This race remains close:

The U.S. Senate race in Illinois is now a virtual toss-up, with Democratic State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias holding a slight 44% to 41% lead over Republican Congressman Mark Kirk.

Tough nut for Repubs to crack, this Illinois.  It’s also blue and heading for fiscal trouble.  Fear not.  The incumbent Dem governor has the answer:

SPRINGFIELD – — Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn pitched a 33 percent income tax increase Wednesday, framing the debate as a choice between finding more money or hurting schoolchildren.

Ah yes, the children.  Teacher unions too, but forget that.

In any case, we have here the marvelous religious-style faith in taking money out of private hands and giving it to our noble, trusted Bureau-Dems.

Nothing’s too good for children and poor people, you see.  But it’s a misplaced faith:

There is a distinct pattern throughout American history: When tax rates are reduced, the economy’s growth rate improves and living standards increase.

Good tax policy has a number of interesting side effects. For instance, history tells us that tax revenues grow and “rich” taxpayers pay more tax when marginal tax rates are slashed.

This means lower income citizens bear a lower share of the tax burden – a consequence that should lead class-warfare politicians to support lower tax rates.

This will never play with Dem netroots, SEIU, IEA and the like.  So?

Hello, everybody in Illinois and all the ships at sea: Brady is up by 10 over Quinn!

A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters in the state finds State Senator Bill Brady leading [Gov.] Quinn 47% to 37%. Six percent (6%) prefer some other candidate, and nine percent (9%) are undecided.

It’s the first week there’s been a Republican candidate.  Brady won by a whopping 193 votes over an opponent who’s on board now with his candidacy.

You hear a lot about gridlock.  Bad, right? 

In fact, gridlock in Washington is good, since it will stop the assault of big government until the end of the year, when Congress could be overturned by independents, Tea Partiers, Republicans and probably some Democrats, as well.

It gives us (U.S.) time.

Thank you, Larry Kudlow.

“The Obama administration has failed miserably in trying to solve the [jobs and foreclosures] problem,” says Democrat Dennis Cardoza, running for re-election in California.

He’s not the only Dem trying to distance himself from the president, “with the back-channel blessing of party officials,” says LA Times.

His district “went heavily for Obama,” but it’s the economy, stupid.

It would be too soon to decide Obama made matters worse if it weren’t for his agenda,

including the partisan trillion-dollar project masquerading as a stimulus bill and the deficit-busting budget.[or if he] had not worked early to support agenda-driven omnibus pork bills, job-killing cap and trade schemes, and union assaults on workers’ rights, to name just a few of his priorities.

He came in trailing clouds of glory — apologies to Wordsworth — but, with no apology, “Where is it now, the glory and the dream?”

Back in Hyde Park on Chicago’s South Side?  Bill Daley wants a bigger tent, but Obama don’t like no big tents, and he’s looooooooosing . . . .

I know Tingling Chris Matthews dismissed Rasmussen as Republican, but still . . .

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 75% of likely voters now say they are at least somewhat angry at the government’s current policies, up four points from late November and up nine points since September. The overall figures include 45% who are Very Angry, also a nine-point increase since September.

Obama should read Dale Carnegie.