The Illinois political scene has become so apathetically poor that the candidates can only fling unethical mud at each other while the state spirals into a budget crisis as the new U.S. Attorney is churning out grand jury subpoenas like there is no tomorrow. Well, there is no tomorrow for pols these days. The Dems new national playbook is that if you can't win the election, quit before election day. Being a quitter is somehow better than being a loser. Go figure.

Most office seeking career politicians are blood sucking ticks. They have sucked so much out of the Land of Lincoln electorate that they have become brain numb. But the current crop of office seekers have the equilibrium of also being brain numb. The main candidates are so poor that the Libertarian candidates are pulling record breaking (though under five percent) poll numbers but the media refuses to report the trend.

The leading Democrat on the ticket is a spineless candidate we should call Rod Blagojellyfish. His main trait is that he has the New Democrat Elvis worship like former Prez Clinton. If that is what the voters want and remember, then he is qualified to roam around the Governor's manse with long sideburns listening to the King's greatest hits.

But his main claim to fame is that he is son-in-law of a powerful Chicago alderman. It appears that the old guard politicians are trying to pass the family business onto their children like it is something that they own outright.

It will be if Blagojellyfish debates the real issues live on television for the voters to see through that transparent heavy media bought campaign ad image. But most believe he has enough campaign money banked (at the bank run by the election board member's spouse) to cure any pitfalls.

Now Republican Jim Ryan has a bigger problem. He has the last name of the current, unindicted Governor, George Ryan. Voters confuse him with old George and associate him with all of Friends of George indicted in the Licenses for Bribes scandal when George was Illinois Secretary of State. Everytime Jim opens his voice, it is like he is attached Siamese stillborn twin of George. The voters are repulsed.

As state attorney general, he was the watchdog against state corruption, but all of the major cases have been coming from the U.S. Attorney. In a era of discontent against corporate excess, corruption and ethics, he has no clear reform caseload to show the public. His campaign has desperately decided to play up all of his hardships, his cancer battle, as being qualifications of being Illinois governor.

Lisa Madigan has another problem. Her father is speaker of the Illinois House, and he is clearly a target of several probes of misusing state employees for political purposes, a longstanding tradition in Illinois. He gave staffers huge bonuses just before they left on unpaid leave to work on primary campaigns, including his daughters. The Republican House leader has similar problems, but Madigan's push for his daughter becoming the chief law enforcement officer, attorney general, begs a major concern of whether her bias would defeat future corruption probes.

The real problem is that she has little real life legal experience to run, evaluate, staff and try major civil and criminal cases. Her main qualification is that her father is a powerful statehouse player with the resources and clout to get her a high profile office to solidify her political career. Her race against a county prosecutor is at dead heat which makes no sense if credentials are the key to winning.