* Sun-Times…
Aiming to woo GOP voters who reject Donald Trump, the Kamala Harris campaign on Sunday launched “Republicans for Harris,” including from Illinois: former Gov. Jim Edgar, former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and ex-Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Joe Walsh.
Vice President Harris’ campaign said the “campaign within a campaign” will send GOP endorsers on the road, kick off on-the-ground organizing efforts and use paid ads “to reach, persuade, and mobilize Republican voters.” […]
The Illinois four and the others can appeal to various persuadable Republicans who are not part of the Trump MAGA movement.
* Edgar has never supported Trump. LaHood was considered a moderate in DC, but his congressional voting record was likely too conservative for Illinois (and I told him as much years ago). Kinzinger has always been a conservative, and he stands on principle. For instance, from 2022…
* CBS 2…
Chris Tye spoke with Walsh, who shared why he thinks more establishment Republicans are willing to take this leap now.
“Many of these Republicans were not enthused about Joe Biden, and so I think Kamala Harris, who’s had a hell of a 17 days now, has really, I think, garnered a lot of enthusiasm among some Republicans that she can win,” he said. “Donald Trump is the odds-on favorite to get elected. For Kamala Harris to win, she got to put together this coalition of far-left progressives to never Trumper Republicans.”
Walsh believes that being part of the movement means they will likely never be elected to Republican office again, which is why so many of those taking the leap are former and retired elected office holders.
Walsh didn’t invent Republican victimhood and phony outrage, but he took it to a whole new level when he was in office and for quite a while after he was booted by Democrat Tammy Duckworth.
* Anyway, AP…
The Harris campaign shared the details of the program first with The Associated Press before the official announcement.
Biden’s team is trying to create “a permission structure” for GOP voters who would otherwise have a difficult time voting for Harris. The effort will rely heavily on Republican-to-Republican voter contact, with the belief that the best way to get a Republican to vote for Harris is to hear directly from another Republican making the same choice.
Trump’s “extremism is toxic to the millions of Republicans who no longer believe the party of Donald Trump represents their values” and will vote against him again in November, said Harris’ national director of Republican outreach, Austin Weatherford. He said the campaign would be “showing up and taking the time every single day to earn the vote of Republicans who believe in putting country over party and know that every American deserves a president who will protect their freedoms and a commander in chief who will put the best interests of the American people above their own.”
Weatherford is a onetime chief of staff to former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., who had endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket before President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance against Trump. Kinzinger is backing Harris once more as part of the launch.
Thoughts?
- Learning - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 8:03 am:
Oh….it’s Ray LaHood. Lost my mind for a second. Haven’t heard Ray LaHood’s name in years.
- Downstate - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 8:37 am:
“Haven’t heard Ray LaHood’s name in years.”
Edgar was governor 25 years ago. Nearly 1/2 of Illinois’ current voting age population were under the age of 18, when Edgar last ran.
- Dan Johnson - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 8:40 am:
Biden Republicans were a big part of his 2020 coalition. If they were unenthusiastic about Biden in 24 but enthusiastic about Harris, that’s another very positive sign.
- wildcat12 - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 8:47 am:
This is smart. I believe there are many Republicans who will vote for Kamala quietly but continue to support Trump publicly for fear of retaliation within their party, community, family, etc. Perhaps this will give them “permission” to be more vocal about their choice.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 8:56 am:
Very smart of the Harris campaign to start this. The suburbs have been very bad for Trump, as many Republicans and others voted for Haley this year even though she dropped out. That’s not
counting past elections, where MAGA candidates cost Republicans. Her VP pick may reflect this strategy.
- Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 9:02 am:
Sorry, guys, but you ain’t Republicans no more.
If Edgar appeared at a GOP fundraiser south of 64, he would be greeted with boos and shouts of RINO.
- former southerner - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 9:05 am:
Elvis, I think you need to move that line north to somewhere between I74 and I80. Edgar was coming in as governor when I moved to Illinois and it is republicans like him, Adam, and Ray who remind me of the party I used to proudly support years ago.
- fs - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 9:24 am:
==Sorry, guys, but you ain’t Republicans no more.==
And that line is why Republicans in this State are now nothing more than powerless seat warmers at the capital, with steady shrinking of the number of seats they warm. They didn’t leave the Republican Party, the Republican Party left them.
- Holding Back - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 9:29 am:
Look at the loss of the seats in the collar since Edgar. Whatever the GOP is doing is not working
- Steve Rogers - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 9:35 am:
–Whatever the GOP is doing is not working–
You mean taking hard-line, non-negotiable stances on 2A, choice, race, christian nationalism, and fabricated culture war issues that alienate many moderates?
- Julie Morris - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 9:52 am:
Didn’t those four guys used to hang out with Al Capone? Jim Edgar should have been prosecuted.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:04 am:
Good, though hardly surprising, names for IL. But of course, IL is already the closest thing to a lock for Harris.
- Arsenal - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:06 am:
==If Edgar appeared at a GOP fundraiser south of 64, he would be greeted with boos and shouts of RINO.==
The problem is, who else does ILGOP have? Yeah, it’s pretty silly how much we all look back to Edgar, but every prominent Republican since him has been thoroughly discredited.
- City Zen - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:27 am:
This makes sense for Adam. He needs to keep the paychecks flowing.
- OneMan - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:32 am:
== Sorry, guys, but you ain’t Republicans no more. ==
Yes, but as one of them, I still hope that the party of the Jims will return someday.
- clec dcn - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:35 am:
These fellows are not really republicans they simply sit back, and people listen. It is too bad because things like this blur the underneath of the Harris playbook. Edgar especially who wants to look good to all groups and be the font of wisdom. A sad situation to me.
- Gravitas - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:40 am:
Joe Walsh: failed radio host, failed presidential candidate, etc.
Big endorsement there.
- Tim O'Connor - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:49 am:
“Republicans for Harris” is a euphemism for “Criminals for Harris” apparently.
- RNUG - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:50 am:
== Jim Edgar should have been prosecuted. ==
A number of his administrations underlings were. Not going to dig up all the dirt from back them, but there was speculation about who took a fall and were later taken care of. Just another chapter in Illinois politics.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:56 am:
MAGA made very clear there’s no place for Republicans like Kinzinger and Edgar (talk about cancel culture). Democrats are rolling out the welcome mat. Edgar and Kinzinger hold a lot of power, as these Republicans for Harris types in key states may decide the election.
- Captain Obvious - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 10:57 am:
Who cares who washed up RINOs are voting for?
- ??? - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 11:08 am:
==Sorry, guys, but you ain’t Republicans no more.==
Sadly, neither are most of the current crop who call themselves Republican. It’s the Trump party, not the Republican party so many of us grew up with.
- Norseman - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 11:08 am:
=== If Edgar appeared at a GOP fundraiser south of 64, he would be greeted with boos and shouts of RINO. ===
He and others were called RINOS by the extremists even while they were being elected. Now those extremists have taken over the party and turned it into a cult. This entity, the IL MAGA Republicans, is not electing anything Statewide and is a joke in the General Assembly.
- Norseman - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 11:10 am:
Bravo to these men for putting the country ahead of party.
- thechampaignlife - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 11:11 am:
===every prominent Republican since him has been thoroughly discredited===
Or passed away: JBT, Jim Thompson, Tim Johnson. Mark Kirk is a non-Trumper who may be convinced, but what about Schock and Dold?
- levivotedforjudy - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 11:12 am:
If Trump was sitting in a row at a wedding and Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger were sitting across the aisle, where do you think Edgar would sit? I’m not surprised. He has nothing to lose and this is not his GOP now and it doesn’t want people like him, Kinzinger or Cheney in it.
- Annonin' - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 11:13 am:
Pretty good group…Even DeatBeatJoe. Not sure why anyone wants The Confessed Congressman around after the sweetheart deal with Trump DOJ over his “loan”, false documents and lies to FBI. Then the family being for DeSantis before bailing, but the more the merrier
- ??? - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 11:17 am:
==Who cares who washed up RINOs are voting for?==
Well, Captain Obvious, it *should* be obvious that Trump and down-ballot so-called Republicans should care. Washed up or not, they’re voters. Their vote doesn’t count less than anyone else’s.
- GoneFishing - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 12:02 pm:
I wonder how long it takes for folks like Edgar, Cheney, and Kinzinger and so on just to start a new party. Leave the MAGA GOP behind and start fresh.
- Mark D - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 12:12 pm:
=== Biden Republicans were a big part of his 2020 coalition. ===
All 10 of them. But seriously, I have no problem welcoming these people into the fold, so long as it’s not at the expense of alienating progressives and younger voters, who are a much more substantial bloc and will be a critical part of the party’s future, unlike the dead-enders highlighted in this story.
- Trying to be Rational - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 12:13 pm:
RINOs for Harris.
On the other hand, if I was Brian Kemp I’d come out and tell Rs to just not vote on the presidential line. Last time Trump lost Ga by 12k votes and there were 25k that voted straight Rs but left the presidential line blank.
- NIU Grad - Monday, Aug 5, 24 @ 12:13 pm:
I remember Joe Walsh’s time in congress very well. He could have very easily joined the Trump train and held court in their outrage-focused media landscape. Maybe he made a strategic bet that he would just be one more crazy in that world and decided to join the Never-Trump team. But either way, I’ve been impressed with the 180 he has taken from how he was during his time in office.
What happens to these Never-Trumpers in the future? We’ll have to see what happens to the party after the Trump Circus tent packs up and leaves town.