POLIS

Via Taegan Goddard's excellent Political Wire

Now that Illinois Senate candidate Jack Ryan (R) has quit the race, Survey USA asked Republicans who they would like to replace him:

1. Former Gov. Jim Thompson - 44%
2. Jim Oberweis - 22%
3. Steve Rauschenberger - 17%
4. Ron Gidwitz - 4%

The AP says Republicans think they can still win the race and "insist all they need is the right candidate and the right amount of cash."

I don't believe that they really think they can still win. What they mean by "right amount of cash" is "self-financer who won't drain the party coffers on a lost cause."

I'd rank them:

1. Rauschenberger: ran a cost-efficient primary campaign with better-than-expected results; is a standard bearer for the party's core beliefs
2. Gidwitz: business ties gets him cash to run on; can go negative as a virtual unknown with nothing to lose
3. Corinne Wood: moderate, pro-choice, could take suburban votes
4. Oberweis: demagoging the immigration issue smacked of racism; conservative but not a politician, a lesson learned from neophyte Ryan