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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (306379)	10/15/2006 4:14:03 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578452

Watch Mr. Ford whup Corker's skinny butt! youtube.com

To: Road Walker who wrote (306379)	10/15/2006 3:06:47 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578452

This is pretty pathetic but in all too many races, people don't have a real choice. Another need for third party? And in some places, corruption seems to be business as usual. After all, those congressmen didn't all just learn about corruption when they got to DC. Voters face unhappy choice More than half say they aren't satisfied with top 2 candidates By Rick Pearson Tribune political reporter Published October 15, 2006 Illinois voters are unhappy with Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, but they like Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka even less, giving the incumbent the advantage less than a month before the election, a new Tribune/WGN-TV poll shows. The poll reveals widespread voter disillusionment even before the latest allegations of corruption, setting the stage for a lackluster turnout in the Nov. 7 election. And as the election moves closer, voters are becoming increasingly unsure about where to turn. More than half the voters surveyed aren't satisfied with the ballot choices for governor. A large majority believe the level of corruption is the same as in previous administrations, and nearly four in 10 think that neither of the major candidates would do the better job in cleaning up state government. "You can't do any worse than what you have here," said poll respondent Mel Danielson, 66, of North Chicago, a self-described independent who said he was so disgusted with corruption that he might write himself on the ballot. "It's like a soap opera playing over and over again." The survey showed Blagojevich with the support of 43 percent of the voters polled, while Topinka had 29 percent and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney had 9 percent. Another 17 percent were undecided, and 2 percent offered choices for governor not among the names appearing on the Nov. 7 ballot. The poll, conducted Oct. 8 to Wednesday among 600 likely voters, has an error margin of 4 percentage points. Blagojevich's 14 percentage point advantage over Topinka represents an incremental increase from the 12 percentage point lead he held in a Tribune poll conducted almost a month ago. But both major candidates had higher levels of support in the previous poll, which showed Blagojevich with 45 percent, Topinka with 33 percent and Whitney with 6 percent. Reflections of voter unease The high level of undecided voters, combined with the lower support for both major candidates in the new poll, is one reflection of voter unease. Another indication was the finding that 51 percent of voters said they are dissatisfied with the choices for governor on the ballot. The disdain reflected in the poll came even before the full effects of the federal indictment of one of Blagojevich's top advisers and fundraisers could be measured. On Wednesday, the final day of the survey, federal prosecutors announced charges against Antoin "Tony" Rezko involving alleged attempts to extort millions of dollars in kickbacks and political donations from firms seeking state business. A total of 39 percent of the voters said neither Blagojevich nor Topinka would do a better job of cleaning up corruption, an increase of 12 percentage points from the previous survey. Looking solely at how voters rate Blagojevich, the first-term governor would appear to be in significant trouble. More voters than not view him unfavorably and disapprove of the job he is doing as governor. A total of 64 percent say he has failed to keep a key campaign pledge that helped get him elected four years ago--to end corrupt "business as usual" in the Statehouse. Asked to compare the current level of corruption to that of previous administrations, 60 percent of voters said it is the same. A majority of voters--63 percent--also said they believed it was wrong of Blagojevich to accept a $1,500 check for his daughter from a family friend after the friend's wife got a state job. Blagojevich has said he saw nothing wrong with accepting the check from the lifelong friend. But voters' negative view of Topinka, the three-term Republican state treasurer, has kept Blagojevich ahead in the race and hindered her attempts to promote her message. Unfavorable view of Topinka Nearly half of all voters surveyed have an unfavorable view of the Republican nominee--reflecting Blagojevich's TV attack ads, questions of whether she has the gravitas to be governor, and a failure to unify the disparate factions of the state GOP after a fractious March primary. In the last month, the number of Illinois voters who have an unfavorable opinion of Topinka jumped to 49 percent from 40 percent. continue >> chicagotribune.com