Illinois' Lame Duck Senate Race Getting National Attention

As we've previously noted, here and here, the daffy circumstances in Illinois, by which our disgraced former Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich placed the ever-humble Roland Burris into the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama, allow us to legally vote twice for U.S. Senator this fall on November 2. Not only does that mean that the candidates, Republican Mark Kirk and Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, get to raise money essentially for two elections (thus greatly increasing the limits of money from specific donors that they can take in), the upcoming "lame-duck" session of Congress that looms after the November 2 election is taking on increased importance on a national level.

Today, the Wall Street Journal looks at the Illinois race (featuring an AP photo of Mark Kirk, no less), as well as similar races in West Virginia and Delaware, where the results could have a profound impact on the make-up of the lame-duck Congress, and a shift in the balance of power in the Senate, if a candidate such as Mark Kirk is seated immediately following a "Special Election" win:

Rep. Mark Kirk, a Republican congressman running for President Barack Obama's old Senate seat in Illinois, has created a separate website for the issue, saveusfromthelameduck.com. He mentions it "pretty much everywhere he goes," his spokeswoman said.

Polls show him ahead of his Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias.

"I would become the 42nd Republican senator, with the opportunity to put the breaks on any lame-duck overreach," Mr. Kirk said in a video on his website. Democrats are currently expected to lose about six to eight Senate seats.

ALSO - It seems that President Obama has a lot of free time to campaign, as he's coming back to Illinois to stump for Alexi Giannoulias. One wonders if we're going to get Obama overload here in Illinois, as no one else seems to want the President to do face time for them, and I think that Obama's presence here back home is not going to win over any voters for Alexi that weren't already committed. I could be wrong, however, as some polls suggest that Alexi is still having problems with his own base, so maybe this is a smart move on his part.