So, as I suspected, I had no chance to blog while away for work and now I'm on a trip home to a red state (and even picked up some
red state paraphernalia). In fact by the time I return to Illinois, I may start to consider myself a carpetbagger.
But, I finally got a chance log on and there was the
wonderful news from the Tribune, that the polling numbers were "nearly two-thirds of voters indicating support for Democrat Barack Obama and less than one-quarter backing Keyes, according to a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll." Although I'm sure most of you have seen these numbers by now, nor are terribly surprised by them, I just wanted to point out a few of my favorites:
Conservatives said they recruited the outspoken Keyes as someone who could eloquently make the case that Obama, a Democratic state senator from Hyde Park, was too liberal to represent the state. But the poll showed that more than half of voters said they mostly agreed with Obama's stance on issues, while less than one in five said they agreed with Keyes.
Even voters who described themselves as fairly conservative preferred Obama to Keyes by a margin of 49 percent to 40 percent.
Keyes has made opposition to abortion a centerpiece of his campaign, forcefully decrying it as a sin and equating abortion rights advocates like Obama to slaveholders. But the survey found that only 28 percent of Illinois voters want to see restrictions on abortion tightened, while 61 percent said they either liked the status quo or thought restrictions should be loosened. The rest said they didn't know
Despite the controversy that led Ryan to drop off the ballot, black voters still had a far higher opinion of him than Keyes, with 25 percent saying they viewed the former GOP candidate favorably.
