Jim Oberweis is this week's dumb politician. Well, he's not really a politician, he's an aspiring politician. And, just like other politicians try to rig the system to ensure their election whether it be by gerrymandering or campaign-finance "reform" restrictions that favor incumbents, Oberweis offered an innovative solution to his opponents in the Illinois GOP gubernatorial primary: draw straws based upon how high an opinion Oberweis has of himself.

A candidate for the GOP nomination for governor proposed a lopsided game of chance to determine who will face the front-runner in Tuesday's primary, asking two of his opponents to draw straws with him to decide who will stay in the race.

Fair enough, but like any good politician, there's a catch.

Jim Oberweis, an investment manager and dairy owner, ran the idea by state Sen. Bill Brady and businessman Ron Gidwitz on Thursday. He proposed giving himself 10 chances — but just one for each of his opponents — to draw the winning straw.

Talk about arrogant -- Oberweis should probably re-read that font of wisdom: "Everything I Ever Needed to Know in Life I Learned in Kindergarten."

Oberweis' campaign manager, on the other hand, gives flacks everywhere a bad name.

"It just shows the kind of innovative free-market thinking Jim brings in," Joe Wiegand, Oberweis' campaign manager, said Saturday.

Yeah, free-market thinking, that's it.