* From an Eric Krol story for the Center for Illinois Politics…
Republicans have been fighting internally in Illinois for decades. But the central issues that sometimes divided the party have gone from gun control, gay rights and abortion to mask wearing, vaccines and Trump loyalty. Opposing mask wearing, voicing vaccine skepticism and falsely claiming Trump won the election could play well with a decent-sized chunk of GOP primary voters. Those positions also could scare off some suburban voters come November 2022.
[House Republican Leader Durkin] said he would like House Republican candidates to focus on crime, taxing and spending, President Joe Biden’s handling of the departure from Afghanistan, and inflation fears. Durkin accused top Democrats of having “all turned their back on law enforcement” by making the criminal justice system “softer and kinder on hardened criminals,” pointing to a law that will end cash bail.
“I would say (we’re looking for candidates) that fall more into the center. And they are out there,” he said.
Asked about opposition to vaccines and masks, Durkin said: “That will not be part of the equation. We are laser focused on Springfield.”
Jeanne Ives, who nearly upset Rauner in the 2018 governor primary by appealing to conservative GOP voters, suggested a different direction.
“In Illinois, you are really going to make a decision whether or not you want the government to impose its will on you in every aspect of your life, or whether you think that there are still decisions that you as an American should be responsible for making,” said Ives, a former House lawmaker who now runs a conservative policy nonprofit. “Do you still think as an American the government can only go so far in making decisions about you, your kids, your business?”
- Mary Poppins - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 6:23 am:
So, Jeanne’s pro-choice now, eh?
- PublicServant - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 6:24 am:
Durkin: Oh that was just a passing fad, we’re really the party of law and order…as long as it’s OUR law, and OUR order. Oh, and business, you ask. Well, they fund our campaigns, so, it’s you all that are gonna be paying more, suckers.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 6:44 am:
If Durkin believes…
…Afghanistan is going to be an issue… then Durkin better believe… Texas’ abortion law will be something that folks will talk about too.
- Suburban Mom - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 7:16 am:
===he would like House Republican candidates to focus on crime, taxing and spending===
I admire an optimist.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 7:31 am:
“House Republican Leader”
For like, both of ‘em.
Durkin ain’t leading nothing, this asinine statement proves it.
- Bruce( no not him) - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 7:45 am:
==We are laser focused on Springfield.===
Boy, is he gonna be surprised when he finds out the voters don’t even know where Springfield is.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 7:45 am:
All the Republicans’ talk of personal choice reminds many folks of the places where they oppose choice…from the bedroom to the classroom. That’s not going to win them the votes they need.
- Perrid - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 8:03 am:
Well, Durkin HOPES it won’t be an issue. I don’t think his voters are gonna agree with him, though, sadly.
- JS Mill - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 8:11 am:
So Durkin wants to bring national issues into state races? I don’t think that will go well for the ILGOP in Illinois. Voter suppression, insurrection, undermining of the entire American system of government, COVID denial and a total failure to deal with the pandemic. The list goes on and on.
Then there’s the “my body, my choice” hypocrisy.
Ooof.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 8:14 am:
“House Republican candidates to focus on crime, taxing and spending”
Same old, same old, poking the white GOP base with fear of POC, and the cutting spending and taxes talking points without solutions. The gruel is so thin it would have to thicken up just to be water.
What are the GOP solutions to these problems, rather than the same attacking strategy that brought the party to super-minority status?
- don the legend - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 8:48 am:
Representative Durkin needs to remember what Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) says in the Equalizer, “You pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too.”
- JS Mill - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 8:55 am:
“Leader” Durkin, good luck turning national issues on the democrats.
I think you are better to stick to your plan, but I don’t think anyone else in your party is listening.
- Gene Masseth - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 8:59 am:
Individual freedom is not an issue that sells with voters in IL, with either party. As usual, the republican-loser party carries on with bad messaging.
- Not a Superstar - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:10 am:
Leader Durkin, please explain why Deanne Mazzochi is out speaking to school boards in opposition to masks. Looks like a “laser focus” on Q-friendly issues.
- Jocko - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:18 am:
==the government to impose its will on you==
I guess vaccines are optional now that she’s traded in her combat boots for heels.
- Paddyrollingstone - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:20 am:
OW beat me to it (as usual). Afghanistan?
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:32 am:
Durkin knows…
If they collectively become the old, angry, white, rural, pro-life (yet anti-mask), anti-vax party in the Chicagoland suburbs… map or not… it’s a complete disaster.
Dems need to shape (oh, and they will);
Republicans are anti-woman, a party that voted against SB40 and supports Texas’ anti-abortion laws… are conspiracy theorists… anti-mask, anti-vax… and see your family as expendable… at work, at school…
And Durkin wants to talk… “Afghanistan”?
- Pundent - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:33 am:
Does Jim Durkin understand what party he’s in and what it currently stands for? It’s as if he went to bed in 2015 and just woke up.
Of course vaxes and masks will be part of the equation in 2022. It’s all his party wants to talk about and certainly the focus of the frontrunners for Governor. Now I would hope that Covid is a distant memory come 2022 but the GOP seems intent on not allowing that to happen.
- Joe Bidenopolous - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:34 am:
So Durkin wants to talk about *these* national issues but not *those* national issues. Good luck threading that particular needle.
- Cool Papa Bell - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:36 am:
=“I would say (we’re looking for candidates) that fall more into the center. And they are out there,” he said.=
What YOU want, and what your BASE wants are two totally different things right now. Good luck with that.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:58 am:
“that fall more into the center”
Center is a matter of perception.
In today’s GOP Nixon is a liberal.
Signed legislation creating the EPA and OSHA, while openly embracing Chinese trade.
Durkin, your party’s center is just to the left of Jerry Falwell.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 10:04 am:
Come on people, let’s be nice. Republican Minority Leader Durkin is doing the best that he can with what he’s got.
- Henry Francis - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 10:11 am:
If Bailey wins the nomination, Durkin will vote for him over JB, right? That talk about being “laser focused” on Springfield is silly (especially when he brings up Afghanistan in the same breath).
Poor Jim is like a desperate parent trying to say anything to get his teenage kids to listen to him, but all they do is roll their eyes and crank up the tunes.
- Lucky Pierre - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 10:19 am:
This election will be a referendum on the Democrats competence, they can try to misdirect all they want but they cannot ignore the reality of the polls both nationally and in Illinois
- Bruce( no not him) - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 10:23 am:
==Asked about opposition to vaccines and masks, Durkin said: “That will not be part of the equation==
Downstate, that is what sells. Don’t kid yourself,
It will get brought up. A Lot.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 10:28 am:
==the government to impose its will on you==
I always read statement like that and think of the trees in Oz, throwing apples at Dorothy and the Scarecrow.
- Thomas Paine - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 10:30 am:
@Oswego Willy
You nailed it, every Republican is going to have to decide how to answer the PersonalPAC questionnaire, and PersonalPAC is going to be flush with cash.
There is a reason none of the Republicans are talking about the Texas law, but it cannot be avoided.
- wut? - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 10:38 am:
LOLOLOLOLOLOL just because Durkin wants to focus on other issues doesn’t mean the party will follow suit.
- walker - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 11:04 am:
Focus on the topics voters are already talking about.
- Jibba - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 11:11 am:
===Those positions also could scare off some suburban voters come November 2022.===
Man, is that the understatement of the year. And every other voter to the left of Eisenhower.
What LP does not understand is that Dems are generally satisfied with what is happening, and even many independents are totally appalled by the hot mess the GOP has become. The red wave he sees is just high blood pressure.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 11:16 am:
=== This election will be a referendum on the Democrats competence===
* Texas Abortion Law enters the chat
I mean… “Afghanistan”, amirite?
- low level - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 12:16 pm:
He can wish for that all he wants but candidates that win House primaries may be a different story
- Billy Bong - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 12:25 pm:
Pierre: “This election will be a referendum on the Democrats competence.”
June poll from Ogden & Frye: “ A new statewide poll gives Governor JB Pritzker a 57-percent approval rating,”
Pritzker seems to be winning independents over.
Based on vaccination rates in the suburbs, he is pretty well aligned on COVID, the top issue right now.
A lot will depend on what the virus is doing a year from now, but if COVID is still a major factor, the GOP will bear the brunt of the blame, and if its not, Democrats will get credit.
Republicans find themselves in an eerily similar situation to 2002 in Illinois, when things were simply beyond their control.
- Jibba - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 12:35 pm:
==Based on vaccination rates in the suburbs, he is pretty well aligned on COVID===
Which is why the GOP doesn’t want to talk about it anymore. Shocker.
- MisterJayEm - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 12:48 pm:
The Durkin strategy could work in a general election, but it’ll never make it past the Ives strategy in a GOP primary.
The Illinois Republican Party’s biggest problem right now is Illinois Republican voters.
And that’ll be a tough one to overcome.
– MrJM
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 12:52 pm:
===The Durkin strategy could work in a general election, but it’ll never make it past the Ives strategy in a GOP primary.
The Illinois Republican Party’s biggest problem right now is Illinois Republican voters.
And that’ll be a tough one to overcome.===
Spot on, perfect, pithy.
The nominees for statehouse, statewide, congress… Durkin’s challenge is winning the day in the primary. The ridiculous nominees in competitive districts will go down, the suburbs are not aligning with what is winning Trumpkin primaries.
- H-W - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 12:55 pm:
Focusing on crime may not be the best bet.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/overall-crime-decreased-2020-united-states-report-finds-n1278938?fbclid=IwAR06BsyN-tGPrx5_nC97JqIS1PyxuUQ9nLK68pjDJzzLrn4qte5quEReREg
- Moist von Lipwig - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 1:46 pm:
I’m guessing Durkin passed this by DJT before this interview, yeah?
- Suburban Mom - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 2:37 pm:
===The ridiculous nominees in competitive districts will go down, the suburbs are not aligning with what is winning Trumpkin primaries.===
I don’t know … in the suburbs around me, a bunch of towns just ran their last few GOP elected officials out of town last election, and most of the candidates in the primaries then (who weren’t already in office) were Trumpy. I assume they’ll ALL be Trumpy this cycle.
None of them won or had any hope of winning, but that didn’t seem to matter to them as much as a) getting quotes in the Chicago Tribune and b) using their high profile as political candidates to let them organize harassment of local teachers, school boards, and administration, generally for mask mandates and for “critical race theory.” The poor civics teacher is getting harassed at home on the daily in an organized campaign from these yahoos.
I don’t think their purpose is to win elections at this point; I think their major purpose is to troll Democrats, dominate news cycles, and make serving in local government or as a public employee as miserable as possible. They just want to drive the car into the tree, honestly.
- Boone's is Back - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 2:39 pm:
“We are laser focused on Springfield so let’s talk about Afghanistan.”
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 2:42 pm:
=== the suburbs around me===
Where? Be specific.
- Suburban Mom - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 2:51 pm:
North Shore. Fewer and fewer elected officials with GOP affiliation; weirder and weirder GOP primary candidates; more and more organized harassment campaigns.
- Manchester - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 4:11 pm:
As usual, the GOP is speaking out of both sides of their mouth. They demand freedom of choice concerning masks and vaccination but want to deny woman freedom over reproductive decisions. And gays can forget about freedom to love and marry who they choose. Why would anyone believe Durkin when he says otherwise?
- MisterJayEm - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 6:06 pm:
“North Shore.”
My family up there report the same thing, i.e. “When you can’t win the election, weaponize the campaign.”
– MrJM
- low level - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 8:01 pm:
Ives type candidates will beat Durkin candidates like a drum next June. And with them, Calabrese’s prediction of 80 Dem seats in November may be understating it.
- Snarkie from Schaumburg - Monday, Sep 13, 21 @ 9:11 pm:
I have watched my neighborhood turn from red to blue, thanks to the GOP turning unreasonable and mean spirited. Don Totten is turning in his grave and Terry Parke is asking “could I even win a primary?”