Illinois matters this time

SPRINGFIELD -- Super Tuesday is nearly here, and after years of taking a back seat in presidential nominations, Illinois is firmly in the mix in 2008.

But just how super is the Land of Lincoln on the biggest day of this year's presidential primary election?

Those heavily involved in the campaigns here say Illinois is important but acknowledge it's not the top prize for the Republicans and Democrats vying for their party's nods.

Timing, competing key states and Illinois' political reputation all have combined to keep Illinois out of the brightest spotlight on Tuesday.

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"Both parties up to this point in time have not viewed Illinois as a really important battleground," said Robert Rich, director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

The candidates and their top backers insist they want to do well here -- a welcome change for party officials who are used to watching from the sidelines as candidates get picked.

"We've got a lot of people across the state involved in these campaigns," said Andy McKenna, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. "It's really building interest at the grassroots."

Presidential nominations in the past have been sewn up by the time Illinoisans voted in late March. Top Illinois Democrats pushed to move up this year's primary, sensing a possibly huge turnout for favorite son U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

But several other states also moved their elections to Feb. 5 or earlier -- 21 states will hold primaries on the Republican side, 22 for the Democrats -- and Illinois has been overshadowed in the days leading up to Super Tuesday.

Although Illinois has 100 Democratic and 57 Republican delegates at stake, some states, including California and New York, offer more. And many states are considered more wide open politically than Illinois, which has leaned heavily Democratic in recent years and is expected to give big support to Obama.

Even so, candidates aren't dismissing what Illinois means in the bigger picture.

On the Democratic side, Obama has the backing of many top officials here, is popular in his home base of Chicago and has developed an extensive network of more than 80,000 volunteers to drum up support here.

But Obama's campaign is taking no chances because Sen. Hillary Clinton is expected to mount a "serious campaign" here, Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said. He said key Democratic leaders are joining with those volunteers to get supporters out to the polls on Tuesday.

"We aren't ceding any votes to anybody in a race that's this hotly contested," LaBolt said.

Obama is running some television ads in Illinois but mostly is focused on the campaign's "ground game" of knocking on doors and talking to neighbors, LaBolt said.

Clinton's campaign acknowledges Illinois is an uphill battle but sees opportunities here. Democrats in Illinois award convention delegates by congressional district, so Clinton can win some delegates as long as she receives 15 percent of the vote in a given district.

That gives her an incentive to target areas where Obama's support isn't as strong, such as southern Illinois. Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was in southern Illinois last week, and more than 5,000 volunteers and some top Illinois Democratic officials are touting her campaign heading into the election.

"We're running an insurgent campaign here in Illinois," Clinton spokeswoman Stacey Zolt Hara said. "This is Barack Obama's home state, and he's going to do well here ... Our volunteers are fired up and ready to go."

The race is murkier on the Republican side, partly because former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani decided last week to drop out after a disappointing showing in Florida. Guiliani had built a strong support base here, backed by former Republican Govs. Jim Thompson and Jim Edgar and several lawmakers.

Now many of them are backing Arizona Sen. John McCain, who gained momentum with wins in South Carolina and Florida. He faces former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, an early front runner who now finds himself chasing McCain.

House Republican Leader Tom Cross, who led Giuliani's efforts in Illinois, says it's tough to tell who has the advantage now that Giuliani is out.

McCain's backers, including several congressmen, say the former prisoner of war is playing well here, especially in more conservative areas downstate. They expect him to continue to build momentum and hope he can wrap up the nomination with a strong Super Tuesday showing.

"He's got an independent streak to him, and people like that," said Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson of Greenville in southern Illinois. "People like what John McCain stands for and his history ... He's a no-nonsense-type guy."

Romney's campaign says he and his family have been to Illinois many times in recent months and built a solid backing, led by former House Speaker Denny Hastert. They're counting on conservative voters to back Romney and think he could benefit if more independent voters decide to take a Democratic ballot for Obama instead of backing McCain.

"The Romneys are definitely looking at this as an important state," said state Sen. Dan Rutherford of Chenoa. "He's going to want to do well here."

Such interest is good news for Illinois officials who say that, even if Illinois isn't the premier primary on Tuesday, moving up the election was a good idea.

"Any time you can create some interest in a presidential race where you haven't had it before, I think it's a good thing," Cross said.