Free Republic

The Illinois Republican Party would make a great business school case study. Granted, the Illinois GOP is supposed to be a political party and not a business – unless we’re talking about the handful of mediocre (to be gracious) staff and consultants who milk the brand to mooch a living via gullible donors. It’s a business for that little crew certainly, even if the organization is not. But still, our once proud Illinois Republican Party and how it decayed provides a useful lesson for people who are actually serious about organizational governance. What would happen if a corporation anywhere in...

LaGrange, IL— This weekend’s epic showdown between movement conservatives and more moderate elements of the Illinois Republican Party ended with a split result. Embattled Party Chairman Pat Brady remains at the helm of the State Central Committee but the committee is beginning the process of lining up a successor in the event Chairman Brady resigns or his detractors can garner enough votes to oust him while simultaneously navigating party rules to make it happen. Brady’s term runs through the 2014 primary season when a new, 18-member central committee, selected under the downsized 2011 congressional map, will organize itself and elect...