Senator Ditka

In 2004, Barack Obama was running for the Senate against Jack Ryan. Surprisingly enough in heavily Democratic Illinois, the polls were pretty close. Following a scandal however, Ryan dropped out, leaving the Republican party grasping for a candidate. The Republicans reportedly tried to recruit former Bears coach and known Republican Mike Ditka to replace Ryan. He turned it down, and eventually the Republicans had to settle for carpetbagger Alan Keyes, who of course lost in a landslide. From there, Obama enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence and was elected President in 2008. My question: What if Ditka had accepted the offer to be the Republican nominee and then beat Obama? Don't laugh, I know it sounds ASB, but it's not. As I said the Obama-Ryan polls were close and if any Republican can win in Illinois it has to be super-popular Ditka. How would this affect the next few years? Obama certainly would have run for office agian, he was extremely popular with young Democrats, even back then.
 
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