Topinka is going to appear with Bush at a fundraiser he is headlining for her–and while there is some puzzlement since Bush is one of the few people to consistently make Blagojevich look popular even on the Guv’s worst days, think about her first problem—securing the base.
While I don’t think the primary was the worst ever, it was one in which Judy was portrayed as a liberal and even to the left of Blagojevich at times. How do you cure that? Well, one way is to tack right, but Blagojevich is ready for that with proposals and press releases and commercials. The other way is to run to the Gold Standard of conservative Republicans and that is George Bush.
While Bush has consistently been unpopular in Illinois, he has 1/3 of voters who support him, apparently no matter what he does and appearing with him and having his blessing will help mend those fears. It also gives Blagojevich a target, but not a fatal one–though, as I’ve said, Blagojevich wants nothing more than to turn this into a race against George Bush and Washington Republicans.
Add George Ryan in there and a repackaging of the Pay to Play Polka commercial and that’s a campaign. That doesn’t mean he’ll win, but it is a strong message if well executed in Illinois.
You’ll get a kick out of this one Larry, National Journal’s Hotline had this headline for their IL governor story today.
ILLINOIS: Bush Punishing Topinka By Appearing With Her?
Hilarious.
The NY Times had a story about how the governor of New Jersey, who’s running for the Senate, deliberately took the long way to his own fundraiser so he wouldn’t have to be in the presence of Dick Cheney.