LaHood's son for U.S. Attorney?

I've criticized the Journal Star and Peoria news media for not getting U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood's (R-18th District, Peoria) position on whether retiring state senator Rick Winkel should be named the new U.S. Attorney for Central Illinois.

Today, the JS's Molly Parker delved into the issue and found that Darin LaHood the congressman's son -- is returning to Peoria and has tossed his hat into the ring.

So, I guess we can forget about Ray endorsing Mr. Winkel, huh?

On its face, Darin LaHood seems vastly more qualified than Rick Winkel. The younger LaHood recently completed a several-year stint as terrorism prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's office in Las Vegas. Before that, he served as a state prosecutor in Cook County and more than two years at the Tazewell County State's Attorney's Office working under Stewart Umholtz, Parker reports. In fact, he was discussed as a replacement for Umholtz should he seek higher office.

The question I have is this: Does the junior LaHood have anything in his background that would work against his favor?

What are Winkel's chances now that the younger LaHood's name is in the running? Surprisingly good. Ray says he's not going to get involved in the decision, but I doubt that he's as neutral as that would suggest. Winkel has several GOP congresspeople in his corner, too.

In the end, I suspect it will all boil down to which GOP congressman's ass President Bush needs to kiss the most. And let's not forget that the Michael Brown/FEMA and Harriet Meiers/Supreme Court debacles proved Dubya doesn't have the best track record when it comes to naming the best candidates to important federal jobs.