It's probably not a good sign that at least two prominent speakers at the state fair's Republican Day event last week felt it was necessary to insist that the Illinois Republican Party is not dead. Other speakers worked hard to reinforce the not-dead theme by helpfully pointing out several possible signs of life.

During last week's special meeting between Davenport's City Council and Levee Commission, Sixth Ward Alderman Bob McGivern declared that he wanted it made clear that the proposed casino hotel to be built on our downtown riverfront was in no way driving the Vision Iowa application currently in the works.

I have a lot of respect for Illinois Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson, but I think he's gone off his rocker. Watson strongly supports the candidacy of Alan Keyes for U.S. Senate in Illinois. One of his lieutenants, state Senator Dave Syverson (R-Rockford), was the guy who recruited Keyes in the first place, talked him up to the media, and then helped convince the GOP state central committee to offer the vacant Jack Ryan slot to him, over the objections of party chairperson Judy Baar Topinka.

Very excited to learn that President Bush was going to be in the Quad Cities last week, I immediately decided to take my students to the rally. What a wonderful way to teach young people about how our country selects its leaders, and an opportunity to see the leader of the free world in person! I called Jim Nussle's office and was told that there were tickets left but I'd better hurry, because they would be gone in two hours.