Mike Ditka says he should have run against Barack Obama in 2004

Mike Ditka, right, said he wished he had run against Barack Obama in 2004 for U.S. Senate in Illinois, because it could have meant Obama wouldn't be in the White House today.

By Houston Mitchell

Oct. 10, 2013 9:43 AM PT

President Mike Ditka? That would be an interesting alternate timeline to visit.

Ditka, the former Chicago Bears coach, was speaking to a group of people in North Dakota when he said his biggest mistake was not running for the U.S. Senate against the current president in the 2004 Illinois Senate race. Because if he had won, Obama would not be president today.

“Biggest mistake I’ve ever made,” Ditka said. “Not that I would have won, but I probably would have and he wouldn’t be in the White House.”

And Ditka is such an icon and so popular in Illinois, he probably would have won.

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