20 Comments - Stick a Fork in Them - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 8:47 am: GOP is worse off than what the Pundits say. Not only are they losing ground to Democrats in places like DuPage, but they are making NO inroads in Cook County. Moreover, some of the candidates they are putting up this election (Oberweis and Peraica specifically)are going to seriously damage them with Latinos, the fastest growing demographic in the state (Oberweis because of his ridiculous anti-immigrant positions and Peraica because he can’t help himself, and he will almost certainly attack Anita Alvarez in a manner that will offend Latinos). No Statewides, no countywides in Cook, and almost certain to learn the wrong lesson in 2008. John McCain is going to get trounced in Illinois, and Mark Kirk is going to lose, and people like Oberweis and Bill Brady are going to argue that moderates can’t win, and they will take the GOP further to the right, just as Illinois is becoming the Midwestern Massachusetts. On the Democratic side, having an Illinoisian as President will pump the party up here for a while (imagine having a popular President Obama campaigning for gubernatorial/Senate/congressional candidates). Also, given the enmity between Rod and almost EVERYBODY else, he isn’t going to be an albatross around the party’s neck. And finally, despite Rod’s corruption, Lisa being boring and her father’s Machiavellian ways, and Dan Hyne’s lack of substance, the Democratic Party of Illinois has another budding Obama, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias. His ties to Obama, his charisma, the impressive record he is putting together, and his ability to get new people interested in politics AND public service all make him a formidable “top of the ticket” for the Party for years to come. - Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 9:20 am: Fork- So, if you were head of the state GOP, what would you do? Probably a good subject for a thread or 2. Also, the squabble noted by Rich re: Oberweis-Lauzen proves that, in IL, it’s not only the moderates vs. the conservatives. Sometimes even the conservatives can’t get along with each other. However, the D’s are also stuck in intra-party and intra-ideology bickering, but it hasn’t put a dent in the D’s iron grip on the levers of power in the state. Go figure. - fedup dem - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 9:21 am: Isn’t it funny that Tom Roeser and the other Lauzen-bashers seem to ignore how Sen. Hillary clinton has done the very same thing to Barack Obama (not congratulate him on his last eight wins). Lauzen is under no obligation to offer congratulations to an immirgrant-bashing jerk like Oberweis. Not if Lauzen wants to say “I told you so” when Oberweis loses on March 8. - MOVING TO A RED STATE - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 9:24 am: I am a northern suburban Republican, and I couldn’t be more depressed about our prospects. I used to be in the party of Jim Thompson, Jim Edgar, John Porter, and now I have Mark Kirk, Bill Brady, Judy Biggert. We no longer have any special claim (thanks to George Ryan) of being against corruption, but we are putting up candidates who come across as potentially less competent than some of the hacks that the Dems put up. I was eager to watch the run against Rod in 2006, only to watch us blow that. I then kept up hope that we could run against a Lisa Madigan or Dan Hynes — thinking that Illinois was ready to move beyond these Democratic family dynasties. Now, with the Obamanites just taking control all over here, I watch this young Obama protege — Giannoulias — and worry that we are going to be locked out for a long time. Giannoulias demolished a moderate and well qualified (AND female) State Senator. He has robbed Republicans of perhaps their strongest issues (end pay to play and fiscal conservatism). And he seems to be concentrating on doing his job, and not just involving himself in the constant political World Wrestling Federation matches going on in Springfield. I’m more depressed than ever. I’m moving to Texas. - Amy - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 9:34 am: Someone please take a critical look at the costs of Ceasefire. How many in depth contacts do they make with people? Not a count of a number at the marches, but an actual worker to subject count. Applying $12.5 million to police activities would make a huge difference in some communities. Ceasefire, not so much. - Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 9:53 am: Red State- If Giannoulias is performing his job as a Model Republican would in your eyes, why would you not support him? - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 10:21 am: The Pontiac mayor is in over his head so badly he had to finger-point the president of the United State as the root of his town’s problems. Pathetic. He has a senator running for president, another one running for re-election, a tight congressional race, and he thinks he shouldn’t pressure any of them? Instead he reaches for political conspriracy theories about a lame-duck president? Doubly pathetic. - Wumpus - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 10:26 am: I am tired of people who live in flood plains constantly rebuilding costing taxpayers more and more money! People, it is going to flood, stop building there, morons! - Tolson - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 10:43 am: Simply put, part of why Illinois Republicans are in the state they are is of people like the author of this column. While this is strictly opinion based on the author above, he speaks from no real experience. He has made a living of serving as a “political consultant” to a number of candidates, the common denominator amongst them being - they all lost. It is a litany of familiar names Salvi (lost three times), Churchill (lost twice), McSweeney, Zinga (lost twice). These self-styled “political consultants” which the author counts himself amongst, take a paycheck with no results. The Illinois GOP has three major problems: 1.) Lack of leadership. The state party is not the machine it used to be. Whatever money they raise goes to pay staff salaries and for expensive office rent on Randolph Street in Chicago, arguably the least Republican area in the state. The current chairman shows no leadership in cultivating future candidates, assisting current ones, or building a field organization. In addition, there’s just enough money to pay an executive director $100,000 a year and keep the lights on. 2.) Lack of likable, electable candidates. No more Judy Baar Topinkas or David McSweeneys, thank you very much. 3.) “Political Consultants” that take a big paycheck and promote infighting. As alluded to above, the political consultants active on the Republican side command huge paychecks, provide little to no work, all while fostering political bickering to keep their business alive. When a candidate hires a consultant, they should ask whether or not the consultant has ever been on a winning race, check their answer out, as well as their references. Do a criminal background check, since many have checkered pasts that can bring down a campaign. In conclusion, the three points above will not single-handedly turn the party around, but it’s a good start. - Six Degrees of Separation - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 10:51 am: Vanilla- To top it off, Livingston County is about the most rock-ribbed GOP area in the state. Home of former U.S. Rep Tom Ewing. Went 64/35 for Bush in 2004. - Squideshi - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 11:23 am: I am so tired of Exelon’s shenanigans. I think that Mike Madigan had the right idea when he advanced that bill to make energy generation a state and public responsibility in Illinois. What ever happened to that bill anyway? - PhilCollins - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 11:29 am: Moving to a Red State, I’m glad that you dislike Rep. Mark Kirk. I live in his district, and I think that he’s more liberal than many Democrats. Do you think that a conservative will oppose him, in the 2010 primary? I hope that someone who has political experience will oppose him. Tolson, I agree with your suggestions. The IL GOP needs a new chairman, someone who has held elective office and has been a county party chairman. St. Rep. Jo Ann Osmond would be a very good chairman. She’s a conservative who was the Lake Co. GOP chairman, 2004-’06, and she’s been a st. rep. since Dec. 2002. The IL GOP office should be moved to DuPage Co. That county has a higher percentage of Republicans, so they could more easily find volunteers to help there. The next executive director should be paid $50,000 per year so that more of the party money could be given to campaigns. - Bill - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 12:01 pm: I like the Republican Party just the way it is. I hope that they never change…and Joe Birkett would be a great Republican canididate for governor in 2010. - Amy - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 12:36 pm: I agree with Squideshi. & move on the bill! Exelon is currently trying to smokescreen us with Rowe’s comments on global warming and hoping that their guy, Obama, gets elected to help them more. all good luck to CUB and Lisa Madigan. - Some Guy - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 1:13 pm: Mark Kirk lives in the most liberal Congressional House district currently held by a Republican. Seriously - John Kerry did better there than any of the 200+ House GOP members in 2004. I think hoping he loses a primary to someone more conservative is a sign of why the GOP is dying now. A good comp for him is Melissa Bean — she’s more conservative than just about any other prominent IL Dem I can name, but she’s in a conservative district. She’s my congresswoman and I’m far more liberal than she is, but I have no interest in seeing someone more liberal then her threaten her in a primary. I see Illinois Republicans tarred as RINOs fairly often. That doesn’t help them any. Rebuilding the state GOP? Jeepers . . .Can’t I do something easier like help Sisyphus role a boulder up a mountain or something? . . . One thing they can do — quit alienating the Latino community. It’s bad enough for the GOP that the 15% of Illinois that’s black won’t vote for them, but if they lose the Latino vote as well, then every statewide election is for the Dems to take. - PhilCollins - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 1:18 pm: Bill, I met Joe Birkett, and I agree that he would be a great governor. However, he probably wouldn’t win. He lost statewide elections in 2002 and ‘06. If he runs for a statewide office, in 2010, he would lose again. He should run against Rep. Biggert, in the primary. - Bill - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 1:30 pm: Lol… I’ve met him too. I didn’t say he would be a great governor I said he would a great repub candidate. - MOVING TO A RED STATE - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 2:38 pm: Six- Alexi is not a reliable Republican; he just neutralizes all our strenghts. I believe government should be shrunk. Alexi believes, and is intent on proving, that government can be used to make people’s lives better. If your inane party ever figures out that they should support this kid instead of getting in his way, progressives may have finally found their standard bearer and all us “government is bad” types will be left out in the cold in this State. - Annonymous - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 11:11 pm: No matter how one feels about the results, it’s difficult to ignore that the comment Roeser made regarding Jim Oberweis’ example in congratulating and supporting his opponents after a loss stands on its own. Also, Jim’s unwavering commitment to serving our State and Country far outweighs what I’d guess many of us would be willing to put forth, even under the best conditions. Jim’s behavior is obvious, consistent, and admirable–and therefore, even a bit enviable. Having said that, the best way to save the IL GOP is to go back to showing people who we are and for what we stand through our actions. We are so much more than politicians, strategists, and voters. We’ve traditionally been the “tough” guys who assume the responsibility and accountability for making the tough decisions under the worst circumstances. We have a unique set of core values within our Party that are shared by both moderates and conservatives. It’s time to tap into, and focus on, those shared values to position ourselves to strengthen our State and our Country. We’ve obviously suffered several losses, but we’ve also enjoyed a few minor successes in our recent IL GOP history. Those successes should be analyzed by our Leadership. We’ve proven, for example, that moderates and conservatives can– under certain circumstances–actively support each other. The Campaigns that have enjoyed that success have helped to re-energize the Party overall, though for a limited time. We’ve also proven that others are interested in joining us when we’re sending clear and consistent messages about who we are and what we plan to accomplish. As in business, there’s a methodical approach that may be applied to identifying and resolving the problems that currently plague the IL GOP. Our Leadership need to stop hoping that it will all work out somehow and instead, develop and execute some innovative strategies to accelerate the process. - Annonymous - Wednesday, Feb 13, 08 @ 11:26 pm: I’ll add, too, that in it’s simplest form, our job in a two-party system is to swing things back to the right when the left have gone too far left. Therefore, no matter where you stand on the right, right is right when you’ve swung too far left. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.