Earlier this month, the Sun Times reported that Illinois Democrats hoped to get the First Lady on the campaign trail. Now, they might get their wish. According to the Tribune, Michelle Obama will hit the campaign trail in the fall to help mid-term Democrats keep their seats. Mrs. Obama will keep her appearances and the political rhetoric light and is expected to keep a more positive sounding message. The Trib quotes an anonymous White House official saying “This won't be a red-meat partisan speech. That's not her nature, and it wouldn't necessarily be effective.” more ›

The Tribune and WGN keep rolling out their polls and if this latest one is to be taken seriously, Mayor Daley may be in serious troub- oh, who are we kidding? He'd still get reelected by a wide margin if an election were held tomorrow. Still, the approval rating the Mayor got from the 380 registered voters polled by the Trib/WGN was noticeably low: 35 percent. Whether this will have an effect on the 2011 mayoral election remains to be seen as we await the IOC's 2016 Olympics vote, but as the Trib points out, Daley remains "the only game in town." more ›

And you thought Obama had approval rating issues. A new poll released by WGN and the Chicago Tribune claims that Cook County Board President Todd Stroger has an abysmal approval rating of 10 percent, which is even lower than Blago's was last fall before his arrest. The poll was made of 300 registered Cook County voters and a full 70 percent of those polled disapproved of Stroger and 72 percent said they don't want to see him re-elected. more ›

Man, it's been a rough summer for President Obama. As if the economy hasn't given him enough problems, the battle over health care reform has turned pretty damn nasty. And now a new poll by the Tribune and WGN shows that support for Obama in his co-home state is waning a bit. Of the 700 registered voters polled, 59 percent approved of the job he was doing, 33 percent disapprove, and eight percent had no opinion. Of course, the real split comes on how Obama's handled health care. more ›

A few months ago, we looked at what we assumed to be Governor Rod Blagojevich hitting rock bottom in the approval ratings game. Now comes a new poll that has Blago's approval rate even lower: eight percent to be exact. Our first thought: there are still that many people that actually approve of the job he's doing? We guess the survey phoned the Mell household. This poll was taken by the Chicago-based Glengariff Group and surveyed 600 people; other questions included if Blagojevich should resign (70 percent said yes) and if he should be impeached (73 percent said yes). more ›

A recent Chicago Tribune poll of 500 registered voters found that not very many people approve of the job Governor Blagojevich is doing. In fact, only 13 percent think he's doing a good job and even fewer (10 percent) want to see him back in 2010, if he even survives his current term. This...comes as no shock to us. Rezko, the FBI, the CTA clusterfuck, the list goes on and on and on. We can hear Mayor Daley cackling in delight from here. more ›