Crain’s Greg Hinz posted a piece yesterday with the above title that should surprise no one. How can voters here choose Romney when there is no Republican message to be heard in Illinois? And that’s been the case for better than a decade.
Two days ago the Washington Times ran an op ed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Too bad Illinois residents have to look north to hear about what Republicans are doing there instead of hearing about what Republicans would like to do here.
First, from Crain’s:
Despite grating economic woes, Illinois voters remain mostly loyal to the Chicagoan in the White House, according to the latest Crain’s/Ipsos Illinois Poll.
But the economy has weakened his numbers.
President Barack Obama holds a 20-percentage-point lead over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has wrapped up the Republican nomination.
Specifically, the survey of 600 voting-age Illinois residents found that 51 percent say they would vote for Mr. Obama today, to Mr. Romney’s 31 percent. Fourteen percent say the don’t know whom they would back.
Here’s an excerpt from Scott Walker’s WT piece:
From red to black, Wisconsin is back
State and local governments around the country are increasingly concerned about their bond ratings. Earlier this year, one of the national bond rating agencies downgraded the state of Illinois because of concerns about its budget liabilities.
In the past, Wisconsin faced similar concerns.
When I took office on Jan. 3, 2011, we faced a $3.6 billion budget deficit. Prior administrations had delayed payments, raided segregated funds and used one-time federal stimulus funds for ongoing operational expenses.
As governor, I took immediate action because my state faced a fiscal crisis.