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Illinois GOP?

Submitted by D. Ferrell on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 08:48
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Illinois will be ugly in 2008 for Republicans for so many reasons - Obama is a Chicago guy, this year is just plain awful for the GOP, Illinois is a blue state in recent elections, and the Illinois GOP is a big mess (think Alan Keyes for Senate).

All that said, the Illinois GOP should not and can not sit on its hands. In any half-way decent year for Republicans, the conviction of Tony Rezko, and the dark cloud of at least implicit corruption over the governor's office, would be a great opportunity for Illinois candidates. 

This "culture of corruption" should be pushed aggressively, and all local/statewide Democratic candidates with any ties should have the Blagojevich weight tied to their legs. Illinois Republicans can show some leadership by attempting to answer the questions being asked on this website, namely, where do we go next, and who is fit to lead us?

Nothing will prevent the 90-10 or 80-20 races close to Chicago. But in this election and beyond, Illinois Republicans have a reason to vote, a reason to get fresh GOP faces in the race.

The greatest factor in the upcoming debacle, both statewide and national, is Republicans who don't want to vote. Even in Cook County, where I know I will be cancelled out early by a dead or otherwise ineligible voter, I see a need to vote, and a need to encourage other Republicans to vote.

 

 

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Steve Greenberg is a great candidate....

Submitted by St. Louis Conse... on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 09:06.

....to run against Melissa Bean.  This is a moderately Republican district that is winnable with a good candidate.  It will probably be tough given that Bean has survived some tough elections and Obama is at the top of the ticket, but Greenberg should be exciting.

I was really upset about Oberweis getting the nomination in IL-14.  I'm pretty sure Lauzen would have held that seat, and he (Lauzen) is a solid grassroots conservative.  Oberweis was also conservative, but he was an establishment favorite or had lost many times before that.

Have all the idiots responsible for the Keyes disaster

Submitted by Ironman on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 09:21.

been purged from party leadership yet? That's one place to start.

I would also suggest we look back to the taxes/public safety nexus as place to start rebuilding the party in inner ring suburbs. I recall Obama voted against a "castle doctrine" bill in IL. Well, that's another place to start

There is no...

Submitted by Warner Todd Huston on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 11:01.

Sorry, but there is no IL GOP. The IL GOP is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party.

And, to answer a question, few of the "idiots responsible for the Keyes disaster" are gone. They all still pretend to be our leaders as they take their marching orders from the Daily machine in Chicago.

The simple fact that the IL GOP put Oberweiss up in the first place shows how they are helping the Democrat Party win. They sideline a worthy, hard working, solidly conservative candidate in Lauzen to propmote a guy who's only qualification is he's rich. I worked around Oberweiss for close to a year. He is an empty vessle. No ideas, no principles, no common sense. He is filled with a sense of noblese blige because of his fortune and that is ALL he has.

The IL-GOP is in bad shape....

Submitted by St. Louis Conse... on Sun, 06/08/2008 - 14:10.

....however they may benefit from the coming possible implosion of the Illinois Democrat Party with the disaster that is Rod Blagojevich and Tony Rezko.

It's a sad fall from grace considering that the GOP controlled the governor's mansion for close to 30 years, and had the state legislature in the 90s as well.

Hopefully, the Barr-Topinkas and the Jim Oberweis-es of the world will get cleared out of there soon and a grassroots network of conservatives can take over.