When I was running for State Comptroller on the Republican ticket in 1982, I had all these great ideas.

Then the Champaign TV station, WCIA, ran a poll showing I was behind.

Big news, I figured, since I was running against incumbent Roland Burris—yes, that Roland Burris.

After that no reporters were really interested in any substantive issues.

State Senator Randy Hultgren

Now, I find myself in a role reversal. What caught my attention today was something in the Cook Political Report (subscription required) the Hultgren campaign sent me.

It was the horse race aspect of covering a campaign.

Yesterday, Cook said that Democratic Party Rep. Bill Foster, who lives in Kane County, is the most vulnerable House Democrat from Illinois and has declared the race to be a “Toss Up.” Cook had previously given Foster a slight advantage with a “Lean Democrat” designation.

Read it for yourself:

IL-14      Bill Foster                                            Lean D to Toss Up

Fallout from the Broadway Bank seizure may not just affect the fortunes of Democratic Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias but Democrats up and down the ballot in Illinois. There may be plenty of time for state Democrats to find a new standard-bearer and recover from this disastrous week, but one Democrat who was already in a tough race that won’t get any easier is Foster.

For Foster, who has never had to run a race against anyone other than deeply flawed dairy magnate Jim Oberweis, the slightest national breeze in the GOP’s favor is a severe threat. But to the extent that breeze gets stronger as a result of state Democrats’ troubles, Foster’s challenge of making this race about GOP state Sen. Randy Hultgren gets even more difficult, even with the aid of his personal checkbook.

Of all incumbent House Democrats in the state, Foster is currently the most vulnerable. This race moves to the Toss Up column.