Will IL Republicans take a ride on the Wayback Machine?

Former Gov. Jim Edgar, spurred by encouragement from business and Republican leaders, said he has not ruled out a run for the state’s top job in 2006.

The two-term governor, who left office in 1999 after deciding not to run for a third term, said Friday he has no plans to become a candidate. But, he added, "I never say never."

At least six other GOP leaders have expressed interest in running against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who in 2002 became the first Democrat to win the state’s top office in more than a quarter century.

Edgar briefly considered coming out of political retirement to run for the U.S. Senate last year — encouraged by Republican leaders including President Bush — but decided against it.

The former governor said Friday that another term as governor is “more attractive than the Senate,” the Chicago Tribune reported in its Sunday editions.

White House adviser Karl Rove lobbied for an Edgar ticket that would include state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka running for lieutenant governor during a recent visit to Illinois, the Tribune reported, citing Republican sources.

But Topinka has expressed interest in running for governor herself.
"The only race Judy is weighing is governor," her campaign said in a statement Friday.

Well, it's not like the Republicans aren't used to digging around in the past for candidates. They ran Bob Dole didn't they? And Bush is only a frontman for all the old Nixon/Ford/Reagan/Bush Sr. crooks. Since they want to lead the nation backwards, it kind of makes sense.