Hastert will resign before year-end
Former speaker and 14th District representative Dennis Hastert delivered his farewell address to Congress Thursday. His spokesperson said he will resign before the end of the year. Presumably she means that he will actually leave office, and not just announce his resignation. I had thought that he would leave office after February 5th, to avoid having the date of the special election coincide with the primary. There was some discussion in the blogosphere about whether his early resignation would confer any benefit on the Republican nominee, and the conclusion seemed to be there would be no benefit, because whoever won the special election would still have to run for the same office in November.
But after some thought, I think there is a slight benefit. The reason is that donors will be looking at the primary numbers. If the Democratic nominee comes in with more votes than the Republican nominee in the primary–a real possibility with Obama on the ticket, then the Democratic nominee will likely win the general election. People like to back winners, and the campaign funds will start flowing towards the Democrat. By having a special election after the date of the primary, the Republican candidate can win that one (no Obama factor involved) and go into November as an incumbent. His incumbency will erode whatever advantage the Democratic nominee gained from the primary election.
So if Hastert’s resignation date is actually timed for after February 5th, I think that will be the calculation.
Possibly related posts:
Loading ...
Loading ...
