Today is primary day in Illinois. I am registering my frustration by not voting.
The Democratic candidates for governor include our well-intentioned but ineffectual current Blago-replacement, Pat Quinn, and a couple also-rans who have been waiting in the wings for a while. The Republicans feature two suburban moderates and two right-wing nut-jobs, one of whom will be the likely candidate. None of those seeking the office, I believe, have what it takes to do the job that needs to be done, which includes reigning in the state legislature, and paying our state bills (they have been in arrears for a while).
I may actually sit out the general election in the fall, too, depending upon who the parties decide are their standard bearers. I have been unhappy with state politics in Illinois since I moved here; I voted against Blagojevich in the primary in 2002, and voted a third-party candidate in both general elections when he ran. I feel I at least have the satisfaction of not voting for someone I knew, even then, would be a disaster for the state. Being right, however, is little comfort, considering the sorry state of party politics in my chosen state of residence. My Congressman is a Republican who is so anonymous even when the House was run by a Republican from his state, he didn't get a committee chair. My current state representative, Ron Waite, is stepping down to run for judge, and is so stupid, he actually had a campaign brochure with an "endorsement" that contained a glaring grammatical error on the cover. It's actually kind of funny.
I am depressed with our current status quo, politics-wise, in the state. Sadly, with the Republicans in thrall to kooks and crazies, and the Chicago pretty much in charge of the Democrats, I'm not what one would call hopeful.
Should the primary voters surprise me, though, I might change my mind. At the very least, sending Ron Waite in to retirement would be nice.
