Winds of Change in the Windy City

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American Spectator:

Winds of Change in the Windy City
By Robert Stacy McCain on 9.24.10 @ 6:08AM

Isaac Hayes wasn't always happy to share the same name as a singer famed for "Shaft" and other 1970s soul classics.

"All of my life, I've had to deal with that," say Hayes. "I didn't appreciate it as a kid, but now, I think my Mom and Dad were geniuses.… It helps break the ice."

Breaking the ice is important for Hayes in his campaign in the 2nd District of Illinois, where he is perhaps the GOP's longest of long-shot candidates for Congress this year. Encompassing the southside suburbs of Chicago near the border with Indiana, the district's electorate is so heavily Democratic that two years ago, 90 percent voted for President Obama. The 2nd District hasn't elected a Republican to Congress in 60 years.

Why, then, did the Republican challenger find himself with a crowded schedule of media interviews this week? The explanation involves the incumbent Democrat, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.