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Illinois GOP must learn to play nice without Edgar
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| Parent(s) |
Candidate
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| Contributor | COSDem |
| Last Edited | COSDem Jul 13, 2005 05:43pm |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Media | Newspaper - Chicago Sun-Times |
| News Date | Wednesday, July 13, 2005 11:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Jim Edgar is far away from Illinois right now, soaking up the mountain scenery of Colorado. He and his wife, Brenda, are out West baby-sitting three of their grandchildren, ages 10, 7 and 4. When I called Tuesday, they were just about to take one of the kids to the dentist.
At just 58, Illinois' former Republican governor has what can only be described as a wonderful life. Though he left office seven years ago, Edgar is regularly implored to return and rescue his party from its wretchedness. He demurred in 2002, the year in which just one lone Republican, Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, managed to win statewide office. And he declined to dance in the 2004 U.S. Senate race in which Alan Keyes was the Republican Party's kamikaze offering against an unbeatable Barack Obama.
Now there is a third effort under way, maybe the most ardent of all, to get Edgar to finally do more than flirt with a political curtain call.
If recent polls are to be believed, Edgar would be the leader of the Republican pack if he decided to run for governor in 2006, presumably against the incumbent Rod Blagojevich. Why on earth would he do it?
Consider Edgar's circumstances right now. He's still got, by his own count, about $1 million left in his political fund that he can legally spend a variety of ways. He's got plenty of time for his growing grandchildren and his beloved horses. And he has a great gig at the University of Illinois, where he is a distinguished fellow at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs. He gets to go around giving lectures. "I particularly like to lecture journalists," he laughed.
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