First, why is Illinois a ''blue'' (Democratic) state at all? Because former Gov. George Ryan, was, in all probability, not just the most corrupt public official in Illinois' 118-year history, but also its most flagrant overspender. Breaking every major campaign promise as he drove the state into near bankruptcy, Ryan's mismanagement and blustering arrogance assured that his party would be rejected in 2002. Despite the scandal-scarred immediate past, voters gave Jim Ryan -- a decent public official burdened with the same surname though no relation -- 1,594,960 votes to Rod Blagojevich's 1,847,040. Not exactly an avalanche of disapproval for Ryan (whose candidacy I supported that year).

Second, Gov. Blagojevich illustrates that this is not a predictably liberal state. No previous governor has inherited such a deluge of red ink. One Republican fiscal expert told me that if he were in Rod's shoes, he would raise the income tax in the first year by a substantial degree (more than is needed), grit his teeth and take the heat so that he could cut taxes substantially in succeeding years, thereby riding out the storm and earning plaudits by re-election time. Cynical, no? This is what Blagojevich has been unwilling, thus far, to do. Yes, Blagojevich has increased fees, increased taxes on business and borrowed to avoid a general tax increase. Criticize him for not being buddy-buddy with the Legislature, but if his gamble proves out, he will have met the measure of the crisis he inherited from his predecessor.

Third -- and very important -- are the shots heard 'round the state from the Democrat-controlled Legislature on gun control, which excites a Second Amendment rooter but non-gun-owner like me. The Senate voted to allow police officers and former military police officers to carry concealed weapons. It lowered the age to 18 for a gun owner's permit without parental consent. The governor salutes this, saying wisely that if one can join the military at 18 and risk his life in Iraq, he should be mature enough to get a gun permit in Illinois. Meanwhile, the House voted to allow citizens who break local gun control laws by using firearms in self-defense to escape fines. The governor says he'll veto the self-defense and concealed-carry bills -- but stay tuned. This leaves sputtering gun-grabbing demagoguery to the editorial boards -- and the gesticulating mayor of Chicago from whom a growing number of people are beginning to avert their eyes anyway.

Strong action by House Speaker Mike Madigan (who's also state Democratic Party chairman) on teacher certification becomes the fourth point. He is firmly against the teachers union dominating certification. ''My reading of the bill tells me that if the bill were to become law, teacher unions in this state would control the process,'' he said. ''I don't think teachers unions, in one way or another, should control the certification process.'' And that's the name of that tune.

Growing GOP leadership underscores the fifth. House Republican leader Rep. Tom Cross (R-Oswego) led the drive to increase the general homestead exemption to $5,000 and the senior homestead exemption $3,000 statewide. Seniors stand to gain a combined exemption of $8,000. Cook County? Except for Don Totten's chairmanship, its GOP was an odious corpse; under George Ryan it became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party.

Do these trends forecast a return to conservatism in Illinois? At this point, probably more than they do a swing to statewide Republicanism. Before my party will be trusted with high state office, it must sweat out its sins in the hot box, do penance and make firm purpose of amendment. If the Democrats see the glimmering of conservatism, maybe my party will hit the sawdust trail. Even now it's heartening to see the beginnings of course correction. So if you see Karl Rove, tell him to read this.

John Kerry Voted Against Final Passage Of UVVA

Sharon Rocha, Mother Of Laci Peterson And Grandmother Of Conner Peterson, Sought Kerry's Support Of UVVA. "Please understand how adoption of such a single-victim proposal would be a painful blow to those, like me, who are left to grieve after a two-victim crime, because Congress would be saying that Conner and other innocent victims like him are not really victims -- indeed, that they never really existed at all." (Sharon Rocha, Mother Of Laci Peterson, Letter To Senator John Kerry [D-MA] As Provided On National Right To Life Committee Website, http://www.nrlc.org, 7/7/03)

Kerry Would Call Murder Of An Unborn Child A "Termination Of Pregnancy Or Interruption Of The Normal Course Of Pregnancy." Senator Kerry would treat the murder of an unborn child as a crime committed solely against the mother. He voted in favor of an amendment that would have characterized murdering an unborn child as the "termination of pregnancy or interruption of the normal course of pregnancy." (Amendment: http://www.nrlc.org/Unborn_victims/FeinsteinAmendment.html)

Kerry Chose To Play Abortion Politics. "Although this legislation exempts performing abortions from prosecution, this bill would clearly impact a woman's right to choose to terminate her pregnancy, as that right is set forth in Roe vs. Wade." (Sen. John Kerry [D-MA], E-mail To A Constituent As Provided On National Right To Life Committee Website, http://www.nrlc.org, 6/27/03)

The Fact Is UVVA Specifically Exempts Abortion. Very clear language in the bill specifically exempts abortion from being covered.

John Kerry Is Out Of Touch With Mainstream Values

While Senator Kerry Has Skipped 78 Percent Of His Senate Votes This Year, He Made A Point Of Coming Back To Vote Against The Unborn Victims Of Violence Act.

Kerry Has Voted At Least Six Times Against Banning Partial-Birth Abortion.

Kerry Says, "There Is No Such Thing As A Partial Birth." (Glen Johnson, "Kerry Hits Ban On Abortion Procedure," The Boston Globe, 11/6/03)

Kerry Voted To Allow Federal Money To Be Used To Distribute The Morning-After Abortion Pill In America's Schools.

Kerry Has Voted At Least Three Times Against Requiring Parental Consent Or Notification For A Minor's Abortion.

Kerry Has Voted At Least 25 Times In Favor Of Using Taxpayer Dollars To Pay For Abortions In The United States.

Kerry Says Reversing Mexico City Policy Would Be His First Executive Order. LARRY KING: "What would be the first executive order?" KERRY: "Reverse the Mexico City policy on the gag rule so that we take a responsible position globally on family planning." (CNN/Los Angeles Times, Democrat Presidential Candidate Debate, Los Angeles, CA, 2/26/04)

New Iraqi army and police forces are being recruited, trained, and equipped. Some 200,000 Iraqis have been recruited and trained to be security forces so far. Over 40,000 army recruits will be trained within two years and put into service of their country. More than 8,200 tons of ammunition, thousands of AK-47s, grenades, and other weapons have been seized throughout Iraq -- much of which was stored by the Hussein regime in hospitals, schools, and mosques. In Basra, 500 river police have been patrolling since June 19.

Iraq’s power grid is producing more than ever before with 98,000 megawatts of power going out to all of the provinces and not all of it going to Baghdad as was before. There are over 39,000 electrical workers employed by the provisional Government to rebuild and then maintain the power grid. The water supply is at or above the pre-war time levels and continues to improve the supply to all of the people in all of the villages and towns. There have been over 1 million humanitarian daily rations distributed to the people of Iraq.

On the medical front, there have been over 240 hospitals reopened after the weapons were removed that were stored in them by Saddam. There are over 22 million children that have been inoculated against diseases and over 700,000 women have been inoculated. Another point on the medical front is that 90% of all Iraqi children have received routine vaccinations, because of the threat of diseases until the water system is secure from infection, completely.

As for the education system in Iraq, there are over 13,500 school buildings that have been cleared of ammunition and explosives and have been reconditioned and reopened to start educating the children of Iraq. Out of all of these buildings, there are 600+ schools and 70 Mosques that have been reopened with a total of 33,000 teachers staffing them after they were trained. With over 600 schools open, there are over 5 million Iraqi students back in school getting an excellent education.

According to the Iraqi people, “We want to have a real education, to be a progressive country. Education is very important to the reconstruction of our society. If you want to civilize society, you must care about education.” -- Al Sa'ad Majid al Musowi, a businessman on Baghdad's city council,- The Chicago Tribune.

More and more the business community is returning to the villages and cities in Iraq with all of the items that were sold before the war and many new items that were banned prior to the war. The Business community in Baghdad has many goods that were previously unavailable because of sanctions or because they were forbidden under the previous regime. Satellite dishes are the most popular items for sale in Baghdad. “I want to watch all of the world, all channels in the world, I want to watch freedom.” -- Mohammed al-Khayat, an Iraqi who just purchased his first satellite dish,- The Baltimore Sun.

According to Captain Adel Khalaf, director of the port at Umm Qasr, “More and more businessmen are coming to Iraq. It is a rich country and the Iraqi market is enormous. All the world wants to come and do business here.”

The new Iraqi economy is being built on the principles of market economics, respect for the rule of law, and transparency.

Major improvements have been made in the one-year since the start of the war of Freedom for Iraq and 80% of the people are behind the coalition and are working with them to rebuild their country and stop the terrorists that want the coalition to fail and a Saddam type regime to return to Iraq. These terrorists will try to stop the transfer of power to the new governing council by attacks, as they did in Spain, in the hope that the people will throw the coalition troops out and return to a dictatorship and forget about freedom.

With freedom so close the people of Iraq are dreaming of the power to control their own destiny and lives; without the government dictating to them, as Saddam did in the past. Freedom is so close that they can taste it, and many of them have said thank you America for our salvation and thank you President Bush for the courage to free us.

God Bless America and our troops that are in harm’s way!

==>-Ronald Reagan