I was on a TV show recently and the host asked me what I thought could be done to bring the Democratic leaders of Illinois back from "the brink of the abyss."

Too late, I said. We're already in the abyss, and we've been there for a while.

Now that Governor Rod Blagojevich has unilaterally declared that a previously obscure but always important legislative committee has no real power, things could change radically at the Illinois Statehouse.

Political blogs have been getting a bad rap in newspapers for years, but they're rapidly coming of age, and they're already making an impact in campaigns throughout Illinois this year.

In the hyper-over-reactive world that is the Illinois Statehouse, every move made by every major player is analyzed to death to see who is zooming whom. House Speaker Michael Madigan's Illinois Gaming Board reform plan is a case in point.