[EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/13/04 5:08 PM
Is he really running for Senator? Charles Barkeley spoke about running
for Alabama
governor, but he dropped the matter.
Michael Perelman
Some in Illinois Want Ditka for Senate
By MIKE COLIAS
Associated Press Writer
July 14, 2004, 4:42 AM EDT
CHICAGO -- In a Hail Mary pass by the state GOP, the party chairwoman
met with former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka about a possible run for
the U.S. Senate.
Illinois Republicans are scrambling to find a replacement candidate with
less than four months left until the November election.
Jack Ryan dropped out nearly three weeks ago over embarrassing
allegations in his divorce papers that he took his wife, Boston Public
actress Jeri Ryan, to sex clubs before they split up. The party's top
choices have refused to run.
Mike Lawrence, interim director of the Public Policy Institute at
Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, said the GOP's fascination
with Ditka is understandable.
In some respects, the Republicans are in the position where it looks as
if they're going to have to throw a Hail Mary here, he said, and Mike
Ditka was an All-Pro end.
A number of Republican leaders in both Illinois and Washington said
Tuesday that Ditka's name recognition, regular-guy appeal and analytical
game-planning skills would make him a viable candidate to challenge
state Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic rising star.
The public is really tired of the slick politicians, they're tired of
sound bites, they're tired of trial lawyers running government. To have
a decent, ordinary guy, a regular guy, run, I think is something that
the public would overwhelmingly embrace, said state Sen. Dave Syverson,
a member of the Republican State Central Committee.
Ditka, 64, said he had not decided on a run after meeting Tuesday night
with Illinois Republican Party chairwoman and state treasurer Judy Baar
Topinka at his Chicago restaurant.
He said it is an exciting idea but he has not made up his mind.
I've talked to some people but that's about all I've done, Ditka said
earlier Tuesday.
The Hall of Famer led the Bears to the 1986 Super Bowl and now spends
most of his time on TV as a football analyst and pitchman for a casino
and an anti-impotence drug.
Off the field, Ditka is well known as a conservative Republican. In
2000, he warmed up a crowd for then-candidate George W. Bush by saying
the W stands for women. I believe women want a man for president of the
United States.
If he ran for Senate, Ditka could energize the Republican base, as well
as independent voters, and possibly put Illinois back into play for
Bush, said U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, whose retirement opened the seat.
If Ditka entered the race, Fitzgerald said, the Republicans would have
a real chance of winning.
Thousands of fans have weighed in on the www.draftditka.com Web site --
created to urge Ditka to become the state's GOP chairman but transformed
into a Ditka for U.S. Senate movement.
Even Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, thinks Ditka would be a
good choice, though he thinks Obama will win. He noted actors Ronald
Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger made the transition to politics and
former sports stars had done the same.
If they can do it, Mike Ditka can do it, Blagojevich said.
But Ditka is not a shoo-in. State Sen. Kirk Dillard, a central committee
member, said Ditka would have to go through a vetting process before he
would sign on to his candidacy.
And Ditka, who recently joined ESPN as an NFL analyst, could lose his
endorsement deals if elected. He also has a new clothing line and his
restaurant to consider.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Ditka would just be walking onto another
gridiron.
I'd say, `Mike, you've had several bruising experiences in your life.
Be prepared for another one,' McCain said.
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