There's no doubt that Independent candidate Scott Lee Cohen is going to influence tomorrow's gubernatorial election. What's less clear is the type of impact he will have. While previous surveys suggest that the former Democratic lieutenant governor nominee is peeling off potential Brady supporters, this morning's PPP poll showed that 5 percent of Democratic respondents are backing his candidacy. If those voters decide instead to vote for Gov. Pat Quinn, it could give the Democrat the edge he needs to overcome Brady's slim lead.

Just on principle, Cohen doesn't deserve any protest votes. That's a message driven home by several papers this month, including the Chicago Defender, the State Journal-Register, and the Tribune. Given how little critical coverage his candidacy has received this fall, it's easy to forget that Cohen was dumped from the Democratic ticket earlier this year after the media unearthed some startling details about the self-funded pawnbroker's sordid past. (The most serious was a 2005 arrest on domestic battery charges involving an ex-girlfriend.) Back in February, anti-violence and women's groups expressed outrage about his previous behavior. Since then, all Cohen has done is dump another $3 million of his own money into his campaign, offered cash to Chicago-area ministers in exchange for their support, and missed a required campaign finance disclosure deadline. Cohen, to be frank, is not gubernatorial material.