Blago's Hair and Your Vote for IL Govenor

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I can't think of anything better than how vigorously the Illinois Republican primary for governor is being waged already. There is a lot of really early activity. Individual campaigns are emerging from the smoke-filled room phase long ahead of schedule.

The above Andy McKenna video excerpt, posted above, is a great political ad from a visual standpoint, and is very clever. As far as I am concerned, the more the culture of corruption is discussed, the more likely it is that voters will at least spend a few minutes considering how it steals from the citizens of Illinois. Corruption is, of course, candidate Dan Proft's issue. He discusses that culture with great passion, conviction and breadth of knowledge. I don't think I've ever seen Andy McKenna passionate about anything, but that may be more personal style than anything else.

Proft's focus on corruption is already beneficial, having moved McKenna to move to take the wind out of Proft's sails and co-opt the issue that Proft hammers home daily. At the moment, that means that Proft has emerged as the man to beat. That will change. Candidate Jim Ryan is still pretty quiet. Ryan is battle tested, has the best name recognition, and traditionally rates an A (or possibly an A+) in working a crowd. While he has some baggage, he is a white knight, and in a rich field of good candidates, could emerge early as the clear front runner.

h/t to the Capitol Fax Blog for the heads-up on the video.