AuH2Republican, why did you say that the 3rd District doesn’t have any good candidates? The best candidate, in that race, is Diane Harris, and I’m her campaign manager. She’s pro-flat tax, pro-spending cuts, pro-life, pro-gun rights, anti-Obamacare, and anti-illegal alien. She was endorsed by three former U.S. Senate candidats, Al Salvi, Chad Koppie, and Mike Psak. Please read her site, harrisforcongress3.com.
I meant “good” as in “having a chance to win.” The Green Papers lists her as not having raised *any* money as of Sepember 30. She could be as qualified to serve in Congress as Peter Roskam was when he ran a few years ago, and it wouldn’t matter if she doesn’t raise a crapload of money to pay for advertising in that very expensive media market. Dan Lipinski will be extremely tough to beat in that district, and it will take more than a good personality and a strong platform to do so—she needs lots of money.
But you’re correct that I spoke without first seeing Diane Harris’s website (as I said initially, I haven’t researched all the candidates). I have to be honest: Harris, a black Baptist from Will County, sounds like a terrific candidate for a state rep or state senate seat from Will County, but will be at a big disadvantage against Lipinski running in Polish and other ethnic Catholic neighborhoods in South Chicago (which have been represented in Congress by him or his father for over 30 years). The new IL-03 is one of those districts that BillyBoy always mentions in which Republicans can do well in the suburbs but then get swamped in the Chicago precincts. Against Lipinski, I would run a Polish guy or gal from South Chicago with appeal to suburban voters, and even then Lipinski would have the advantage.