[steve-b]

What about the big issue — cutting back Big Government interference and bringing taxes/spending under control?

[1rudeboy]

Bit of wishfull thinking, imo. The demise of the Republican Party in Illinois occured simultaneously with the 1994 “revolution” in Congress, instead of occurring after it.

[mikeus_maximus]

However, it didn't take long for the trappings of political intrigue to ensnare many of those who were swept into power by the 1994 Republican.

It's more correct to say they were allured by the seduction of politcal power and compromised their professed priniples for personal gain.

I've just about come to the conclusion that conservative government is a concept that sounds great in theory but, given human weakness in general and the type of self-aggrandizing individuals that are drawn into politics in specific, there will never be a political body so altruistic that it will divest itself of significant power amd privilege for the good of the masses and future generations-- not without being forced to do so with "little revolution now and then," as Jefferson prescribed. The 1994 "Bloodless Coup" eventually confirmed that truth, which is why America is too disgusted with the GOP to support it for the foreseeable future.

[DustyMoment]

. . . . it didn't take long for the trappings of political intrigue to ensnare many of those who were swept into power by the 1994 Republican Revolution and, by the year 2000, it was hard to tell a Republican from a Democrat.

In 2006, the voters confirmed it and the Dems were restored to control of both houses of Congress. To date, the status remains quo.