I don't live in the 14th, so I don't know this for sure. Was it that the people out there were sick of Republicans, or maybe it was that they really don't like the Milk Dud?

No mention of Obama's help for Foster?
dlw

Hello,

Great news for Illinois.
Being a Independent from the Oregon Coast, I am grateful that the pendulum is swinging back to the middle and maybe we can not lose the Big Prize in November 2008. Let's face it, Obama is the better choice. Why ? He does not have to stoop to the lows that Clinton is stooping to. He does not "throw the kitchen sink" back at her. And he sure could !! Are we Americans so "into" letting Clinton's accusatory, fear mongering, doubt producing tactics alter who the best candidate is for the job come November ? Seeing Clinton behave in this manner leaves me with GREAT concern over how she will behave IF she makes it into the Oval Office- and that is a BIG IF. So, lets not blow it this time Dems- STICK WITH THE WINNER. GSL

I don't live in the 14th, so I don't know this for sure. Was it that the people out there were sick of Republicans, or maybe it was that they really don't like the Milk Dud?

Posted by: Cheryl Hussein | March 9, 2008 6:01 PM

Cheryl,

It was because of both of those things.

The Republicans can try to spin this loss however they want to but if they didn't want Oberweis as their candidate they could have voted for one of the other (R) primary candidates running against him...they didn't and no matter how they want to spin it (lie about it) this is a full on, hands down rejection of the Republican Party and it means more bad news for John McCain/Bush this fall.

OBAMA 08!!

I couldn't believe Hasert was reelected this last time. He is a slime ball letting those young House pages exposed to that pervert from Fla. I left the Republican Part when he did that.

I live in the 14 district. Oberweis, as has been his m.o., waged a negative campaign, filled with erroneous adds. It has not worked for him in his run for governor, nor did it work for him in his run for the Senate. He did pull it off it in the primary against an underfunded State Senator, Chris Lauzen, who I supported. I think the people here are tired of his act. He comes across as an insincere phony, just the opposite of Foster.

OK, once again (as I posted this elsewhere today) -- Obama's support meant nothing in this race. Zip. Nada. I live in this district and I never once saw the ad. I think people were really, really tired of the nasty campaign (and it was nasty) and many, many people regard Oberweis as a political gadfly. They don't like his views on immigration reform, and they know he's run for several other offices and lost.

Now if the GOP had run a moderate, he/she might have had a chance. One started the campagin -- Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, who is very moderate -- but he dropped out when Hastert endorsed Oberweis. I think a moderate could easily have won. But that's not the direction the GOP took, and it really cost the party.

But Obama's coattails? I'm not saying he doesn't have 'em. But he absolutely did not swing this election to Foster. Didn't happen.

But Obama's coattails? I'm not saying he doesn't have 'em. But he absolutely did not swing this election to Foster. Didn't happen.

Posted by: Beth | March 9, 2008 7:00 PM

Yeah, you used to call yourself, "kristy".

Quit crying, Republicans.

THE PEOPLE ARE SPEAKING AND THEY'RE REJECTING YOU FOR A VERY GOOD REASON, YOU HAVE BEEN A DISASTER.

YOU LOST!

YOU WILL LOSE IN 08!

OBAMA for President!!!

THE OBAMA FACTOR

The BIG factor in the Foster election was the help that Obama gave to him.

The Obama campaign opened its on-line phone bank to make calls for Foster, as well as having Barack Obama make television ads, and endorsements for Foster (as well as stumping for him).

This shows conclusively that Obama has "coat-tails" that can get other Democrats elected....very important since there will be up to (if not more) 30 Republican vacancies coming up in '08.

Obama's "coattails" can get Democrats elected in tradionally Republican strongholds...

Hillary cannot.

Something that will SURELY be noticed by the Democratic Party (as well as the Republican Party)

GO OBAMA ! (if you are a Democrat)

Go Hillary ! (if you are a Republican)

Voters didn't like Oberweis's hard-line immigration stance? Whaddya talking about? That was the only thing voters liked, prompting him to run for several elections with so much support on that one issue. The fact is that the average American voter is not going to vote for any right wing nutter who talks about privatizing social security. Apparently Oberweis hasn't taken notice of Enron and the subprime messes that would leave millions working until they're dead.

Hey Jimmy Hussein! So your solution is to turn the country over to a bunch of socialist!!! You goofballs can't even chose a Presidential nominee without screwing it up!! We are not going to give the entire Federal Government over to you pathetic whiners!!! Even if you do end up "stealing" control....this country will turn on you Lib's within the first six months...GUARANTEED!!!!

The reason Emanuel didn't mention Obama's coattails is because he has endorsed Hillary. That's also why he said that healthcare is what swung the election. Gee what a surprise more spin from another sleazeball HRC supporter. I wonder how much longer he'll be Democratic Causus chairman once President Obama is inaugurated.

I am an independent but I support Clinton. I like and trust Mccain. He will do as he says. That is why I cannot support him. Truth is not a reality in the world. I worked as a small part of Nixon's plummer operation through the F.B.I. And unless someone can get in the gutter to fight they are already lost. Obama is a baby in the raw flesh to be eaten alive.

I live in the 14th.

I absolutely hated Hastert for a variety of reasons.

Oberweis was a horrible candidate for the Republicans. Think about it. When he came in 2nd for the Senate Republican campaign the Republicans chose to get Alan Keyes rather than go to Oberweis.

In his Republican campaign, Oberweis ran his typical smear campaign again. He alienated his opponent so much that Chris Lauzen would not endorse Oberweis.

Despite Hastert's endorsement, I still don't see a lot of Republican support out there for Oberweis.

Keep in mind that Oberweis has YET to win an actual election. 0-4. After November it will hopefully be 0-5. As a politico, Oberweis is not an especially great candidate.

More to the point, the Republican party lost big. They have had trouble raising money and supposedly they spent 1/4th of their cash on hand in a losing cause.

Joe:

Nothing is guaranteed. Stating guaranteed says you can't tolerate ambiguity. That makes you a Republican, an inflexible one at that. Stick to following sports, you're more suited for that.

I live in Rahm Emanuel's district. I emailed him letting him know that if Barack Obama goes to the convention with more pledged delegates yet the nomination is given to Hillary Clinton, I will not be voting in November. This means that neither he nor Hillary will get my vote.

Uh, Jimmy Hussein? I don't know Kristy. My name really IS Beth and I really DO live in the 14th. Don't know Kristy.

And by the way, I will support Obama if he's the candidate. But I'm telling you, he made very little difference in this race. You can like Obama, you can support Obama and still find a few faults here and there. He's not Jesus Christ or anything, he's a candidate. A good one, but not the second coming of Christ.

the republican party nationwide is so full of crooks,big and small, that many republicans see and understand this fact.Noone wants to turn the country over to left wing crazies, but the republicans will get what they deserve in the nov. election.That oberweise is a phony comb over and now wig has not been lost to the republican faithfull. FIND some better candidates, especially if you are such business hotshots.Perhaps also the fact that both Illinois STATE Republican candidates lived in RIVERSIDE WAS NOT LOST ON THE REPUBLICAN ELECTORATE.Crooks are crooks and everyone is tired of them.

Politics is a crazy business. If I was the repub candidate in this house seat race, the LAST thing I would want is for Hastert to support me. In the same vein, McCain accepting Bush's support just seems counter-productive overall to his election chances, agreement on continuing the Iraq war not-withstanding.

What I haven't seen anyone talk about is the mess that the Republican party is in in Illinois. Since Jim Edgar left office the Republican party in this state has steadily fallen apart. In fact they even had to import a candidate for governor. It would be nice if Illinois could return to a two party system instead of the entire state being run by the Chicago Democratic party machine.

"Emanuel says Hastert, health care swung 14th CD"

I'm a Democrat and Rahm Emanuel does not have a clue about a winning strategy for the 14th or for any other district for that matter. Rahm is a pro war, pro NAFTA, clueless ding dong. Foster thankfully did not take Rahm's advice. Hopefully, he won't advise Scott Harper in the 13th and we'll have a chance to win there too.

This is a new delegate in the Obama column.

Like many other candidates throughout the country - in states big and small - having Obama lead the party will likely mean a bigger majority in the House and Senate.

Only the Clintons can once again bring the Democrats to bitter defeat, like they did in '94 - when the Republicans won the House for the first time in decades.

How ironic that Rahm Emanuel, a dyed-in-the-wool, card-carrying member of the DLC, which triangulaed the Democratic party into Republican lite, appears to believe that winning by .01% in the usual places is good enough and belongs to the Clinton-obsessed wing of that party, would fail to credit Obama's endorsement and the support of his Illinois gress-roots orgaization for part of Foster's success. Too bad Emanuel still can't get behind a 50-state strategy, even when faced with evidence that it WORKS. Hear this, Emanuel: the Democratic wing of the Democratic party is taking back its party and we will take back our country from myopic, misguided pols like you.

The architect? Emanuel? Please.... I guess you get a li'l access and you have to spout of nonsense like this.

Joe...don't be angry that we have 2 great candidates to choose from while you guys had a bunch of chumps.

I'm a pretty liberal democrat, but I'd vote for Mark Kirk. He is the kind of intelligent, open minded leader we need more of.

The top candidates in both parties are so divisive. That is what's turning off people to American politics.

We could use more people like Mark Kirk on both sides.

The Hastert reign of terror is over. Hastert has done more to destroy the Republican party in Illinois than anyone other that his good buddy George Ryan. He personally got rid of Peter Fitzgerald because he didn't like the selection of Patrick Fitzgerald. This helped create the Obama phenomenum. Now his hand-picked replacement Oberweis goes done in a very strong Republican district. The Hastert cronies who are intending to get rich off of the Prairie Parkway are being removed from office one by one. The remaining Hastert political team must be very nervous. Hastert's only remaining political allies are Daley and Blago who have used this simpleton to the max.

nik poos says Republicans are crooks what about Democrats? For starters Antoin Tony Rezko, Christopher Kelly, Joseph Cari. What about Mrs. Mahajan Blago and Obama's friend her company did $2.5 million in urinalysis for DCFS. Only problem she collected the money and didn't actually perform the tests. Hence she was indicted. What about the proven corruption in Daley's office and Obama is nothing but a Cook County machine Democrat we really need Chicago running America.As for Ram Rod Emmanuel he is a political hack! Jerry White, Springfield, IL on and on and on!

I AM a voter in the 14th. I loathe Dennis Hastert and will vote against any candidate he endorses. But, Oberweis' immigration stance is a position I love. However, I also did not trust his motives & why this guy had a jones on to start at the top job instead of a lower office & was soooo determined, year after year. Suspect ulterior motives. Also didn't mind that Foster has a brilliant mind, & it's about time we elected thinking individuals & not people we "love to have a beer with".