Blame it on the money

Former Gov. Jim Edgar, who can speak as a Republican Party member as well as a political analyst, said Gov. Rod Blagojevich won by having the advantage of more campaign money.

“To put on a successful campaign, we’re going to have to have adequate resources, not just a good candidate. I thought Judy Baar Topinka was a good candidate, but she didn’t have the financial help she needed.”

He said he was disappointed with the fund-raising from national and past Topinka supporters, which contributed to her delayed response to negative ads aired by the governor’s camp.

By Edgar’s count, Blagojevich outspent Topinka 5-to-1 and ran negative commercials, and unfortunately, many people rely on them for candidate information. “You can look at the numbers, and, I know people don’t like negative commercials, but when [Blagojevich] went negative on Judy, that changed the outlook of this election.”

In short, he said by defining Topinka as “George Ryan’s treasurer” — even though she’s a three-term, independently elected constitutional officer — Blagojevich inoculated himself from the potentially damaging news stories about an ongoing federal investigation into his administration’s hiring and contracting practices.