IL-GOP Hoping to Purchase a Senate Seat

Some reading for your Monday afternoon:

Illinois: The IL-GOP, limping along and recognizing that their few notable elected officials will probably not want to go down in flames challenging Richard Durbin, are hoping to find a wealthy candidate who can self-fund a campaign:

A respected Chicago Board of Trade executive from Winnetka and a Long Grove businessman whose family owns the Ben Franklin variety store franchise are among those talking to Illinois Republican leaders about running against Democratic U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin next year.

Both Kevin J.P. O'Hara, the chief administrative officer at the Chicago futures exchange, and Steve Greenberg, the wholesale executive, would seem to have the ability to write a check to cover some or all of the costs of a campaign. ...

The senator's GOP foe next year probably will endure that same lack of national party aid - Republicans have more Senate seats to defend than the Democrats and will devote money there, with only the best chances for picking up Democratic seats getting significant attention.

Hence the Illinois GOP's search for a self-funding hopeful. Given the lack of a farm team, that's become the natural option.

Not looking too good for the IL-GOP.

Alaska: Ted Stevens might be afraid that aliens are hacking into his website.

Congratulations to Al Gore on An Inconvenient Truth's outstanding Oscar success last night!