We're getting better at the local leader quiz

SPRINGFIELD (ap) — State and local news is big these days, with major corruption trials and disjointed political races filling front pages of the papers.

Are Illinois residents paying more attention to their leaders? Slightly.

The Daley Show recently asked 1,002 residents of the Land of Lincoln if they could — based on titles and photographs depicting them — identify six Illinois political leaders. On average, Illinois residents could identify 2.5 correctly. In a similar poll last year, residents got an average of 0.5 right.

How well can you do?

MEET YOUR LEADERS

Test your knowledge of state and local politics by naming these leaders.

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich	IL Senior Senator Dick Durbin	Top U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert
IL Attorney General Lisa Madigan	CPS CEO Arne Duncan	State treasurer Judy Baar Topinka

Who is ...

* The Illinois governor? (70 percent of respondents answered correctly.)
HINT: The pinko's making this a welfare state. (With hint, 94 percent.)

* Chicago Public School chief executive officer? (56 percent)
HINT: This good speaker is someone else's puppet. (91 percent.)

* Illinois' senior U.S. senator? (34 percent)
HINT: A friend of President Bush? I don't think so! (84 percent.)

* U.S. representative, 14th district? (9 percent)
HINT: The third most powerful man in the world. (83 percent.)

* Illinois attorney general? (3 percent)
HINT: Did not get the job because of her "daddy." Really. (79 percent.)

* State treasurer? (3 percent)
HINT: Despite dowdy image wants to be first woman leader. (11 percent.)
OK, ANOTHER HINT: The crazy lady that plays the accordion. (98 percent.)

Daley Show commentator Stan the Streets and Sans Answer Man says two factors seem to affect how familiar Illinois residents are with state leaders: longevity and prominence in corruption investigations. "For some reason, people just love trash," Stan says. "If you've got some dirt on someone, people flock to it like flies to a train wreck."

(Shamelessly stolen from today's Sun-Times.)