Enjoy it while it lasts, for Illinois becomes irrelevant again after Tuesday

At least insofar as the presidential campaign is concerned – because those of us who live here know we’re the crown jewel of the Great Lakes states. Where else would you find a hot dog stand paying "tribute" to a presidential candidate by offering 3-inch-long wieners?

From the 'inevitable' image Hillary wants to create for herself, ...

But let’s be real. The presidential campaigns have been operating for months in distant places, barely giving us a thought.

... to a leader who tells everybody 'You're Fired" ...

AT LEAST UNTIL Wednesday night, which is when it seemed the candidates started sticking themselves in our faces to try to gain our attention long enough for us to consider actually casting ballots for them.

That activity seemed to peak on Friday when multiple presidential dreamers insisted on cluttering up our personal presence. Even Donald Trump – who with his University of Illinois at Chicago rally has many of the activists all riled up. So many, in fact, that Trump wound up cancelling the event at the last minute -- citing security concerns.

... many political hopefuls are here ...

Admittedly, some people engaged in petition drives to have Trump banned from the near West Side campus. Which was a nonsense attitude to take.

The real way to deal with a political knucklehead is to let him say something stupid so we see what a knucklehead he truly is. Get in his face, so to speak.

ALTHOUGH I DON’T doubt that the security types Trump had on hand were all geared up and ready to deal with anyone they even remotely thought was troublesome – particularly if that person had an excess of melanin showing up in their skin complexions.

... to try to win our votes.

Now I’m sure the Trump backers think they’re sticking up for themselves and their candidate when (in other cities) they have beaten those protesters. Although I’d argue all they’re really doing is showing that Trump is the knucklehead candidate who attracts nitwit supporters.

In the end, the Trump presence could be nothing more than a very vocal minority that only wins if the real majority decides to sit on its duff and do nothing come Election Day.

Wishing he could join our party!

In which case, the idea of a “President Trump” would be exactly the punishment they would deserve for not voting!

BUT IT WASN’T just Trump who felt the need to be in Illinois in hopes of getting our state’s delegates and (ultimately) our Electoral College votes. We do, after all, have more of those to offer than any other Midwestern state – largely because of the presence of Chicago and all its population.

We had Ted Cruz on Friday in the northwest suburbs, while Hillary Clinton was out there on Thursday, and Hillary will be back in the state on Monday in Springfield. While husband Bill on Friday was in Peoria to support his wife’s political aspirations, after making a similar appearance in Evanston.
 

Is the former president that eager to once again live in the White House and enjoy all of its life perks?

We even had John Kasich in our state, with his aides saying the Ohio governor is counting on his home state and ours to keep alive his desire to call himself a presidential candidate.

WE ILLINOISANS COULD become the people who kill off his dreams – thereby making the idea of candidate Trump a reality. That is a goal we ought desperately to do everything we can to avoid achieving. We don’t deserve to be blamed for that; do we?

Lest I forget, even Bernie Sanders made appearances in the area, including a Friday night appearance in suburban Summit at Argo High School – the alma mater of one-time White Sox slugger Ted Kluszewski. Somehow, I think the locals will take greater pride in “Big Klu” than they will  the presence of “the Bern.” Although his appearance Saturday with Rev. Jesse Jackson may get him more favorable attention. 

Personally, I'll take a Big Klu over all of them

In fact, about the only presidential hopeful we’re not going to see in coming days is Marco Rubio – whose own chances for political survival are so tied to the Florida primary on Tuesday he can’t afford to leave the state. So much for any personal contact with the man the Chicago Tribune seriously believes ought to be our nation’s 45^th president.

There is one thing to keep in mind – this personal attention is fleeting. Come Wednesday, the candidates will have moved on to thinking about Arizona, Idaho and Utah; the states whose primaries come a week later on March 22. And in their dreams, they’ll be focused on the days before March 26 – when they can think about staging a campaign event or two in Hawaii to try to gain that state’s voters.

  -30-