Could the Scott Lee Cohen debacle finally push the state of Illinois to
eliminate the lieutenant governor's office? Today, editorials boards from across the state are calling for a constitutional amendment to do away what the Daily Herald calls
a "do-nothing office." Meanwhile, Dan Johnson-Weinberger uses the Cohen story to remind us of the "danger of our plurality elections." He argues that we should avoid such situations by moving to primary runoffs. (Under such a system, if no candidate receives more than 50 percent at the polls, the top two vote-getters face off in a subsequent runnoff election.) Finally, the Reader's Whet Moser takes a broader view of the Cohen saga: "The actual possible bright side to this is that it could be the sort of
waking-up-covered-in-vomit-in-a-gutter (with vague memories of a 'masseuse') moment the state really needs to get its shit together."
