Posted on 01/16/2005 4:46:24 PM PST by RWR8189
The party of Lincoln isn't what it used to be. Long before the Alan Keyes election debacle, long before George Ryan's troubles, the seeds for the party's downfall were planted. What would Abe say?
State Rep. Angelo "Skip" Saviano was mad.
His face red and his nerves frayed, Saviano glared incredulously at the political creme de la creme of the Illinois Republican Party arrayed around the horseshoe-shaped table in the Union League Club, Chicago's posh and historic rendezvous for the rich and powerful.
The Illinois Republican State Central Committee once seemed as well suited to the Union League as the painting by Monet that accents the club's wood and leather sitting rooms.
On Aug. 4, though, Saviano and the other leaders of the Illinois Republican Party seemed out of place in the rarefied atmosphere of a club dedicated to ideals like honesty and efficiency in government. The Republicans were engaged in a political scavenger hunt, desperately searching for someone to run for the U.S. Senate after their primary winner, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race after embarrassing details from his divorce file became public.
"We need a name, we need a name," state Sen. Dave Syverson, a Rockford conservative and the state GOP treasurer, chanted to his colleagues, urging them to select Alan Keyes, the controversial Maryland talk show host, to embark on the party's "Mission Impossible"--running for the U.S. Senate against Democrat Barack Obama, who was seen as unbeatable.
But Saviano, an Elmwood Park lawmaker and one of the party's moderates, would have none of it.
"If you had only recruited better candidates, you wouldn't need any help," Saviano yelled as he rose to his feet and leaned across the table. "It's too late to worry," he snapped as he stalked from the
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Looks like the blame was all on the part of the liberal Republicans. UNTIL Alan Keyes came in and went wild. I hope his backers in Illinois realize what happened. Keyes is right on most of the issues but he has a way of framing the issues to maximize the number of people who oppose him...
If they thing the Republicans imploded, what must they think of the continuing soap opera of our Democratic Governor Rod Blogjovech and his father in law, the powerful Daley machine pal, Richard Mell. There is now an attorney general investigation into Mell's claims that Gov Rod gave out appointments for $50,000 donations. There is also going to be a law suit from Gov Rod against his father in law. It's very entertaining. The sad part is that the Republicans are too disorganized to take advantage of this total melt down.
Hmmm........ I wonder what the story is behind that one. LOL
The article misses the point. Illinois changed, because white suburban voters changed, because Chicago = Philadelphia = New York. It is that simple really. The play on social issues with a Southern accent, given in particular that Catholics in big cities have ceased to have a distinctive social conservatism, is just toxic in these precincts.
Wow...something about a homeless man in a powdered wig might make one NEED male sexual enhancement...
Seriously, though, I think Ditka would have won.
bttt
NY GOP right behind them
*ping*
They could have run a diseased goat against Obama and gotten more votes than that pathetic multi election loser Alan Keyes.
It would have been better to not run someone, save the money and use it for the future than bring in the Doctor from another state.
I don't agree that social conservatism doesn't sell, even in these areas. Without getting into the dynamics of other states, the IL GOP decline was not due to one particular reason, but several as outlined in the article, from complacency, too much centralization of power in the Executive, unresponsiveness to the constituents and grass roots, lack of ethics and high tolerance for business-as-usual corruption, high INtolerance for individuals like now fmr. Sen. Pete Fitzgerald (who wanted to clean up the party, but was denied that from the get-go).
A prime example to look at is now-fmr. Rep. Phil Crane. Crane was as "Conservative" as they come from those same aforementioned suburbs (and with all due respect, not all Conservatives speak with Southern accents), but his problem was that he was past his prime trying to hold onto power. That typified another problem with the state GOP, its refusal to allow in new blood. "Moderation" is not the key to success in IL (RINOist policy harms us in the long run), but cleaning up our act and allowing in new people with fresh non-statist ideals is.
I also noticed one very large omission in the article, too. The GOP would likely still be in control of the State Senate had not the State Supremes gerrymandered the lines for the Democrats (even in NJ, the gerrymandered lines were the sole reason why we don't have a majority Senate control there, too).
Fitzgerald was their strongest candidate. The election was essentially lost when they forced him out. Greed and selfishness did them in.
If you are a rich doctor on the North Side of Chicago and you want to stay rich, you need to relocate to Indiana.
Little by little Indiana has been bleeding Illinois dry of it's medical resources.
It has to do with medical malpractice liability, the inclinations of juries, and the rapacious nature of the lawyers in that state.
This is also happening to Michigan (where 90% of the Detroit vote reliably goes to the Democrats and their trial lawyer allies election after election), and to a degree in Ohio. Just look at the mess the Dems caused in counting the votes in that sorry state to see what the problem really is.
The Lower Midwest, except for Indiana and Kentucky, is going to Hell in a handbasket. This is way beyond your normal "rust belt" nonsense ~ it's a total societal collapse. Illinois has even put a Third-World charleton in the Senate for gosh-sakes!
Serious consideration should be taken for a federal takeover of these non-functioning portions of the former federal Northwest Territory.
I share your views, but consider this: Bush, sliced and diced 24/7 in the media, got 48-49% in MI, WI, MN--pretty liberal states. Keyes should have been able to get 35-40% (not what you would normally call a good showing)in IL. But he comes across as a know-it-all, and frames the issues SO unattractively, that he is able to break all low expectations for Republican support.
Illinois needs some good republicans to get the party back on track!
Does anyone here remember Barry Goldwater? He had a proposal on the table that would have ended the Viet Nam war before it began. Unfortunately he didn't meet the "country club" standards ~ Jewish ancestry or something, and owned a department store ~ really icky stuff for that crowd.
It took Ronald Reagan and 59,000 dead soldiers to rescue us from that piece of stupidity.
The deal is the "country club" crowd has to bow out of the selection process and just make donations else the rest of us will not be able to win the elections that give them what they really want which is, TA DA, more money!
(I know that sounds harsh, but Republicans all around the country "win" ~ a strange word in Illinois ~ and don't go to jail! Some of them are even Holy Rollers!)
Holy Rollers don't win in Michigan and Minnesota, for the most part, though it wouldn't bother me if they did. (They do okay her in OK sometimes.) So you gotta appeal to the middle (without giving away your principles) to get somewhere in the midwest.
The cold hard facts are that to win in the Midwest you have to cheat (if you are a Democrat), and boy do they cheat. The Republicans can win with or without good candidates provided the country-club types put aside their social and religious prejudices and support the candidates the party puts up.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.