My Cities 92.9 Commentary this morning:

Well, the first day to file nominating petitions to run for office in 2010 was yesterday.  Let's do a rundown right after we talk about recent opinion polls.

Last week, there was a poll showing current Governor, Democrat Pat Quinn, with a sizable lead over his Primary challenger, State Controller Dan Hynes.  I thought that a bit odd, since Quinn has been pretty much a train wreck.  But, he's been good advocate for Veterans and their families and has gotten some good press coverage for that; but other than that, he's the Governor of another train wreck, the State of Illinois.

Thankfully for Quinn, he is running against a nice man with zero personality; Dan Hynes.

A new poll just out, however, runs counter to the poll last week; this one has Hynes closing the gap considerably against Quinn.  

Republicans have their own concerns with a huge line-up of candidates for Governor; and a real battle for Obama's Senate seat on the horizon, with a chance for the GOP to regain this seat.

First the GOP candidates for Governor:  here we go; local favorite with a slight lead in the same poll that showed Quinn leading over Hynes, Bloomington's Senator Bill Brady; from DuPage County, Senator Kirk Dillard and DuPage Co. Board Chairman Bob Shillerstrom; businessman Andy Andrewjewski, political consultant  Dan Proft, and now, former Attorney General Jim Ryan, who ran against Rod Blagojevich in 2002, in a year where it wasn't a plus to have a last name of Ryan.

If the GOP can get through this Primary with the winner having any money left; they face a  not so mighty Quinn, or a "I don't need Nyquil to put me to sleep candidate" Dan Hynes

 There are some possibilities here for the GOP. 

Here's what the entire GOP faces, however,  around the country. . .  and Illinois will be no exception.  The Libertarian Party has a candidate for Governor and it's Bloomington local businessman, Lex Green.  The Constitution Party also has a candidate.  Will these for lack of better word, "fringe" parties, be serious enough factors to hurt the GOP chances to win the Governor's race? 

Does the Libertarian Party have any chance on it's own, to win the Governor's race?    This race may come down to the disgust of the average voter with both of the mainstream parties, and this scenario may be played out around the country:

Take a New York House seat as an example: 

The LA Times has an article out today entitled, "NY race at epicenter of GOP mutiny"

Conservative voters in this NY House District special election on Nov. 3,   are rejecting the GOP nominee.  The conservatives are backing a third party nominee. Splitting the vote, and giving the Democrat candidate a slight lead in recent opinion polls.

"The conservative rebellion in northern New York, is showing that the anger among disaffected voters, which became prominent this summer during the "tea party" anti-spending rallies around the country ending in Washington and at town hall meetings on health care, has become a baffling political force that even Republicans are having a hard time harnessing."

The fight on the right has also made this NY district the epicenter of a national debate about the future of the Republican Party -- leaving party leaders to ask whether they are better off emphasizing the GOP's small-government and socially conservative values, or trying to broaden their appeal to reach independent and moderate voters

 Many major GOP figures are using New York's special House election to send a signal that they want the party to turn toward the right. Former Republican Vice-Presidential Sarah Palin herself has rebuffed the New York Republican candidate, who was hand-picked by local GOP leaders and who supports abortion rights and gay marriage. Instead, Palin has endorsed the conservative alternative, Doug Hoffman. So have former House Republican leader Dick Armey of Texas and former GOP presidential candidate Steve Forbes.

Newt Ginrich, who is said to be eying a run for the White House, and many other Republican leaders say that if the party is to win nationally and in swing districts like the one in New York , it cannot move too far to the right.

"We have to decide which business we are in," Gingrich said on his website after conservatives derided his endorsement of the moderate candidate.  "If we are in the business of feeling good about ourselves while our country gets crushed, then I probably made the wrong decision."  Said Newt.

The GOP is at a cross-roads. 

From Obama's US Senate Seat where moderate GOP candidate Mark Kirk seems to have a chance to take this seat back, to whomever the GOP Primary winner is in the Governor's race. It's not only a race between Republicans and Democrats; but a bigger race is shaping up for the heart and soul of the Republican Party.