If Jim Oberweis does lose in IL-14 -- and no candidate was ever more deserving of such a fate -- it's due at least in part to the lousy NRCC ads that they kept running incessantly on the airwaves.
They were all about that "liberal" Foster and how he was going to spend all that money on "government-run health care".
Hopefully the NRCC won't figure this out but just between you and me, people want the government to step in and clean up the mess that is our health care system. In fact, people want government to step in and fix a whole lot of problems. That's why they're electing someone to government office. It kind of goes with the territory.
It's too early for me to say, 'Ha! Ha! Ha!' but if Foster does moderately well, it'll be plain for the world to see that the Republicans dug their own graves.
Times have changed. This isn't your Ronald Reagan or Newt Gingrich America!
UPDATE: Various Gleanings from the Chicago Tribune.
Foster win a big blow to GOP:
[Even Republicans hated how Oberweis and the NRCC conducted the campaign.]
In addition to the negativity of the contest, some Republicans said they fielded complaints from voters who reported receiving more than a dozen automated calls from the Oberweis campaign as well as countless mailings, which they contended did little to motivate people to vote in a Saturday election, let alone vote for the GOP contender. [emphasis added]
Rookie Congressman: Win Sends Message:
[People elect someone to solve their problems.]
[Foster] said his win carries a message for both political parties. "People on both sides should take the message that we want people who are less divisive, less ideological and more problem-solving," he said.