Mike Ditka claims not running against Obama is ‘biggest mistake’ he’s ever made

theGRIO REPORT - Back in 2004, when Barack Obama was still a largely unknown state senator running to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate, state Republicans sought to recruit NFL legend Mike Ditka to run against him...

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

Back in 2004, when Barack Obama was still a largely unknown state senator running to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate, state Republicans sought to recruit NFL legend Mike Ditka to run against him.

Obama’s original Republican adversary, Jack Ryan, had been forced to withdraw from the race amid a sex scandal and the GOP feared the Democratic rising star would win in a cakewalk.

At the time, the former Chicago Bears coach and self-described “ultra-ultra conservative” turned down the chance to run.

Now the current ESPN analyst calls not challenging Obama “the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.”

“Not that I would have won, but I probably would have and he wouldn’t be in the White House,” said Ditka, according to The Dickinson Press.

Despite Ditka having virtually 100 percent name recognition with Illinois voters, a 2004 poll showed Obama still would have beaten the Hall of Famer by 7 points in the deep blue state.

Obama eventually defeated conservative Republican Alan Keyes by over 40 percent in the 2004 U.S. Senate election.

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