Posted on 07/09/2004 6:27:28 PM PDT by AuH2ORepublican
Bush Aide Resigns to Explore Ill. Senate Run Friday, July 09, 2004
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. The deputy director of President Bush's drug-control office resigned Friday to explore a run for the U.S. Senate in place of Jack Ryan (search), the Republican nominee who dropped out over sex club allegations.
Andrea Grubb Barthwell (search), a Chicago-area physician, had been deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (search) in Washington since 2002, focusing on reducing demand for drugs.
Federal law barred her from seeking the Republican nomination while she worked for the government. Michael Barnes, an attorney and Barthwell friend, said she will now talk to Illinois GOP officials to gauge their interest in having her run.
"If there is an interest, she would be willing to pursue it," Barnes said. "It would be a great opportunity for her to serve."
Drug czar John Walters praised Barthwell in a statement issued after her resignation. "Her passion for protecting the health of all Americans has been inspiring," he wrote. "We wish her well in her future endeavors."
If Barthwell were chosen to face off against Democrat Barack Obama (search), it would be the first time in history that two black candidates battled as the parties' nominees for a U.S. Senate seat.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Shee-zus. I hope this information torpedoes her candidacy,
fast.
She shouldn't even have been appointed to her job in the federal government. Who was asleep at the switch, I wonder.
"Y'know, I actually think Ditka is enough of an audacious choice to run the guy (which would definitely throw Obama for a loop). But the question is what are his positions ? He may be enough to cut into the Chicago ethnic voting bloc dramatically (such as the Rostenkowski-Blagojevich-Emanuel district as well as Lipinski's), which is an absolute must now. At this point, we've got precious little to lose where IL is concerned."
And oh, as for Ditka's positions, he is 100% pro-life and describes himself as "an ultra-ultra-ultra-conservative" (I meay be missing an ultra there). So we won't have to worry about Ditka being an Arnold-type RINO.
As far as you know, was Glenn Poshard approached about switching to the GOP and running for the Senate? While Obama would beat the conservative Poshard in a RAT primary, Poshard should be able to win in a general election (although Obama would do better in the Collar Counties against Poshard than against a more economically conservative Republican). I read somewhere that Poshard wouldn't switch to run for the Senate, but I don't know whether he had been formally approached.
Doesn't matter. If Ditka's out, Obama's in and that's it. His advantage is too big for a no-name to come back.
I'm still hoping to be pleasantly surprised.
Illinois Republicans have the RINO establishment and George Ryan to thank. The Queen of the RINOs herself, Judy Topinka, wants to run for governor and be the savior of her party. Permit me to handicap the race a few years ahead: She goin' down. The party has got to rebuild and mushy centrism will do nothing but further make Illinois a one-party state.
Probably the only thing to do in Illinois is burn down the RINO establishment and start anew. That will probably take more than 12 months though, so it might be prudent to start loading up those boxes...
While it it still entirely possible that Da Coach could have lost, he could have prevented the death of the ILGOP. Now it's pretty much a fait accompli.
While it it still entirely possible that Da Coach could have lost, he could have prevented the death of the ILGOP. Now it's pretty much a fait accompli.
Well first things first, turn on the firehose and get the RINOs out. Then maybe the party can start to rebuild with any shade of credibility.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.