I attended the Effingham Candidate Forum at the Hilton Garden Inn and I have a few observations.

First, Eric Zeller and the questioning panel of Greg Sapp, William Bence and Donna Riley-Gordon did a fantastic job of conducting the debate.  Unfortunately, time ran short and we didn't to hear all the questions that were in the queue.  The event was very professionally run, and all participates were civil.

Second, Roger Eddy, Dale Righter, and Kyle McCarter (all Republicans) were debating their Democrat challengers, but you could not tell the difference between the candidates.  It seemed one candidate would answer, and then all the other candidates would basically say "ditto", or as Tim Cyr (Roger Eddy's opponent) literally said after Dale Righter's answer, "Um, yeah, what he said".

I know that around the country Democrats have been busy distancing themselves from Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, but Tim Dudley, Josh Weger, and Tim Cyr did their best to run like Olympic sprinters away from Quinn, Madigan, and Cullerton.  You wouldn't have known there were Democrats on the dais if it wasn't for the moderator Eric Zeller reminding the listeners and audience in the room that they were the Democratic candidates.  In fact, if you listen to Dudley's radio ads, you would think that he was a Republican.  I've never seen anything like it in my life. 

Finally, I wanted to say, and I hope I don't get too snarky here, but Tim Cyr's answers to everything made the audience sit back in stunned silence and say to themselves, "Huh?".  Honestly, at times, I thought I was watching a Saturday Night Live skit.  For instance, during Cyr's 2 minute closing statement, he led off by saying, "I won't be too long, we've all been drinking water up here" alluding to the fact he had to use restroom, and proceeded to say...well...basically nothing of substance.

The Effingham Candidate Forum was a great experience that I hope everyone got to listen to on the radio.  It is vitally important that we know what our candidates stand for and what they plan to do in order to correct the serious situation that Illinois finds itself in.  Roger Eddy, Dale Righter and Kyle McCarter all seemed to have a plan.  Their opponents for the most part said "ditto".  McCarter was probably a little more forthcoming about the hard choices that Illinois faces than anyone on the dais, but all the incumbents knew what has to be done.  Due to the political chess match that Mike Madigan and John Cullerton have been playing in Springfield, the good ideas our people have had seem to have been ignored or swept under the rug.  I hope all that changes when we elect Bill Brady as Governor and we whittle down the Democrat majorities in the Illinois House and Senate. 

To quote Tim Cyr, "and that's all I have to say about that".