the drumbeat to recall blaggo.

Editorial

Momentum for a recall vote

November 8, 2007

In the two-plus weeks that reporters have been asking Rod Blagojevich and his staff about a proposal to remove him from office, the governor and his mouthpieces have maintained stiff upper lips. All this discontent with Blagojevich will be forgotten, they suggest, when Illinois voters comprehend all that he has done for "the people."

Problem already. "The people" -- including many who helped re-elect Blagojevich a year ago -- apparently want to fire him. The idea of amending the Illinois Constitution to permit a voter recall of Blagojevich is an ascendant theme in the discourse of this politically gridlocked state.

On Tuesday, an independent Chicago research firm, Glengariff Group, issued the most extensive survey results we've seen on the governor's standing and prospects:

- 52 percent of the 600 registered voters interviewed would vote to recall Blagojevich if they had the opportunity; 37 percent would not. Democrats, Republicans, whites, African-Americans, residents of Chicago, Cook County, collar counties and Downstate regions -- every subgroup studied by Glengariff concurs. Company President Richard Czuba, who commissioned the research himself (rather than for any client) says: "I was stunned that even a plurality of Democrats -- 46.7 percent to 45.4 percent -- say they'd vote to recall Blagojevich. His own base has walked away from him."

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