For decades, Schaumburg politician Paul Froehlich was a virulent "Reagan Republican" -- vociferously opposed to abortion rights, gay rights, gun control, tax hikes and liberalized immigration.

But in June of 2007, just after hosting a fundraiser in his capacity as Schaumburg Township Republican committeeman, Froehlich, age 57, switched parties and became a "Madigan Democrat," boosting the Democrats' Illinois House majority to 67-51.

While Froehlich may now have a big "D" for Democrat affixed to his name, a legion of detractors attach a small "d." That includes words such as dumb, despicable, deceitful, dastardly, dishonest, demagogic, despotic and desperate.  Republicans have painted a big "X" on his back: He is their number one target in 2008, they want vengeance, and they will spend whatever it takes to eliminate him.

For Froehlich, his defection is a lose-lose situation. First, it enrages and unites heretofore warring Schaumburg-area Republicans, who view him as a traitor. And second, it appalls Schaumburg-area Democrats, a generally liberal bunch whom Froehlich has been attacking and defeating for over a decade. It's akin to Vice President Dick Cheney defecting to the Democrats, repudiating the Iraq War, and asking Barack Obama to make him vice president.

Area Democrats don't want Froehlich; instead, they want to be rid of him, but Mike Madigan has decreed otherwise. Madigan sent in money and manpower to salvage Froehlich in the February 2008 Democratic primary, when Froehlich garnered an unimpressive 56.8 percent of the vote, winning 7,173-5,454 over liberal attorney John Moynihan. Froehlich spent an estimated $100,000, and Moynihan spent less than $40,000.

Moynihan made the primary a referendum on Froehlich, attacking his character and motives and branding him an untrustworthy opportunist. The pro-choice Personal PAC political action committee ripped Froehlich as an "extremist" on abortion.

Froehlich cited several reasons for his defection: dissatisfaction with the Bush Administration and his own opposition to the Iraq War, his ability to "better serve" the 56th District as part of Madigan's majority, rather than the minority, enduring factionalism among local Republicans, which threatened his renomination and election, and the fact that he already votes "with the majority of Democrats on a number of issues." But the most telling factor, according to Schaumburg Township Democratic Committeeman Rocco Terranova, was that Froehlich believed that a Republican could no longer win the House seat, as the area was trending Democratic.

"That's just crass opportunism," said Anita Forte-Scott, a Schaumburg Township Library District trustee and Froehlich's Republican opponent in the fall. "As usual, it's 'all about Paul,'" Forte-Scott said. "He is a total hypocrite, and he will do anything, at any cost, to save his skin and further his career." Forte-Scott scoffs at the notion that the 56th District has become hopelessly Democratic. "If it is, then blame Paul," she said. "He was the committeeman for 9 years. He spent more time fighting and purging other Republicans than battling Democrats. Instead of working harder, he took the easy way out. That's cowardice."

Froehlich did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The 56th District extends from the south end of Palatine to Bloomingdale, and it includes Schaumburg and parts of Hoffman Estates, Roselle, Hanover Park, Medinah and Elk Grove Village. Fifteen precincts -- or one-fifth of the district's vote -- are in heavily Republican DuPage County, where Forte-Scott can expect to get more than 60 percent of the vote. That means Froehlich must carry Schaumburg and the Cook County portion with at least 55 percent of the vote.

Froehlich broke into politics in the early 1980s as a protege of Don Totten, the fiercely conservative Schaumburg state senator who was Ronald Reagan's Illinois campaign chairman in 1976 and 1980. Totten ran for lieutenant governor in the 1982 Republican primary, getting 24.6 percent of the vote. The winner, with 44.9 percent, was George Ryan, and the remaining 30.4 percent of the vote went to Susan Catania. In hindsight, if Ryan had a single 1982 foe, he could have lost and never become governor, sparing Illinois a lot of grief, and he would now be filling prescriptions at his Kankakee pharmacy, not serving time in the Oxford Federal Correctional Institution.

Totten was elected Republican township committeeman in 1966, and his group, the Republican Organization of Schaumburg Township, controlled township government. In 1998 Froehlich, a precinct captain and officer of ROOST, betrayed his mentor, organized the Schaumburg Township Alliance of Republicans, and ran against Totten for committeeman, beating him 3,445-2,845, with 54.7 percent of the vote. Sources in the township charge that Froehlich altered the usual sample ballot used by Totten, inserting his name instead of Totten's, and mailed it to township Republicans. "He won by deceit and duplicity," Forte-Scott said.

Froehlich proceeded to purge all the pro-Totten members from STAR, and in 2001 STAR ousted all ROOST members from township government, with Froehlich becoming assessor. Froehlich was unopposed for committeeman in 2002. In 2003, when state Representative Kay Wojcik was appointed to the Illinois Senate vacancy of Doris Karpiel, Froehlich, as committeeman, appointed himself to replace Wojcik.  Froehlich was unopposed in the 2004 primary and election, got 66.7 percent of the vote against ROOST opponent Anna Klimkowicz in the 2006 primary, and was unopposed in the 2006 election.

So why is Froehlich so paranoid about losing? George Bush won the district in 2000 with 51.3 percent of the vote and in 2004 with 51.1 percent. The district's Asian population, according to the 2000 census, was 11.8 percent, and the Hispanic population was 5.2 percent and growing fast.

"This is a Republican district, and Froehlich's defection has united all the Republicans," insisted Kevin Arnold, an aide to House Republican leader Tom Cross. "They're energized to beat him." Arnold noted that Froehlich voted for the legislative pay raise, against the Republican bill to suspend the sales tax on gasoline, and for the Madigan budget. Adds Forte-Scott: "He's become a tax-and-spend liberal who is under Madigan's thumb."

The outlook: Expect both Madigan and Cross to pump $300,000 into the district on their candidates' behalf. The Republicans will try to make the race a referendum on Froehlich, portraying him as an untrustworthy and opportunistic scoundrel. Democrats will rip Bush and hope that a surge of pro-Obama "change" voters will vote for every Democrat, even a former pro-Reagan, pro-Bush Republican like Froehlich. "It's all about 'asset protection' by Madigan," Arnold said. "Froehlich is literally a 'man without a country.' Liberals have no use for him. Republicans despise him. He is utterly dependent on Madigan to save him."

My prediction: Integrity matters. Duplicity matters. Vengeance motivates. Obama will beat John McCain by 55 percent to 45 percent in the district, but Froehlich is so detested by so many that he'll lose. Forte-Scott will win with 54 percent of the vote.

 44th District: Just to the west of the 56th District, party switching also is an issue, and Republicans would love to oust first-term Democratic state Representative Fred Crespo, a onetime Republican backed by Froehlich's organization in 2005 for Hoffman Estates trustee. Crespo switched to the Democrats in 2006 and ran against 22-year Republican incumbent Terry Parke, a staunch conservative.

Parke became less beloved and more crotchety, complacent and indolent as the years passed, and he stubbornly refused to step aside for a newer, younger Republican. Parke won with 61.1 percent of the vote in 2002, and he was unopposed in 2004, even though John Kerry won the district with 54.3 percent of the vote. In 2006 Madigan recruited Crespo and sent money and workers into the district. Parke spent $299,194, to Crespo's $133,219, with $80,000 coming from Madigan. In a big Democratic year, Crespo eked out a 915-vote victory. Had Parke retired, Crespo likely would have run and won as a Republican.

The Republicans' 2008 candidate is Peggy Brothman of Hoffman Estates, a District 54 school board member. The district includes Streamwood and parts of Hanover Park, Bartlett, Hoffman Estates, Elgin and Schaumburg, all in Cook County.

"(Parke) lost because he was too conservative for the district, not because he was a Republican," Brothman said, noting that an avalanche of late Democratic mailings blasted Parke for allegedly opposing equal pay for women by voting against comparable worth legislation, which is based on the concept that women and men should receive equal pay for jobs calling for comparable skill and responsibility. "He lost a lot of women's votes," Brothman said.

Brothman is campaigning against the "craziness in Springfield," saying that "Illinois is run by Chicago Democrats and Fred answers to Mike Madigan, not to the people of our district."

The 2006 election was a referendum on Parke, Arnold noted. This year it's all about Crespo. Each side will spend $200,000. If Brothman can isolate Crespo as a Chicago-loving "Madigan Monkey," she can win. My prediction: Give Crespo a slight edge.