Hillarysworld

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Illinois Senate Primaries: More Than Picking a Candidate

The Senate Democratic primary in Illinois today carries more weight than a single election. The winner will be running to salvage a piece of the Obama presidential legacy -- if a Republican wins the seat in November, Barack Obama would become the first senator-turned-president to lose his former seat to the opposite party.

Of course, there isn't much precedent for this. In 2008, Obama became just the third sitting senator elected president, following John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Warren G. Harding in 1920. Kennedy was replaced by the appointed Benjamin Smith, a Democrat, who safeguarded the seat until Edward M. Kennedy came of age in 1962 and won a special election. Harding's first term in the Senate was up in 1920, and Republican Frank B. Willis successfully ran to replace him.

Two experts on the presidency told RealClearPolitics that the loss of Obama's Senate seat wouldn't significantly harm his legacy on its own -- despite its place in the record books -- but it would hurt his effectiveness in office.

Unable to recruit a bigger name like Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Democrats will rely on one of three mostly untested candidates: state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias (whom polls show to be the favorite), former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman or Cheryle Jackson, president of the Chicago Urban League and a former press secretary for impeached governor Rod Blagojevich.

Expected to emerge victorious in the Republican primary is Rep. Mark Kirk, whose moderate voting record in Congress should help him statewide. Kirk was the national party's first choice to take back the seat Obama won in 2004 following the retirement of Republican Peter Fitzgerald, who served one term.

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