Completely Unnecessary

Yay.

As a striking example of what a loser I am, I asked my friend yesterday if I could check the Trib before we went to the beach. Lame-o!

But, all was well, because Jim Oberweis managed to lose again. I think this is $9mil of his own cash that he’s spread over four elections, none of which have resulted in him holding public office.

I don’t really like how CNN framed the Democratic win, though:

A longtime Republican district fell Saturday to the Democrats when a wealthy businessman and scientist snatched former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s congressional seat in a closely watched special election.

Firstly, it’s a little heavy on the war imagery; this is a political election in which people state their preference, not the Crusades. Second, pointing out Foster’s wealth without Oberweis’ makes it look like an unfair rich man/poor man contest (though the Dems do have a bigger ‘war chest’ than the Republicans). Third, the verb ’snatched’ makes it sound like ’stolen,’ rather than fairly won 53%-47%.

The Democrats have been quick to argue that Foster’s win represents the desire for change that will sweep the nation come November. How did Republicans respond?

“The one message coming out of 2008 so far is that what happens today is not a bellwether of what happens this fall,” NRCC spokeswoman Karen Hanretty said in a statement.

Wait. What? I’ve read that sentence a good few times now and I still am not sure what she means. It seems to be, “The message of this election we’ve just lost is that we’re going to win all the other elections.” Or, “The present has no impact on the future.” If she had said, “what happens today is no indicator of what happens tomorrow,” it might have worked. Instead, just awkward…

ps - I got a nice little late summer tan at the beach.

Vaguely Related

• Oberweis Milking It For All It’s Worth
• Roland Burris - Ready to Serve in the Senate