Irregular Times Diaries: Unfit Discussion

Word comes this evening that Republican Congressman Ray Lahood from Illinois will retire at the end of 2008. Representative Lahood is often described as a moderate Republican, and that’s half true. In our system of legislative rankings, Representative Lahood earns a rating of 42 out of 100 in our progressive scale. That’s not very good, but it’s better than most Republicans. On the other hand, Ray Lahood has a 60 out of 100 rating on our right wing scale. That’s not really a moderate position.

Nonethless, Ray Lahood’s district is a swing district in the sense that the number of voters who tend to vote Republican is pretty close to the number of voters who tend to vote Democrat. In the current anti-Republican mood, that makes it a reasonable assumption that the 18th congressional district of Illinois will go to a Democrat. In fact, it’s that likelihood that convinced Ray Lahood that another campaign for re-election might not be worth it.

The question is, which Democrat will replace Ray Lahood? No Democrat has announced an intention to run in the district yet. Any guesses?