Posted on 08/05/2004 11:35:33 AM PDT by quidnunc
Watching the Republican Party in the Land of Lincoln wear jester hats should be funny, since they've happily been making fools of themselves for weeks now.
But behind the Krusty the Clown makeup and the wigs, a desperate political fight is going on between somewhat discredited establishment GOP bosses and warring conservative factions over the future shape of their party.
State GOP bosses on Wednesday argued behind closed doors at the Union League Club to pick one of the following Senate candidates to replace the imploded Jack Ryan and face Democrat Barack Obama in November:
Either a sort-of Democrat who has given political contributions to Mayor Richard Daley and other Democrats; or a conservative Republican from Maryland who doesn't live in Illinois.
Illinois Republican officials would have been more comfortable with the sort-of Democrat, Dr. Andrea Grubb Barthwell, since they're more comfortable with Democrats, anyway, and have even endorsed Democrats over Republicans. But that would embarrass the White House.
So they finally reached for former UN Ambassador Alan Keyes, the Maryland conservative talk-show host and failed presidential candidate.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Run Keyes. Whoever is put up against Obama at this point basically has no chance so it might as well be a real Republican. If nothing else he can make some points during the campaign.
Was and is but maybe, just maybe, we can take up some issues and make ourselves heard among a few people outside of Cook County/Chicago. They need help.
Keyes is too conservative for IL; these people wouldn't know constitutional principles if it danced naked in front of them at a strip bar.
As a former Chicagoland resident I can say, without fear of contradiction, that the Republican Party in IL is a useless embarrassment.
I want to come to your State Party Convention!!!!
There's gotta be some conservatives in Illinois, I mean Illinois is a huge fricking state. Is the GOP there that inept? Surely they can find someone outside of the metro Chicago area, someone in Champaign, Peroria, Rockford maybe?...hell what about Superman in Metropolis way at the bottom of the state?
Too bad John Kass is excerpted. He's an excellent writer and I'm not giving the Tribune my personal info.
No Republican senate candidate has a prayer of winning in Illinois this year.
There are good potential candidates in the Ill. GOP such as Jim Oberweiss and Steve Rauschenberger, but nobody is willing to be a sacrificial goat.
Dr. Keyes at least has a network of conservatiev supporters from around the country who can help him. Dr. Barthwell doesn't have that.
And many of Keyes's friends are among the conservatives who have basically felt abandoned by the Republican Party, so he might help the party keep some of them in the tent.
Of course, the Maryland GOP basically turned its back on him when he ran for Senator in Maryland. Apparently, even to Maryland Republicans, no one is supposed to be that conservative -- especially a black guy.
For him to even have a snowball in hell's chance of winning he has to present himself as a common-sense, center-right conservative and focus on meat-and-potato issues such as big gov't, taxes, and the WOT. If he starts quoting the Founders and get all religious and preachy he'll LOSE, because IL is extremely liberal.
I want Keyes to run.
I don't even care if he wins.
I want Osama Obama to know he has been in a race and he has to denigrate a black man.
I want the illinois pubbies to know that they have lost by following the NE Rino school of pubbies.
I actually want to vote for a pubbie this year not some third party schmuck.
Bingo.
http://www.bugmenot.com/
Copy the url for the news site and paste into blank on pg. at bugmenot. You will get logins to borrow.
Yes, it is. :-)
Hillary Clinton in NY pretty much destroyed the concept of attacking a candidate as a carpetbagger. I think at a bare minumum Keyes will make Obabama earn it, and he may have a small chance of an upset.
I want Obama to have to spend his huge Soros war chest. It will also keep Kerry from using Obama on the campaign trail revving up the Blacks if Keyes keeps him busy.
Do you live in IL? Primarily the Chicago metro area is dem. Outside of that, there are lots of Republicans.
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