visit African dictators. This led to the dispicable election of Peter Fitzgerald. What an awful year in Illinois! I did sit out that election out of disgust.

The collar counties have been going Democratic lately, an extremely interesting development which fits into Judis and Texeira's 'ideopolis' theory.