Sauerberg for US Senate in Illinois

The presidential contests are on the minds of most Illinois voters as they ponder their votes in Tuesday's primary election.

But Republicans in Illinois also face a choice among three men running for the chance to unseat the US Senate's 2nd ranking Democrat, Dick Durbin, who was named the upper chamber's most liberal senator in 2006. Barack Obama is last year's champ.

It's an uphill climb for the GOP to defeat Durbin, but the first step in the battle is finding the right candidate, and that person is Steve Saurerberg, a doctor from Willowbrook.

From the Chicago Tribune's endorsement of Sauerberg:

Sauerberg says "people are very much overwhelmed. They're overwhelmed with the tax system, with worries over health insurance. The tax system has to be simpler and fairer. Spending must be reduced. Average Americans are afraid they'll lose their jobs and lose their health insurance. Health needs to be reformed by someone in the health-care field."

Sauerberg is an intelligent man and he will present a conservative alternative to Durbin this fall. He is endorsed in the GOP primary.

Also running is Chicagoan Mike Psak, one of the few professional truck drivers with an MBA. He's an honorable man who favors turning all toll roads into freeways, but it's hard to envision a scenario in which he can topple Durbin.

The third candidate is Andy Martin, a political gadfly and perennial candidate. Surely you've seen or heard about the infamous Obama is a secret Muslim e-mail?

Here's what Christopher Hayes of The Nation said about it, and Martin, last year:

"Everybody started calling me" when the e-mail first made the rounds, Andy Martin told me. "They said, 'Hey, did you write this?' My answer was 'they are all my children.' "

Does Illinois and the Republican Party need a repeat of the 2004 Alan Keyes disaster?

That's Sauerberg up above with another great American at the Move America Forward rally on September 11, 2007 in Niles, Illinois. Photo credit to Mrs. Marathon Pundit.

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