In their weekly mailer, a bit stripped from the Capitol Fax gives some insight into who Simmons entry into the Senate race benefits,
The recent entry into the Democratic U.S. Senate primary of a wealthy trial lawyer from Downstate should help Barack Obama’s chances, according to a number of political analysts this week. The candidacy of John Simmons, who has pledged to spend $10 million of his own money on the race, threatens the chances of Dan Hynes and Blair Hull – two Chicago-based candidates who are vying for Downstate support, analysts state. They add that Simmons’ entry should help Obama, whose campaign is focusing on Chicago and suburban voters and urban communities Downstate. For example, Rich Miller of Capitol Fax reported on May 21 that "Barack Obama may benefit the most" from a Simmons bid, which would split support among the candidates in populous Madison County -Simmons’ home.
IOW, Simmons will pick up votes in Metro-East that aren’t African-American and that seems to be an accurate prediction. The question is can Simmons have any impact at all.