It seems no one is working harder for the campaign of GOP Congressional hopeful Issac Hayes than his opponent; Jesse Jackson Jr. Triple J was looking untouchable until he goaded prosecutors, who may or may not have been establishing further connections to the Rod Blagojevich scandal.  Jackson got on WLS radio and dared the US attorney’s office to “bring it on.”

Shortly after, documents were leaked to the Chicago Sun Times saying Jackson directed the pay to play fundraising allegation at the center of the Blagojevich trial.  The article said not only was Jackson aware that Raghuveer Nayuk was promising $6-million in campaign funds to Blagojevich, with the condition that Jackson be appointed to the Senate, but he gave Nayuk orders.  The Sun Times story also said Jackson had Nayuk pay travel expenses for an attractive young DC restaurant hostess so she could join the congressman in Chicago.

Rep. Jackson responded that he did nothing wrong, then described the rendezvous with the hostess as “a private and personal matter between me and my wife that was handled some time ago,” effectively admitting that he did something would have caused him and his wife to have a serious talk.

Issac Hayes loves what he reads in the papers. “It’s a game changer,” he tells me.  Hayes chances of beating a guy with the last name Jackson on Chicago’s south side stood somewhere between slim and none. A republican has not won Chicago’s 2^nd district since the 1950’s but they now sense weakness in their opposition. “We were waiting for a break,” Says Hayes. “I told my staff we got the mistake we wanted.”

The national party is throwing weight in Hayes corner. The RNC had already listed Hayes as a “breaking new ground” candidate and as Chairman Michael Steele takes his ‘Fire Pelosi’ bus tour around the Nation; it’s making a special stop in the 2^nd district. Doug Heye, a spokesman for the RNC says Hayes is “the only challenger in Illinois I can name off the top of my head, in part because we’ve done so much with him.”

The NRCC enlisted Hayes in their ‘Young Guns’ program and today will bump him up to the next tier, listing him as ‘On the Radar.’ That gives him greater access to support and exposure from the national party.

As far as the latest development with Congressman Jackson, the national party is letting that run its own course. “We’ve not done anything on the Jackson issue,” writes Heye, “Don’t think we need to.”