BUT OTHER THAN THAT, PARTY-OF-LINCOLN, HOW DID YOU ENJOY THE PLAY?

In a story entitled "How the GOP Imploded", the Tribune points out a few of the Illinois Republican's shortcomings:

At the core of the decline is a failure of leadership that initiated numerous blunders including a patronage system that prized fundraising over grass-roots political organization; a consolidation of political power in the governor's office at the expense of local party officials; a failure to recognize the significance of new suburban voting blocs; an embrace of outmoded political prejudices; corruption in high-level state government; and a failure to mend a divisive split between the party's moderate and conservative wings.

But hey -- except for those trifling things -- all is well in the IL GOP.