And Illinois provides the amazing contrast.  Because in Illinois, Democrats won all major state offices except one and now have control of both houses of the Illinois legislature.  Why did Illinois go the opposite direction of the national results?  One place to look is the Chicago voting results.  In the city of Chicago, Joe Birkett had almost a 360,000 vote deficit to Lisa Madigan in the Attorney General race, with another 20,000 votes added to that deficit in Suburban Cook County.   In the statewide totals, Birkett lost by about 110,000 votes so he outpaced Madigan by 270,000 votes outside of Cook County.  For Governor, Jim Ryan faced an even greater deficit of over 400,000 votes in Chicago with Suburban Cook County adding another 45,000 to that deficit.  Since he lost statewide by about 230,000 votes, he outpaced Rod Blagojevich by 215, 000 votes outside Cook County.  Given the radical pro-abortion positions of candidates Blagojevich and Madigan, it is clear that much work is needed to educate the population of Cook County on the merits of the life issues in selecting candidates to support.  When will Cook County join the rest of Illinois in choosing candidates who support the value of all human life?

The contrast between Illinois and other parts of the nation deepens when state legislature results are analyzed.  In Illinois, Democrats gained seats in both houses of the state legislature, taking control of Senate and building their majority in the house.  Around the nation, the Republican Party picked up 200 seats in state legislatures.  That may not sound like a lot, but since 1938 the President's party has lost an average of 350 legislative seats in mid-term elections, so the Republicans effectively did 550 seats better than history would suggest!   In addition, the Republican Party may only hold one less governorship than before the election now that Alabama appears to be a Republican victory in a very tight contest.  While Republicans lost a number of governorships, they had unexpected victories in states like Georgia, Hawaii and Vermont.
 
Because the Republicans will have at least a 51 to 48 majority in the U.S. Senate, Tom Daschle will no longer be able to block consideration of Pro-Life bills and conservative judicial nominees.  This change should result in early action on a number of bills already passed by the House, including the ban on partial birth abortion, a bill to prevent health care facilities from being forced to perform abortions, and a ban on human cloning.  We look forward to a national government that defends and respects the dignity of human life.  In Illinois, we must be prepared to speak more boldly for the rights of human life because our new government leaders have made it clear that they will oppose us on life issues.