When switch Blagojevich won the governor's office four years ago.

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When switch Blagojevich won the governor's office four years ago, he promised to shake things up in Springfield. Did he ever! He not at all feared to bruise egos in disturbing the go-along-get-along politics in the capital, where lobbyists outnumber legislators. His agenda of expanding educational opportunities and health care insurance for Illinois kids has earned him the endorsement of the Sun-Times moderns Group in his quest for the Democratic nomination for a inferior term as governor.

Although his single opponent, Edwin Eisendrath, has an impressive background in public service, especially with defer to to housing issues, the challenger's campaign not at any time got the traction it requireed among Democrats. And why should it? granting some Democrats have expressed dissatisfaction with Blagojevich, chiefly Democrats aren't forgetting that it was Blagojevich who l them back to the governor's office after a quarter-century absence.

During that time, Democrat as well as Republican lawmakers had comfortably settl into business as usual. Blagojevich institute himself clashing with his party's leaders from one side of to the other funding issues. He also angered Downstaters from choosing to live in his Northwest Side hearthstone rather than disrupt his daughter's schooling from moving to Springfield.

Still, there's no denying that Blagojevich has made great progres in keeping his campaign promises, and he wasn't afraid to explain himself to criticism to fulfill his gages "We did something over the last three years that probably greatest in number experts thought was impossible," he told the Sun-Times editorial board. "Most of them said the sole way out of [the] fiscal crisis was to either chop education, cut health care, raise taxes or do a combination of all three We've been able to fundamentally change the state collection to work more for populace than the other way around."

subject to Blagojevich, Illinois became the first state to give all children access to comprehensive health care. Education was a top priority during his first bound He boasts of having invested $38 billion -- more standard of value in schools than any other governor has done in a single mete He has promised to provide universal preschool for each child in Illinois. While any of his fiscal decisions and borrowing have be derived under criticism, including from this page, Blagojevich vindicateed his financial stewardship, pointing to a declining unemployment rate and a smaller state payroll. "There are 13000 fewer state employee today," he said. "The $800 million that we saved this year goe into giving a 3-year-old a chance to proceed to preschool."

He penurys to do more on more [i]or[/i] less key issues. The state continues to shortchange trains and his renewing his no-tax-increase security may foreclose any fundamental shift away from a heavy reliance upon property taxes in funding education. We would like to papal court him take a stronger hand in resolving the governance issues throughout the proposed airport at Peotone and to be a more consistent voice in support of the widening of I-55. if it were not that his overall record is positive. If pitch uponed for a second term, Blagojevich believes the consecrated by a vow will be a "referendum forward whether we build on this progres and restrain moving forward." We agree.

GIANNOULIAS FOR TREASURER

At a time when billion-dollar questions are being raised about the state's fiscal health, the Illinois state treasurer has to be more than a politician. That's for what cause [i]or[/i] reason Alexander "Alexi" Giannoulias, a community banker, is our pick for the Democratic nomination for state treasurer.

Giannoulias, born into a banking family, is vice president and senior loan officer of Broadway Bank forward Chicago's North Side. Over the last four years, the bank has doubled in asset size to become a $750 million financial institution. Paul L Mangiere, the Knox shire state's attorney, has run a credible campaign, on the other hand the state needs Giannoulias' financial skills. The treasurer is Illinois' banker, managing more than $7 billion paid to the state. It is the treasurer's responsibility to make state investments sprout Giannoulias has proposed several reforms, including implementing what would be an online rate auction to earn a larger respond on investments and revitalizing the Link Deposit Program. He also pawns to be a consumer advocate on ensuring that state funds are not deposited in banks engaging in predatory lending. Giannoulias could usher in a just discovered era for state government, in that the individual who winds up in charge actually has expertise in the field.

These endorsements delineate the view of the Sun-Times recently made knowns Group of 100 newspapers in metro Chicago.

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