Blagojevich, Topinka, Ryan trial here.

Bush, Cheney, Obama, national issues here.

I don’t think the poll is nearly as bad for the governor as this story makes it out to be, but that’s just me.

While you’re at it, you might want to take a look at this Tribune story, which makes some fairly decent points (but not about the poll).

Ron Gidwitz’s campaign had this to say (via press release):

The campaign mantra of Judy Baar Topinka ran headlong into reality this weekend.

For months, Topinka and her allies among Springfield’s political class have been touting her as the candidate that can beat Rod Blagojevich.

This weekend, the St. Louis Post Dispatch in conjunction with KMOV-TV in St. Louis released an independent poll that showed Topinka trailing Blagojevich by a 45-37 margin, were the election to be held today.

For years, Blagojevich has been rightfully taken to task by media outlets statewide over allegations of rampant corruption within his administration, reckless borrowing schemes that have mortgaged the future of Illinois families, and the absence of meaningful education reform to ensure every child has the opportunity to earn a quality education in Illinois.

Against that backdrop, Topinka has gotten a free pass and has been anointed the frontrunner because of her statewide name identification.

For months Topinka’s handlers and supporters have hyped her as the GOP’s best hope as they liberally tout her competitive name identification numbers with the Governor. But now eight weeks before the primary, the poll numbers are starting to bear out what many Republicans have observed since she began contemplating her candidacy - that, in fact, she may be the one Republican who cannot beat Blagojevich.

Frankly, I’d like to see Gidwitz release his own internal head-to-heads with Blagojevich before making such a bold statement, but what do you think of all this?