Democrat Wins Dennis Hastert's Seat - Sign of Things to Come?
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
March 10, 2008 10:27pm CST
With all the political news being devoted to the ongoing Presidential race this item got pretty much lost in the shuffle, but former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's House seat was won by Democrat Bill Foster in a special election on Saturday.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=296365
This is not good news for the GOP, in my estimation. For the seat held by the former Speaker to go to the opposing party is big in itself but also of note is the fact this district was heavily Republican due to gerrymandering and it still went Democratic. Defeated Republican Jim Overweis will also be the GOP nominee in November so it doesn't look like things will be any better for the party than. The GOP must defend at least 30 seats that are being vacated by its incumbents this year so this scenario could very well play out over and over again this fall. In this particular race neither money nor the endorsement of GOP nominee John McCain helped millionaire Overweis who greatly overspent Foster and savaged him in radio ads. Are there any Illinois residents here who woul d like to comment on this?
Annie
2 people like this
1 response
@Smith2028 (797)
• United States
12 Mar 08
The Democrats just had a pretty monumental win by taking over Hastert's seat. Oberweis in his 6th run at elected office went too hard and too fast at Foster. Granted, nothing Oberweis said was false, the way he presented his case was harsh. Foster had the added advantage of having Illinois Senator and Presidential Candidate Barack Obama endorsing him, which means a lot more this year than it would have in the past years.
Do I think this is a sign of things to come? Yes. I believe this is going to be a brutal election for all of those in Congress. So no I do not believe this is a sign of things to come for the Democrats alone. I think all incumbents running have to make a very very strong case for re-election.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
16 Mar 08
I understand Oberweis had Bush and McCain's support; in a heavily Republican district you'd think that would have helped. Even if you're correct about the problem being for incumbents rather than just for the GOP, it doesn't bode well for them because they have a large number of Senate seats up for grabs. Do you think the Dems majority will grow?
Annie
