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Separating the donkeys from the elephants from the pork and everything else that makes politics and government so much fun to cover.

John Patterson has been covering the Illinois Capitol since 1996 and for the Daily Herald since 2000.

He’s watched control of state government go from Republican red to solid Democratic blue, Barack Obama’s rise to stardom and George Ryan’s fall from grace.

He’s covered presidential conventions in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston and New York, made coffee runs for D.C. editors as an intern and now helps guide reporting interns as the senior state government editor in the Daily Herald’s Springfield bureau.

Joseph Ryan cut his teeth covering Gov. Rod Blagojevich's first session, voter fraud and pedophile priests.

Today he covers projects and politics for the Daily Herald, focusing on making politics make sense and making public policy make good.

Ryan followed the presidential campaign trail in Illinois and Ohio and covered numerous other races, including the Phil Crane and Melissa Bean battle. He has also exposed systemic problems with the state's gambling policy and the tollway's I-PASS system.