Now the Fun Really Begins... 40 Days to the Illinois Primary UPDATED x3

Well, I hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, Festivus or whatever it is you celebrate this time of year. I didn't get a bit of work done over the last four days, but that's not what Christmas is about. I did wrap a lot of presents and then threw out a lot of wrapping paper, plus played Luke Skywalker to my 6 year old's Darth Vader (if I'd known my future son would be playing with basically the same T.I.E. and X-Wing Fighters I had when I was 10, I could have just saved all of that stuff, but who knew?)

In any event, things won't get super-heated politically until after New Year's, but since it's 40 days out, I wanted to offer a thank-you in advance to Dan Seals and Jay Footlik. As a team, they are going to do the voters of the 10th District a great service by beating the snot out of each other and exposing their true positions (or at least, what they say their true positions are) on at least some of the major issues, especially Iran and Israel. Without a primary opponent, it's likely Seals would be making the same old vague speeches about how he is "strong" on Israel, but opposes the war in Iraq and any action against aggressor nations like Iran, to make sure he has a good showing in the primary and bring in that DCCC money. With no primary opponent, there would be no reason for Seals to go beyond the same old rhetoric and he would simply waltz in and remind everyone that he is not Mark Kirk.

Not so fast this time, buddy. Jay Footlik, for all his apparent gaffs (although some I've spoken to actually liked the "squares" commercial and the "meshugana" mailing) as a candidate, is serving the very important purpose of ensuring that each candidate's position on the issues, especially Israel v. Iran, will be well documented and available for Mark Kirk to address in the general election, against whomever the winner on the Dem side is.

Why is the Israel v. Iran issue so important? Obviously, with a huge Jewish voting population (many say 20% of the total electorate in the 10th District), a large portion of the constituency has a direct interest in the issue. But, on a larger scale, it's important as to whether the voters will elect a liberal pacifist in the mold of Jan Schakowsky and Nancy Pelosi, or whether they will go with someone a bit more willing to say that there are instances in which the U.S. (and Israel) will have to meet aggression with force. Even, perhaps, go so far as to meet the THREAT of aggression with force, as in the case of taking action of some kind against Iran.

Mark Kirk himself has been out in front of this issue (see discussion on H.R. 2880), working on non-military and economic means to put pressure on Iran to fess up and give up its nuclear weapons program once and for all. But that does not stop the concern that such measures won't be enough, and that's the box that Seals and Footlik will both be in this January, as they try to pander to the leftist, pacifist Dem base, but "stand tough" on Israel, as any successful candidate in the 10th must be. This issue will continue to develop (see here) and, in my opinion, will be the defining issue of the Dem primary here in the 10th. Not health care, not Iraq, not immigration.

Mark Kirk is already in the lead on this issue, and neither Dem candidate can address the question by simply saying "I'm Not Mark Kirk." Which "I'm Not Mark Kirk" the Dems will put on the general election ballot is going to be a fun slugfest to watch. And the eventual winner will have to live with the position that gets him on the ballot. I find it amusing, because even though both Seals and Footlik no doubt clearly see the trap, there is no way they can avoid it.

UPDATED 12:50 p.m.: Still think Israel's concern over Iran is alarmist and irrational? Check out the latest killer missile system that Russia is selling to Iran. Let's hear Seals blame Mark Kirk for this. I can hear it now: 'Well, if the U.S. would tone down its aggressive imperialist rhetoric, poor Iran would not be so scared and have to spend all of its oil wealth on upgrading its missile defense systems.' Go ahead, Dan, just try to sell that one in the 10th District. I dare ya.

UPDATED 1:30 p.m.: Mark your calendars for Thursday, January 10, 2008 and Saturday January 12, as the League of Women Voters hosts Dan Seals and Jay Footlik in their first (and perhaps only?) live face-to-face public debates. The first debate will be at New Trier East High School in Winnetka (say, isn't that where Mark Kirk graduated from?) at 7:00 p.m. on the 10th. More info is here. The second debate will be at the Arlington Heights Library at 10:00 a.m. on the 12th. More info is here.

UPDATED 1:20 p.m. 12/27/07: Mark Kirk continues to make headlines by leading the push to insist on appropriate safeguards to the Bush administration's planned sale of JDAM bomb technology to Saudi Arabia. Read the latest here. As we have noted before, Mark Kirk is out showing his support of Israel while Dan Seals and Jay Footlik fight over who is the real carpetbagger. Sad, sad.


MEANWHILE... what they're saying on other blogs:

The Democratic elected officials need to change the way they do business and speak out against the widespread fraud that's about to entangle more than just Link. First order of business? Get rid of Couvall. He should have been gone. He was the mastermind behind the scheme and everyone knows that. There's a criminal investigation going on and whether he is indicted or not, we all know that he was in the middle of the scandal. Yet, he continues in a position of leadership and is awarded with positions, business opportunities and perks particularly in Waukegan. This speaks volumes about the leadership in the Lake county democratic party.

Posted by "twocents" at Talk O' The Town.