Obama supporter FWIW, but doesn't it make anyone else doubt the validity of this poll that Hillary goes up two points when Bloomberg is added in?

I mean, Hillary vs. McCain she gets 40%, but Hillary vs. McCain AND Bloomberg she gets 42%.

Really, I can think of some explanations, but none are really satisfactory.

OK, pop the bubbly.
Reuters:

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert is expected to announce on Friday his retirement from Congress, a House Republican aide said on Tuesday.

"He is going to announce a retirement ... that's definitive," said the aide, who asked not to be identified.

But the aide added that it was not yet clear whether Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker before stepping down after the 2006 elections, would leave his Illinois congressional seat immediately or would serve out his term, which runs through next year.

Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who served as speaker of the House longer than any Republican in history, intends to retire next year at the end of his current term, party officials said Tuesday.

A formal announcement is planned for Friday.

2nd CQ piece is up. It has something in the way of "inside information", but I still don't think it's much more than what we already knew. (i.e. That lots of people in Illinois, GOP included, expect him to retire.)

After less than a year as a rank-and-file House member, former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is expected to call an end to a political career that made him the longest serving Republican Speaker in the history of the House of Representatives.

Several Illinois newspapers, including the Aurora Beacon News and the Chicago Tribune, reported Tuesday that the Illinois Republican has scheduled a Friday announcement on the steps of the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville, Ill. While Hastert aides are refusing to discuss what he plans to say, he is expected to announce that he will not run for a 12th term in 2008, according to Republican sources.

Foster reported total campaign receipts of $131,000 through the end of June, compared to $73,000 for Stein and $24,000 for Laesch.

Everyone in Illinois seems to expect Hastert to retire, but I have yet to see any sure thing. The CBS2 Flannery bit is the closest you're going to get. (At least he cites unnamed sources.)

Here is the CQ article. The "proof" that Hastert is retiring?

The expected retirement of former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert from Illinois' 14th District will serve as a test of Republican strength in predominantly suburban and exurban districts that have long been GOP bailiwicks.

You can follow IL-14 coverage at PrairieStateBlue as well. Or at least, you can if you want to see what local Illinois activists actually think of the race. ;) (And we have the Laesch campaign and the Foster campaign, too.)

Is that a joke? The snark tags don't show up well on my computer.

Well, Kucinich likely will. Only long-time Kucinich supporters can, without being hypocritical, criticize the content of this statement.

State blogs are compiled from the state blogrolls at MyDD and OpenLeft. Any Kentucky blog isn't there. There are some rules for getting on those blogrolls but if you have a Kentucky blog e-mail Chris and he can help with it.

Now LaHood is not running for re-election.

I think that I might have to vote for Mr. Burns as only he is electable.

This is a great recap post... I hope it doesn't get swallowed up by well-meaning but myopic fan-boy diaries.