[This post was moved from Saturday to Sunday because a lot of folks haven’t seen it yet or may have missed some of the updates.]

I decided to take the password protection off of this one. This mailer, from Jack Roeser’s Family Taxpayers Network was sent on behalf of Jim Oberweis. It’s hitting everywhere today and slams Topinka. Click on the little pics to get big pics.

By the way, I think that train wreck photo was taken from Evasive Action, which starred Roy Scheider.

BIZARRO-WORLD UPDATE: Is this a joke?

Jim Oberweis last week asked two of his opponents to draw straws to determine who would stay in the Republican race for governor and who would drop out.

Oberweis proposed that he, Ron Gidwitz and Bill Brady play the game of chance to determine who would drop out.

Oberweis campaign manager Joe Wiegand said the winner would have remained in the race against front-runner Judy Baar Topinka.

Under Oberweis’ proposal, he would have had 10 chances to pull the winning straw and Brady and Gidwitz each would have gotten one chance.

Not surprisingly, the others turned thumbs down. What the heck is with this guy? [emphasis added]

MORE ABSOLUTELY CRAZINESS: It just gets weirder and weirder. The full AP story about the straw game is now up.

“It just shows the kind of innovative free-market thinking Jim brings in,” Wiegand said. […]

“How could you take that seriously?” said Brady, a state senator from Bloomington. […]

Wiegand said he supported Oberweis’ idea “because his instincts are phenomenal.”

“Letting Jim Oberweis be Jim Oberweis, from a campaign-management point of view, is one of the advantages we enjoy,” Wiegand said.

Which “advantages” would that be?

FLASHBACK UPDATE: From a friend:

At the closed-door meeting late last year with the then-5 Gov. candidates (Rauschy was still in) and Chairman McKenna, Oberweis proposed a similarly screwy idea:

All five candidates would put their names in a hat, and the first name drawn would run for Gov. Then you’d keep drawing names for various slots, with the final one being for National Committeeman.

ANOTHER KOOKY UPDATE: This time from the Tribune:

Gidwitz, a Chicago businessman, called the request “absurd” but said Oberweis was “totally serious” about it. Brady, a state senator from Bloomington and, like Oberweis, a conservative, said he received a similar request to draw straws.

“He said, `If God wanted you to be the candidate, it wouldn’t matter how many straws you have,’.” Brady recalled Oberweis saying.”I said, `Jim, I’m not interested.’ It’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. The people of Illinois need to decide who the nominee should be, not straws.”

Oberweis said that he called Brady and Gidwitz and asked them to “pull out and support me” but refused to confirm the details. He said he was “stunned” Brady would discuss a private conversation.

“I’ve told you five times I had a private conversation,” he told a reporter. “I don’t intend to discuss it.”