Free Republic

National Review's publication of the collective anti-Donald Trump missives from 22 self-appointed conservative potentates has caused quite a stir in Republican circles. The nationwide responses range from, "Wait, I thought National Review went out of business years ago," to "Ed Meese? Seriously?" The Gang of 22 have officially become parodies of themselves. One would have to reach back to the days of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew to lift an adequate quote to describe them. "Nattering nabobs of negativism," "vicars of vacillation," "pusillanimous pussyfooters," "the decadent few," "ideological eunuchs," "the effete corps of impudent snobs," or "the hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs...

One of the Illinois co-chairs of Ohio Gov. John Kasich's presidential campaign is brushing off saying that the only way Trump can be beaten is with a "head shot." The comment, by Pat Brady, a former chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, came in an interview with Illinois's WGN Radio about a week ago after the last Republican presidential debate and was flagged Doug Ibendahl, a known critic of Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration, which Brady supports. "If you're going to take on Donald Trump, you've got to take him out with a head shot," Brady said during the interview....

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Erika Harold is a Harvard educated lawyer, a former Miss America, and a conservative Republican who's now running for Congress. Her beauty queen credentials have gotten her lots of attention, but an email that surfaced today could get her a lot more. Harold is running against incumbent Rodney Davis in a primary next March. Since she is bi-racial, GOP activist Doug Ibendahl wrote that she'd be good for the party. "Just be a great face for the Republican party," Ibendahl wrote. "We could actually do, in Illinois, we could do more than talk about diversity....

EDITOR'S NOTE: Many Americans believe only the wealthy or politically well-connected can run for elected office. However, you can take part in a grass roots effort designed to put the Illinois GOP back in the hands of the people. The following information was compiled by Doug Ibendahl, co-founder of Republican Young Professionals (RYP) (http://www.ilryp.org) and contributor to Champion News (http://www.championnews.net/). Ibendahl addresses the process Illinois voters can follow to become a Republican Precinct Committeeman. Ibendahl writes, "Only 10 valid signatures from registered voters in your precinct are needed to get on the ballot for Precinct Committeeman..." (Rules may differ in...