Republicans, as a class, tend to pine for the good ol' days -- mainly, the eras when they were in power.

That's been especially true in Illinois as the Republicans, uniformly blown out of power by George Ryan's scandals and George W. Bush's leadership style, have tried repeatedly to use the good ol' days to convince voters that they should be returned to stewardship status. For instance, every chance they get they trot out former Governor Jim Edgar -- one of the few living historical Illinois figures who still represents moderation and good governance in many voters' minds.

But Jim Edgar wasn't even at last week's Republican Day event at the Illinois State Fair. I ran into him earlier in the week, after Wednesday's rain storm. He was walking alone through the fairgrounds, heading for his car. He had a horse in a race, but the race was canceled because of the storm so he was leaving.