New Dick Durbin Townhall Meeting photos are now in the Photos section of this website. Enjoy, and if you have any you’d like to send along just email them to me.

Byron York in the Washington Examiner discusses whether the polling data showing things moving the GOP’s way could mean the Republicans make big gains in the midterm elections. He says this could be just what Barack Obama wants because then he can more easily battle the opposition. It’s tough to do that when your party controls everything.

Republicans have definitely rebounded, but 1994 it isn’t...at least not yet. And there’s one reason why. The GOP has yet to rally around an articulate leader who can express to the American people what they will do if the voters give them control of one or both chambers of the Congress. In 1994, it took Newt Gingrich and his Contract With America to clearly show citizens why they should make him speaker. Though Eric Cantor seems to be the go-to guy in the House, he has yet to become the official spokesperson for the party. Until the GOP finds one person who has the respect and authority to speak for the whole party they aren’t going to be “for” anything. They’re simply going to be anti-Obama and anti-big spending liberals. That’s fine while the President and his party stumble, but if they regroup in early 2010 and actually make progress on healthcare or other issues the American people care about then the polls will rebound in Obama’s favor. The GOP can’t be on offense without a quarterback. They better find a good one soon.

As for Obama being stronger with the Republicans in charge of one or both houses of Congress, one has to assume Obama is truly a moderate who wants to be able to blunt the left-wing of his party in order to believe this. Everything he said and did before announcing his run for the White House clearly shows he is a stereotypical big-government liberal who wants to seriously move the nation to the left. He talks like a moderate, but his cap and trade and healthcare proposals speak otherwise. While Bill Clinton was able to rebound with the Republicans as punching bags, Obama would be at a serious disadvantage in trying to pass radical new programs. Obama wants large Democrat majorities and he wants them to pass his plans quickly (thus the faux August deadline for a healthcare bill to pass the Congress) so that he doesn’t have to moderate them. For Obama, having the Republicans in charge on Capitol Hill could mean his poll numbers rebound, but it would be the end of a left-wing agenda for his time in the White House.

Hillary Clinton responded to Nancy Pelosi’s USA Today Op-Ed labeling townhall meeting protestors as un-American.

Dear Friends,

It has been quite a while since I’ve written on this website. Reason being I’ve seriously been looking into the viability of a run against Mark Kirk in the Republican primary for US Senate. I have loved politics since I was a kid. I even studied Political Science at Western Illinois University. I never thought I’d actually get involved in government service, but as I’ve gotten older the necessity of having good people serve us in Springfield and Washington has become much clearer.

When I started this process nearly 2 months ago, I did so off-air. I didn’t want this to appear to be some whacky radio talk show stunt. People needed to understand I was serious about making such a historic run. I respect each of you too much to play radio games. So I began talking with leaders at the grass roots level and within the mainstream party. I met with people heavily involved with politics all around the state and people who, like many of you, are only involved in the process by casting their votes. I talked to money men, political consultants, congressmen, and my family. I wanted to make sure a run was viable. This has never been about an ego stroke. I would only run if I thought I was going to win and thought I could make a difference for the good of everyone in the state.

There were many cons, I was told. I’m young, have no political experience or machine, I’m not a self-funder, and the party has already anointed Mark Kirk. Once I announced a candidacy I would be yanked off of the radio because of FEC rules so the platform for my views would be gone. The primary is in February, making a run state-wide that much harder.

But there were many things going for me too. I’m a young, Hispanic conservative. The GOP desperately needs people like me in the party. I’ve been on Chicago radio for more than a decade, speaking to the conservative base every morning. They know me. You know me. I don’t have to earn or buy conservative “cred” because I’ve been in the trenches with you for a long time. This is a year that could go the Republican’s way if they play their cards right. People throughout the state are having buyer’s remorse at the change they voted for in November. If ever there was a year that a conservative could win the Senate in Illinois, this is it. I chose to go to school at Western Illinois University and took my first radio job in Canton, just southwest of Peoria. I’m not one of those Chicagoans who is allergic to traveling south of I-80.

Then there was the passion. In all of my years in radio I have never seen people angrier at a politician like they are at Mark Kirk right now. His vote on cap and trade spit in the eye of the very conservatives he needs to win this state. More emails and voicemails have come my way then I could possibly imagine concerning Kirk. People actually say they’ll work against him, even if it means a Democrat wins, because they’re sick of having to vote for the lesser of two evils. If the base doesn’t like you then your campaign will fail. Just ask John McCain.

My wife was supportive and prayed for me daily. Thousands of you emailed or connected with me on Facebook to say you’d support me with your time and money. Even Democrat friends said they would be willing to risk being ostracized from the party to help me. But there was one wildcard throughout this process and, in the end, she won out. My daughter. She’ll come into the world in just a few weeks.

Though I told myself I could juggle both the important responsibilities of first-time fatherhood and the life of public service, I know when you’re in the political arena the family suffers. You spend so much time in Washington and then when you’re back home you have meetings throughout the state to attend. Being an effective Senator is a 100 hour a week job. Being a husband and father can be too.

So, though I seriously think I could mount an effective challenge to Mark Kirk and a weak Democrat in November (and both leading candidates are beatable) at decision time I had to choose my little girl. I don’t say this with sadness in my heart. I say it with great joy. I know this is a decision I will never regret.

Your prayers and support have been more appreciated than you’ll ever know. I’ll see you back on the radio Monday morning.