HASTERT ANNOUNCES HE'S HAD ENOUGH ON FRIDAY... LOOKS LIKE DAVE HOBSON IS ALSO GOING THE WAY OF THE DODO

Two down: Hastert & Hobson

It should come as a surprise to no one anywhere that this will be Denny Hastert's last year in the U.S. House of Representatives, misrepresenting Illinois' 14th congressional district. Hopefully, progressive Fighting Dem John Laesch will replace him, regardless of which reactionary the Republicans put up to carry on with Hastert's reflexive rubber stamp attitude towards the illegitimate Bush Regime and their disastrous agenda. Less expected, at least outside the Columbus and Dayton suburbs, is the retirement of Ohio's 9-term conservative Congressman Dave Hobson.

Bush won the 7th district in 2000 and 2004 (by 55% and 57%) and last year Hobson won by his lowest margin ever-- 61% against weak opposition. His hand picked successor in this red district is State Senator Steve Austria. According to DaytonOS Clark County Commissioner Roger Tackett is considering running for Austria's state senate seat. But I'm not hearing about any Democrats so far looking to run for the congressional seat. Austria is likely to be as much a rubber stamp Republican as Hobson has been. Next expected Midwest Republican to jump ship should be Ralph Regula.


UPDATE: WHY WAIT FOR FRIDAY

The mystery didn't last long. It was all over the Hill, all over the district and now all over the NY Times: bye-bye Hastert. “It is time to step away,” Mr. Hastert, 65, said in a recent interview, one of a series he gave in advance of an announcement of his retirement planned for Friday.


MAYBE THERE'LL BE SOME DRAMA ON FRIDAY AFTER ALL

This morning's Washington Post reports that Planet Denny Hastert may not wait-- but could hightail it out of Dodge at the end of the year! "He has been considering resigning from the House this year. If he did, Hastert would trigger a special election that could give an indication of whether Democrats are continuing their political surge or whether Republicans have stanched the bleeding in GOP-leaning districts."

Hastert was aware that Florida Republican Mark Foley was molesting young male pages for at least 3 years before Lane Hudson broke the scandal wide open. Hastert was fully aware that Foley had attempted to break into what closeted Republican hypocrites call "the candy store," the dormitory that houses the congressional pages. Hastert did nothing-- other than to urge the mentally deranged Foley to keep running for re-election. Boehner snitched Hastert out to the ethics committee. "In addition to his handling of the Foley scandal, Hastert has been dogged by ethics questions regarding highway funding bill earmarks affecting land close to property that he owns."

Like other exurban districts, Hastert's once-solidly Republican district of suburban and rural voters has drifted toward the Democratic Party. Hastert won reelection in November with a comfortable 60 percent of the vote, but that was down from 69 percent in 2004 and 74 percent in 2002.

Two Republican candidates for Hastert's seat have already emerged-- state Sen. Chris Lauzen and Jim Oberweis, a well-funded investment adviser and dairy farmer who has run for office several times.

But a special election could give the GOP trouble, said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report. President Bush took 55 percent of the vote in 2004 in Hastert's district, a majority that was small enough for some Democratic candidates to win in other districts in 2006. A special election would hinge on turnout; and for the moment, Republicans are demoralized by an unpopular president and an unpopular war, while Democrats are energized for the same reasons.

Old line and establishment media outlets like the Post are pushing for the Blue Dog who can be depended on to continue pushing Hastert's policies. Almost all reports follow the lead of papers like the Post in pushing the wealthy conservative and studiously avoiding mentioning progressive, grassroots hero, John Laesch, the Iraq vet who did so much to upset Planet Denny's apple cart last year.