Illinois ranks as a key state in U.S. politics by virtue of its size (pop. 8,712,176, the nation's fourth largest), its strategic location in the heart of the Midwest, and its recent history as the bitterly disputed battleground of a strongly liberal Democratic Party and a strongly conservative Republican Party. It is a state in which such political disparities as Adlai Stevenson and Colonel Robert McCormick exert great influence. Its present U.S. Senators —Democrat Paul Douglas and Republican Everett McKinley Dirksen—stand at extreme political poles, representing almost equal segments of Illinois opinion....
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