• WITH THE OFFICIAL START OF CAMPAIGN SEASON, BLAGOJEVICH LOOKS AT BAD NUMBERS
• ILLINOIS RANKED 44TH BY FORBES FOR STATES TO DO BUSINESS IN
• GREEN PARTY MAKES NOVEMBER BALLOT
• LABOR MOVEMENT GEARING UP FOR CAMPAIGN SEASON
• EDITORIAL OF THE WEEK: BLOOMINGTON PANTAGRAPH - "CHICAGO CASINO WOULD PROVIDE LONG-TERM BENEFIT"

WITH THE OFFICIAL START OF CAMPAIGN SEASON, BLAGOJEVICH LOOKS AT BAD NUMBERS

The St. Louis Post Dispatch published new poll numbers in the Illinois Governor's race late last week.  Governor Blagojevich leads Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka by a slim margin of 8% with Blagojevich still not able to top 50%.  Blagojevich also has unfavorable numbers nearing 50% even after a barrage of TV ads since the March primary.  The margin of error for the poll of 800 likely voters is 3.5%.

Blagojevich launched a new ad campaign on Labor Day again negatively portraying Topinka.  Topinka has yet to go up on TV but is said to be ready to go in the next week or so.  Blagojevich also is running a positive campaign discussing his energy plan to build 20 new ethanol plants in the coming years.  For the commercial, Blagojevich chose to stand in a soybean field.  Ethanol is produced by corn.

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ILLINOIS RANKED 44TH BY FORBES FOR STATES TO DO BUSINESS IN

Forbes Magazine has published this year's list of best states in which to do business and Illinois came in at 44^th.  Forbes ranked the 50 states using 30 different parameters including business costs, economic climate, growth prospects, labor, quality of life and regulatory environment.  Virginia ranked #1 in large part because its taxes are a full 15% below the national average and it has the second best incentive program for businesses in the nation.  Finally, Virginia has made significant tort reform progress in recent years adding to a positive business climate.

Illinois did not crack the top 25 for the top six metrics looked at by Forbes.  In fact, Illinois' ranking was largely held to the bottom 20 states in the survey.  Illinois' business costs ranked 39^th, labor ranked 31^st, regulatory environment ranked 28^th, economic climate ranked 43^rd, growth prospects ranked 28^th and quality of life ranked 30^th.

The best metro areas to do business placed Lake County 42^nd with Chicago ranking 100^th in the nation.  Peoria and Rockford rounded out the list at 156 and 192 respectively.

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GREEN PARTY MAKES NOVEMBER BALLOT

Last week the Illinois State Board of Elections approved the slate of candidates for the Green Party to be added to the ballot in November.  The Green Party collected over 25,000 signatures and withstood a vigorous challenge by the Illinois Democratic Party to achieve a place on the ballot.  Additionally, the Green Party had to submit an entire slate of candidates in order to be found qualified.

Gubernatorial candidate Rich Whitney said, ''I think this is a very rare opportunity for a political party like ours to finally break through that two-party iron curtain and get on the political map in Illinois."  This is the first time the Green Party has run for office in Illinois.  Joining Whitney on the ballot are Julie Samuels for Lt. Governor, David Black for Attorney General, Dan Rodrguez-Schlorff for Treasurer, Karen Young for Secretary of State and Alicia Snyder for Comptroller.  Whitney joins Topinka and Blagojevich on the ballot but it is yet to be decided if he will join them in upcoming debates.  Whitney reported $860 in his campaign fund at the end of June.

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LABOR MOVEMENT GEARING UP FOR CAMPAIGN SEASON

While it is unknown if the major unions in Illinois will weigh in for Blagojevich or Topinka in endorsements or voters, the labor movement is kicking off a serious effort to elect candidates friendly to their issues.  Much like the major political parties, labor unions are utilizing "micro-targeting" technologies in an attempt to turn-out union members and their families.  Union households make up about 13% of the work force and the major unions are seeking to turn them into a powerful voting block.

Nationally the AFL-CIO plans to spend $40 million getting its message out and encouraging labor to vote on November 7^th.  They are utilizing door-to-door campaigns and live-person phoning directly to union households.  Margaret Blackshere, president of the AFL-CIO in Illinois said, "Before we were cold calling. We weren't targeting. We would have robotic phone messages."  Now the union will be using live people and will have messages from their union leadership.  Unions in Illinois will be spending in excess of $3 million in education and mobilization efforts for the November 7^th election.

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EDITORIAL OF THE WEEK: BLOOMINGTON PANTAGRAPH - "CHICAGO CASINO WOULD PROVIDE LONG-TERM BENEFIT"

"Give Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka credit for unveiling a four-year budget recovery plan before the election, rather than relying on the usual candidate cop out that they must get into office and study the matter before they can provide details.

The linchpin of her recovery plan is a land-based casino for Chicago.  The Topinka campaign estimates that the Chicago casino and additional gaming positions at existing casinos would bring in $1.25 billion annually.

Another $1 billion in one-time revenue would be realized from the selling of additional gaming positions and the Chicago casino bid, according to the plan.  The money would play a major role in Topinka's plan to shore up the state's shaky budget, pay bills on time, meet pension fund obligations and provide property tax relief."  Read the whole thing...

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