GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - July 7, 2008

CHICAGO TRIBUNE & NEWSWEEK & ASSOCIATED PRESS
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: BEYOND OUTRAGEOUS: AP and Yahoo denigrate McCain as being an "old guy" and promote Obama as being an "agent of change"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-ap-yahoo-poll-candidate-images,0,2262052.story
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-ap-yahoo-poll-candidate-images-method,0,7504835.story (polling methodology)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/144841
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gcYxchcgbjmHqKbkpxv2zf1SLIvQD91OURCO0

CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Sauerberg had an entry in Wheaton's 2008 Independence Day parade, but he walked in Arlington Height's parade; sadly, Hinz says Sauerberg is the "Invisible Man"
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?articleId=30220
(FROM THE ARTICLE: In most states, electing a U.S. senator is a big deal. Campaigns clash and TV ad wars erupt. Washington big shots drop by to endorse. The winner gets a six-year membership in the world's most exclusive club, don'tcha know. It used to be that way in Illinois. Remember Carol Moseley Braun against Peter Fitzgerald and Alan Dixon? Or, a bit earlier, Chuck Percy vs. Alex Seith. Barack Obama against, well, who cares? It was Barack Obama. So, quick, tell me who the Republicans have put up this year against incumbent Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin - the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate and quite possibly the majority leader of that body not too far in the future. If you can't recall the name, you have lots of company. Unless something changes fast, 2008 will become the year in which the Illinois GOP lost its last shred of relevance. The GOP nominee is a southwest suburban family physician, Steve Sauerberg. He won the nomination largely because he promised to drop some of his own money into the race - $1.25 million so far — and because party leaders gave him enough support to get him past gadfly and perennial candidate Tony Martin, previously known as Anthony Martin-Trigona. Mr. Sauerberg, 54, will not embarrass the party like the jaw-dropping Alan Keyes did as the substitute GOP nominee against Mr. Obama four years ago. In fact, on most issues, he's a rather mainstream Republican, railing against "career politicians" and pushing tax cuts, secure borders and stay-the-course policies in Iraq. . .Mr. Sauerberg's name appeared in major Illinois newspapers - all of them, collectively, from Carbondale to Chicago - a grand total of seven times in the months of May and June. One of the seven was in a letter to the editor. Why? A bit of the blame goes to Team Sauerberg. The candidate's press secretary lives in Washington, D.C. His schedule is limited and tends to be filled with appearances before party units and allied groups like the state rifle association. Creative stunts that might lure reporters away from the Obama beat are sorely needed. But more of the blame goes to party elders, who frankly haven't done much since helping Mr. Sauerberg through the primary and now are focused on other things, like saving U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk's north suburban 10th District seat. Unlike Mr. Keyes, Mr. Sauerberg is their kind of guy, and if he flops, they'll look bad, too. Even with their help, Mr. Sauerberg almost certainly is going to get clobbered in November. Mr. Obama will pull lots of Democratic-friendly voters to the polls. The GOP's Senate campaign committee is overwhelmed trying to save seats in other states that look a lot more winnable. Illinois cultural conservatives are at best ho-hum about Mr. Sauerberg. And Mr. Durbin is no slouch. Despite his high position, this pothole senator works his job and holds as many media availabilities as a House freshman from a swing district. All that having been said, the last thing Illinois Republicans need is another blowout. Mr. Obama beat Mr. Keyes by more than 2 million votes, 3,597,456 to 1,390,690. Is the GOP shooting to top that mark?)

SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
-- Blagojevich a 'sociopath'?
http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x1713656502/State-Capitol-Notebook
-- VERY SAD: MURDERERS OVERJOYED: Death penalty cannot be reformed - Editorial
http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x1512924303/Our-Opinion-Death-penalty-cannot-be-reformed

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: More evidence that the Chicago Sun-Times is an agent of the Democrat Party - it focuses on Larry Craig and his bathroom stall at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
http://www.suntimes.com/news/elections/1042580,CST-NWS-bath07.article

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
-- Champaign County GOP's pick for candidate? A U. of I. student Republicans have chosen a 21-year-old U. of I. senior to run against the favored legislative incumbent - Bob Secter
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-youngest-candidate-07-jul07,0,7804832.story

DAILY HERALD
-- State leaders need to compromise - Editorial
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=214773&src=
-- Liberal media, leaders hiding the truth - Emilio F. Marcos, Geneva
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=214792&src=

BEACON NEWS
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Beacon News urges homeless veterans to come to Wheaton and to try to get accepted by its Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1042262,2_1_AU07_VETERANS_S1.article
-- Vote centers could change 'politics as usual' - Editorial
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/1042579,2_1_AU07_KCTALK_S1.article
(FROM THE EDITORIAL: But precincts are not just for voting. They are the political division for the most basic component of the party system -- the precinct committeeman. There is one precinct committeeman for every party in each precinct. Creating new precincts would also create new committeemen. And how big a precinct is plays out at political conventions, at least for the GOP in Kane County, where each committeeman gets a vote weighted toward how many people voted in his precinct in the last primary. So, splitting precincts can make a difference to a committeeman in a big precinct. That committeeman gets a big weighted vote, but would go on a diet, politically speaking, if the precinct were split. For the GOP, that is a factor in the western townships, where some committeemen are getting bigger and bigger precincts because of the growth west of Randall Road. If the vote-center concept works as expected, and it eliminates or curtails the reasons to split precincts, some committeemen could reap the power of having a larger vote at the GOP convention after each election. Party regulars would surely like to see those precincts split to take too much power out of specific committeemen. It is no coincidence that Kenyon, who proposed the precinct splits, is chairman of the county GOP. Of course, it could all be moot in two years, when the County Board must redistrict its representative districts, and precincts also will be shifted. But as vote centers become more and more the norm, it could change how the parties handle their politics.)

NAPERVILLE SUN
-- Illinois Institute of Technology to show film on election fraud in Wheaton on Friday, July 11
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1041590,6_1_NA06_BALLOT_S1.article

CHICAGO ARGUS
-- Impeachment of Blagojevich ought to be an embarrassment for Illinois residents - Gregory Tejeda
http://chicagoargus.blogspot.com/2008/07/impeachment-of-blagojevich-embarrassing.html

ILLINOIS REVIEW
-- Cry Me A Riva - Rosanna Pulido
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2008/07/cry-me-a-riva.html
(THE RESPONSE: Rafael Rivadeneira was crying a river to local news papers this past week about a report on the John McCain "Hispanic Reception in Chicago." He wanted to set the record straight! Let's look at the facts . . . Rafael readily admits he supports Comprehensive Immigration Reform which American taxpayers have come to know as Amnesty for illegal aliens. It has cost Americans billions of dollars, but hey Rafael could care less, he supports it! This is the same Comprehensive Immigration Reform that SHUT DOWN the White House switchboard June 2007. But who's listening? Was Rafael out of the country that he did not hear the message of the American People when they spoke or doesn't he understand English? Outraged Americans were disgusted and took action and told Washington D.C. "NO" to Comprehensive immigration Reform. Mr. Rivadeneira throws out accusations of race baiting rhetoric, but he is the one whose loyalty is to a group of Hispanics and those (John Mc Cain) who vow to further the Hispanic agenda. (La Raza) Forget what he says and watch what Rafael does! He does not bother to deal with the problem of Hispanics and others among our own working poor who are getting shafted by mass immigration. The big question, of course, is how can this guy support a politician who wants to reward illegal behavior and, in the process, make a mockery of the sacrifices Hispanics have made on "behalf of this country?" Here in Illinois taxpayers spend 3.5 billion dollars for services for illegal aliens, while our senior citizens and our veterans are seeing their benefits vanish while illegal aliens get plenty of FREE services. Who can stand silent as fellow Americans suffer because of this lawlessness that has taken over the country? He would like folks to think illegal immigration is one issue. Illegal immigration is responsible for closing dozens of our hospitals, overcrowding our schools, tripling our property taxes for free services for illegal aliens, it has compromised our National Security during a time of war, and lastly it has been responsible for the deaths of over forty thousand American Citizens since September 11, 2001 who have experienced "death by illegal alien." Rafael is correct about one thing, an agenda! The Agenda is this, to continue educating fellow Americans about the devastating effects of illegal immigration, and hold the feet of politicians to the FIRE like John McCain who shamefully disregard their oath of office and who is selling out our children's, senior citizens and military veteran's future and security to illegal foreign invaders.)

PUBLIC AFFAIRS
-- Berkowitz w/ Rep. Beaubien on Obama, McCain and Blago
http://jeffberkowitz.blogspot.com/2008/07/better-than-stephanopoulos-wlieberman.html

REPUBLICANS FOR FAIR MEDIA
-- Jesse Jackson + Chicago Mayor Are Stymied By High Court's Ruling On D.C. Gun Ban: Afghanis Get It, Too Bad Anti-Gun Elitists Don’t NRA To Target Chicago + Neighboring Suburban Hand Gun Bans, After Supreme Court Ruling - Bill Zettler
http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2008/07/jesse-jackson-chicago-mayor-are-stymied-by-high-courts-ruling-on-dc-gun-ban.html

HUMAN EVENTS
-- Obama’s 'Dignity' Ad isn't Dignified (Or truthful) - Ross Kaminsky
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=27327

POLITICO
-- Obama’s apple pie campaign - Jonathan Martin and Ben Smith
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11550.html
-- McCain promises to balance budget - Mike Allen
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11553.html

CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Tragically, Democrats and RINOs have had great success in getting many minorities to view themselves as a) members of their race first and citizens of America second and b) victims of old white male conservative Republicans. Consequently, tragically, it seems that many minorities are race based voters, that is, they vote for whichever candidate promises to get government to give the most preference to members of their race
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002911213

WASHINGTON POST
-- VERY SAD: Obama Addresses His Faith Senator Describes Spiritual Journey - Jonathan Weisman
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/05/AR2008070501854.html?hpid=topnews

NEW YORK TIMES
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: FRONT PAGE WITH PICTURE: New York Times promotes Obama, again
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/us/politics/07community.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1215424975-52IPBJczK4EieaCsUaVy0A

ABC NEWS
-- Obama's (Almost) Round the Clock Coverage - Sunlen Miller
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/obamas-almost-r.html

USA TODAY
-- Obama showed independent streak in lobbyist dealings - Ken Dilanian
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-07-06-Lobbyists_N.htm
(FROM THE ARTICLE: On Wednesday nights during Illinois General Assembly sessions, a group of lobbyists and lawmakers used to gather at the headquarters of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association for a weekly poker game. Barack Obama, who represented part of Chicago as state senator from 1997-2004, was a regular. These days, Obama says lobbyists are part of the problem with Washington, and he refuses to accept their fundraising help. But during his eight years in Springfield, Ill., Obama played golf and basketball with them and hit them up for campaign donations, according to records and interviews. He shared meals with them, though he was careful to pay his own way, they say. Obama also accepted lobbyist money when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, and he later used his influence to help secure grants for 16 Illinois-based institutions represented by six of his lobbyist contributors, public records show. He did all that while retaining a reputation for independence. "I can't remember a time that state senator Obama wasn't on the side of the consumers," said David Kolata, executive director of the non-partisan Illinois Citizens Utility Board.)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: FRONT PAGE: Outrageously, USA TODAY argues that illegals in America are entitled to college educations in America
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-06-Illegaled_N.htm

WALL STREET JOURNAL
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Outrageously, Peter Brown argues that "Obama Is Redefining American Patriotism"
http://blogs.wsj.com/politicalperceptions/2008/07/06/how-obama-is-redefining-american-patriotism/