curious about something...

[Keystone Phil]

Hieneman was and is a pretty good Gov though.

And that's going to be harder to campaign against even if you are an idol. Obama didn't have that.

[12th Doctor]

I hate Mike Ditka

Uhh.... ok?

I know what he means. Remember when Ditka was considering a run against Obama in 2004? Let's not get into whether or not Ditka would win because BRTD will come in here and throw a fit.

Dude, after Lynn Swann, I've become convinced that all celebrity runs for political office should be taken with a grain of salt and the acknowledgment that the party doing it is admitting weakness, and thus should be expected to lose.  Arnold is a very rare case here.

[Keystone Phil]

I hate Mike Ditka

Uhh.... ok?

I know what he means. Remember when Ditka was considering a run against Obama in 2004? Let's not get into whether or not Ditka would win because BRTD will come in here and throw a fit.

Dude, after Lynn Swann, I've become convinced that all celebrity runs for political office should be taken with a grain of salt and the acknowledgment that the party doing it is admitting weakness, and thus should be expected to lose.  Arnold is a very rare case here.

Sure they should be taken with a grain of salt but just because Swann sucked doesn't mean they all do. The man's heart wasn't in it and he just couldn't match a born politician who was personally popular (and running in a great year for his party).

[HardRCafé]

Ditka is to Illinois what Jesus Christ is to Catholics, there is no shot he would have lost.  If Obama ever becomes president or something similar, I blame Mike Ditka and Mike Ditka only.

Not only would it have been an uphill battle, but he agreed to run.  You would be blaming the wrong person.

[dead0man]

Hieneman was and is a pretty good Gov though.

And that's going to be harder to campaign against even if you are an idol. Obama didn't have that.

Agreed.

[Eraserhead]

Does Ditka even know anything about the issues?  I saw him on Fox a few months ago and he seemed pretty clueless, to say the least.

[minionofmidas]

Hieneman was and is a pretty good Gov though.

And that's going to be harder to campaign against even if you are an idol. Obama didn't have that.

Then again, Tom Osborne (who lost his primary by just four points, btw) was actually had a second career as a politician. Governor or Senator is too high, under normal circumstances, to enter politics based entirely on your non-political credentials. And Illinois' just a wee bit bigger than Nebraska; that matters big time. And Osborne didn't have the drawback of being a self-described wacko.