Republican state Sen. Kirk Dillard treasures his memories of working side by side with Obama from the moment the Democrat set foot in Springfield.
Although he declines to say whether Obama would get his vote for president, Dillard welcomed the U.S. senator's announcement Tuesday that he has filed a presidential exploratory committee. The move allows Obama to raise money in advance of a more formal announcement of his candidacy next month.
"I pride myself on knowing (Obama) was very special before Illinois knew him and the U.S. knew him," Dillard said.
Dillard - whose district includes roughly the eastern half of Naperville - and Obama successfully co-sponsored racial profiling legislation and a campaign ethics bill.
"I believe Obama is one of the smartest people ever to sit in the state Senate," Dillard said.
On Tuesday, Obama said the last six years have left the country in a precarious place, and he promoted himself as the standard-bearer for a new kind of politics.
"Our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, commonsense way," Obama said in a video posted on his Web site. "Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions. And that's what we have to change first."
Rick Klau, former chairman of the Naperville Township Democratic Organization, also knows Obama on a personal level from working on his 2004 campaign.
"I'm incredibly excited that he's made his interest in running official," Klau said. "You want to be part of a country where someone like him is possible. I think what he brings to the race for both parties is a bipartisan opportunity, as the country is very divided right now."
Although Obama carries a Senate voting record that is rated more liberal than that of Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, Klau said voters should not limit their analysis of Obama to his voting record.
"If you look not only at his votes, but also at the bills he's introduced, you'll see a number of cases where he worked very hard to line up sponsors from the Republican side," Klau said.
While Dillard also applauded Obama's diplomatic acumen, he said there are some instances in which he and Obama could never work together, such as Obama's repeated introduction of a billion-dollar universal health care plan for Illinois. Calling his proposed legislation a "free-for-all," Dillard said it would have bankrupted the Illinois treasury.
Republican state Sen. Randy Hultgren, whose district includes the western half of Naperville, said as the campaign progresses, it will be weighted less toward Obama's likability factor and more toward his voting record.
As a newly elected senator, Hultgren has never worked with Obama, but has met him on several occasions.
"Somehow he's able to get this perception out there that he's very moderate," Hultgren said. "On a few things he's very open to working with Democrats or Republicans, but I do think overall he's very liberal."
Or at least figuring out what went wrong last year on the national, state and local levels.
But not in Lake County.
Instead of licking their wounds, GOPsters here are creating new ones as the Republican Assembly of Lake County continues to battle fellow county Republicans and the Illinois Republican State Central Committee.
It's enough to cause a Democrat to do a pre-2008 victory dance even though we're still more than a year away from voting. I understand Lake County Democratic Party Chairman Terry Link of Waukegan is so excited he's even enrolled in a correspondence course on ballroom dancing. Which other Democrats will be far behind?
While you ponder that, some background.
The Republican Assembly of Lake County is a rump group based mainly in the Libertyville area which has been critical of party leaders dating back to its founding in 2001 by retired Air Force Col. Raymond "Bombs Away" True. Assembly members consider themselves the "true" defenders of the GOP faith and the party of Lincoln, Grant, Hoover, Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush, et al.
Along the way, they've violated Reagan's 11th Amendment -- not speaking ill of fellow Republicans -- such as the time they labeled a former GOP chairman "a rotten apple in our Lake County barrel." Or the time they gave out the home number of a state representative they didn't agree with and urged members to call and call and call.
They've also been known to stick their collective noses into various school tax referendums, usually on the side opposing raising taxes for public education.
Late last month the rift widened when they sued Lake County GOP Chairman Daniel Venturi of Lake Villa in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging he broke some obscure election law by casting weighted precinct votes for a state central committeemen.
Now, the ongoing feud has deepened further.
The Illinois Republican State Central Committee voted on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to deny the Assembly the use of the name Republican because of its history of attacking fellow GOPsters.
How serious this exile is depends on one's political perspective. The state party's edict states the group can reapply to be Republicans in name only after a year.
As some wags have offered, the Irish Republican Army or the late Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards certainly didn't ask the Illinois state GOP if they could use the Republican monicker. But then again, those two groups had a somewhat lawless cachet to their use of Republican and certainly don't mirror the image the state GOP would like to project.
Nobody expects True's followers to bend to this ostracism, which leaves the possibility of legal action by the state party, continued wrangling about who are the real Republicans and repeated glee by Democrats.
After all what's in a name. Just ask the Federalists, Whigs, Progressives and Bull Moose regulars, if you can find one. They're extinct.
SPRINGFIELD — Across the suburbs, many Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike weren’t surprised that Barack Obama will run for president, but his speedy ascent up the national political ladder isn’t what they expected from their former colleague.
“I knew that he was something special and that he would grow to become a rock star in politics, I just never thought he would become the Beatles or the Rolling Stones this quickly,” said Hinsdale state Sen. Kirk Dillard, once a potential U.S. Senate rival of Obama’s and the chairman of the DuPage County Republican Party.
“While Barack is left of center, I believe it is good for Illinois to have our elected officials in a positive national spotlight,” Dillard said.
State Rep. Eddie Washington, a Waukegan Democrat, said Obama’s focus on the underprivileged combined with his oratory flair set him apart from other politicians.
“I hope that this country has changed its ways and is definitely ready for a black man to become the chief executive officer,” Washington said. “Barack proves one thing: that together we are better than one of us alone. He’s a man of inclusiveness. He shies away from exclusiveness, and that will be one of his benchmarks – whether he becomes the next president or not.”
State Sen. Don Harmon, an Oak Park Democrat, remains impressed from his experience with Obama on the Illinois Senate’s Judiciary Committee.
“It was easy to see in him a degree of greatness,” Harmon said. “He was a phenomenal mentor. He has an incredible legal mind but never lost grounding for a very common sense view.”
State Sen. Pamela Althoff, a McHenry Republican, offered similar sentiments, going so far as to say she’d consider voting for the Chicago Democrat, though stopping short of saying she’d do so in a primary.
Speculation about Obama holding the nation’s top political spot may sit well with most of his former colleagues, but there are some who say the junior senator doesn’t have enough experience to fill presidential shoes.
“I guess I’m interested, as the campaign goes on, to find where Barack is on the big issues at the federal level,” said former Elgin Republican state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger. He, too, ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004 but lost the primary.
State Sen. Dan Cronin, an Elmhurst Republican joked that while Obama was a bright, young senator, Cronin prefers his presidents “to have a little more gray hair.”
“So far, Barack Obama has been about image and hype, and that has far outweighed any substance. He’s a charming fellow, but this is important business,” said Cronin of Obama’s short policy record. “For Pete’s sake, he wants to be president of the United States. What’s his record of accomplishment? What does he believe in? … It’s time we start asking these questions.”
Now that he's all-but-formally in the race - forming a presidential exploratory committee Tuesday - the question no longer is whether he should run but why he felt he had to go for it now.
The answer: In the post- CNN/Fox News era, in a new era of rapid response with constantly updated newspaper Web sites and insta-pundit blogs, Obama had to strike while the proverbial political iron is hot.
"Definitely the media plays such a highly significant role in politics today that one would not want to overlook the importance of being a hot commodity in the eyes of the media," said Bruce Newman, a marketing professor at DePaul University, editor of the Journal of Political Marketing and a Buffalo Grove resident. "He needs to give the media a reason to stay excited about him."
The move by Obama to create an exploratory committee - which will allow him to immediately start raising money and get a team in place - caps his rocket-like rise from obscure state senator four years ago to national celebrity and presidential contender.
In past eras, an ambitious politician like Obama, 45, could afford to take his time before running for the nation's highest office. But with his national profile so high - and a fickle national media always on the lookout for its next obsession - there apparently was no time like the present.
Running once for experience and then a second time to apply lessons learned used to be relatively common. Fifty years ago, Democratic Illinois Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson II ran twice against Dwight D. Eisenhower, losing both times.
In the pre-cable TV era, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan both lost presidential bids before mounting successful comebacks.
Not anymore, at least on the Democratic side, where one-and-done seems to be the rule.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman was a respected vice presidential candidate in 2000, but by 2004 his presidential campaign flat-lined. After serving two terms as vice president, Democrat Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 against President Bush, but didn't even run again in 2004, even though his strong showing made him his party's presumptive nominee. Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo didn't even get that far - he held off running after his well-received 1984 Democratic convention speech and couldn't regain the steam.
Sen. John Kerry may have come within Ohio's electoral votes of defeating Bush in 2004, but he has seen cold water thrown on any hopes he may have had for a rematch. Kerry's running mate, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, is trying to buck the one-and-done trend.
"Democrats seem to be fairly unforgiving. You get your one chance, and that's it," said Kitty Kurth, a Chicago Democratic consultant who worked on Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential bid. "Republicans give their people more latitude."
To wit: Former Republican Sen. Bob Dole ran seriously in 1988 but lost to George H. Bush, only to get his party's nomination in a losing effort against President Clinton in 1996. And Arizona Sen. John McCain lost to Bush in the 2000 primary but appears primed to be the front-runner in the GOP next year.
Obama acknowledged the role of the media in his video statement, even if he was discounting it as a reason.
"Running for the presidency is a profound decision - a decision no one should make on the basis of media hype or personal ambition alone - and so before I committed myself and my family to this race, I wanted to be sure that this was right for us and, more importantly, right for the country," Obama said.
Democratic consultant Pete Giangreco of Evanston argued Obama decided to take the next presidential step because his message has resonated.
"People are hungry for a unique kind of politics, and that's what's driving it rather than his national profile," said Giangreco, who will handle Obama's direct mail operation.
For a politician whose national profile was almost wholly fueled by the media, best-selling author Obama chose an unorthodox method of announcing his candidacy: He simply issued a video statement on his web site. And his spokesman said Obama would be doing no interviews or public appearances Tuesday.
The move contrasts with the saturation media coverage he's courted in the past. Obama's first steps into the presidential contest were going to be big news anyway, so headlines were guaranteed. And by not holding a news conference, Obama also avoided having to answer questions about his lack of experience.
The campaign announcement also theoretically appeals to younger voters more likely to get their information via the Web. The campaign did not make available statistics on its Web traffic Tuesday following news of the announcement.
Barring a case of cold feet, Obama's formal entry into the race is expected to come Feb. 10 in Springfield, potentially at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, though that venue had not been finalized, aides said.
Obama's video message indicates that his longstanding opposition to the Iraq war and frequent calls for a bipartisan approach in Washington will be his campaign themes.
"The decisions that have been made in Washington these past six years, and the problems that have been ignored, have put our country in a precarious place," Obama said. "But challenging as they are, it's not the magnitude of our problems that concerns me the most. It's the smallness of our politics. ... Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence, that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions."
Now that Obama has given notice, his immediate challenges include raising $75 million or more to be competitive and dealing with the candidacy presumed front-runner and Park Ridge native, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. His entry into the race leaves Democrats with the potential to select either the first woman or first black to serve as a major-party national standard bearer.
DIERSEN HEADLINE: Daily Herald promotes Obama, again
http://www.dailyherald.com/opinion/index.asp
Excitement, caution over Obama’s step - Editorial
Only if you have just emerged from a Rip Van Winkle-length nap would you be surprised that Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has gotten very serious about running for president. He’s been testing the water for weeks, with a flood of publicity, culminating in his formation on Tuesday of a presidential exploratory committee.
But while it is not surprising news that Obama has taken the next big step toward a White House bid as a Democrat, it is in some ways good news.
It is testimony to how far we have advanced as a civil society that a black man is being taken seriously as a presidential candidate. He is not on the fringe. He is getting high marks. Can you imagine this happening in 1964? Or 1968?
There still are those who literally hate the idea of a non-white as a candidate for president. But we think that most voters are looking beyond Obama’s race to what he offers as a leader.
And he offers much. Obama has qualities we have not seen in many presidential candidates recently. He is smart without being smug. He is charismatic by nature, not when the moment, politically, calls for it. He’s refreshingly different from the dull or out-of-touch people who often aspire to leadership. In Obama, many Americans see a chance for reform, for unity, for a chance to be viewed as real people with real problems. Even the way in which he made Tuesday’s announcement shows a grasp of a shift toward more personal and democratic means of communication. He opted for a low-key Web video accessible to any computer user instead of a high-profile news conference attended only by reporters.
But one also wonders whether we’re seeing the real thing. Is Obama the moderate most Americans can embrace, or would he govern from further to the left? That’s hard to say, and that’s just one question about an Obama campaign.
Sometimes candidates who appear so promising wind up disappointing voters because some problem from their past that they naïvely believed they could hide becomes public. Will this be the case with Obama, or are we being too cynical?
There already is the revelation that Obama entered into a real estate deal that had ties to the later-indicted developer Antoin “Tony” Rezko. Obama says he made a mistake in that case. People like Obama’s candor. That is what he needs in addressing this issue or any others that call for truth, instead of spin, in assessing his actions.
Is Obama in over his head, with just slightly over two years of experience in the U.S. Senate?
On that point, Obama should remember that he is first and foremost our senator. That is what he insisted he wanted to be when elected in 2004; nothing more. Now that he has changed in mind — and he’s entitled to do that and many people have encouraged him to do just that — he can’t become too busy exploring the presidency to handle his legislative work and constituent services. In fact, it can be said he needs to improve upon that record so far, the distraction of a presidential bid aside. Obama has done some good things for Illinois, but could be doing more.
Still, Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for president has substantial appeal. At a time when leaders seem to be strangers, no one we’d really care to know, Obama would be welcome at our kitchen table. Now we’ll see what people think of him being in the White House.
So the Naperville Republican is asking his constituents in the 96th House District to share their opinions on key issues.
As part of a survey appearing this week in the Daily Herald and other area newspapers, Dunn is seeking feedback on topics ranging from education funding and campaign finance reform to road construction.
“The General Assembly is going to really start its work in February,” Dunn said Tuesday. “We’re going to be looking at some controversial issues. I want to hear from my district.”
By appealing to newspaper readers, Dunn said he’s hoping to get a higher percentage of replies than from surveys mailed directly to homes.
“I think people who read newspapers are well informed and have an interest in the issues,” he said.
Among the statewide issues addressed within Dunn’s eight-question survey is whether Illinois should consider public financing of campaigns.
“There is no doubt that there is a big pay-to-play atmosphere here in Illinois,” he said. “Perhaps public financing of campaigns would solve it.”
Dunn also wants to know if there’s public support for increasing income taxes to pay for education.
“Being a representative, I’ve learned the most important thing is to listen to my constituents,” said Dunn, whose district includes portions of Aurora, Naperville and Warrenville.
For example, Dunn has voted in the past against having the state provide financial support for embryonic stem-cell research.
But after hearing from constituents, he’s now leaning toward supporting it.
Dunn also is gauging public opinion on Indian Prairie Unit District 204’s push to acquire land in Aurora to build a third high school.
In November, state lawmakers refused to grant “quick-take” powers to give District 204 immediate access to 55 acres it needs along Route 59 near 75th Street and Commons Drive.
Dunn, who pushed for the quick-take authority, said he plans to reintroduce the legislation.
In the meantime, the state representative’s survey is slated to appear daily in the newspapers until the end of the week.
The plan is to have all of the survey results tallied by the end of the month. Dunn said he’s willing to share the results with anyone who asks.
DuPage County panel wants jail study Expense questioned with funding in short supply - Robert Sanchezhttp://www.dailyherald.com/news/dupagestory.asp?id=270377&cc=d&tc=&t=
DuPage leaders are pushing for a comprehensive study of the county jail’s inmate population, despite concerns about the report’s $112,000 price tag.
The county board’s judicial and public safety committee on Tuesday gave its blessing for a contract with the consulting firm MGT of America Inc. to undertake the study.
If the deal is approved by the full county board, MGT will review operations at the jail, forecast the inmate population and recommend whether the Wheaton facility should be replaced.
But with a new jail estimated to cost $80 million to $100 million, some critics are questioning whether DuPage should even bother to pursue the study. They point to the county’s ongoing financial problems and its need for new revenue sources.
On Tuesday, board member Patrick O’Shea responded to the criticism by saying the study should have been done years ago.
“Hopefully, we can get more time out of our existing jail,” said O’Shea, who leads the judicial and public safety committee. “If not, we have to build a new jail. I would at least like to have an outside consultant tell me if we don’t have any time.”
Talk of doing the study started last year when officials raised concerns about overcrowding at the jail in Wheaton.
Last fall, Sheriff John Zaruba publicly warned county board members that the jail’s inmate population is soaring.
A sheriff’s department representative on Tuesday said the problem persists.
“The population has gotten to the level where he (Zaruba) is actually bound to tell the county board that we are at a overcrowding level,” said David Biedron, the chief of administration and supportive services.
Biedron said the 720-bed facility was at 90 percent capacity most of last year.
The current facility was opened in 1995.
“Once you reach 80 percent, you start to lose your ability to manage effectively,” he said.
O’Shea stressed that one goal of the six-month study will be to find ways that the county can lower its inmate population. Its findings also might save the county money, he said.
The county is spending more than $1 million on health care for inmates, officials said. The report is expected to offer suggestions for how expenses could be lowered.
If the MGT contract is approved by the county board, the results of the study would be available by July, officials said.
Wheaton Mayor Carr and City Attorney Walsh clarify Wheaton public comment guidelines - James Fuller
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/dupagestory.asp?id=270435&cc=d&tc=&t=
Faced with public opinion that Wheaton’s new public comment guidelines obstruct freedom of speech, the city may modify the policy once again.
Mayor Jim Carr instituted conduct guidelines for public comment on Nov. 20 after several months of what he perceived as political attacks against him and the council.
An attorney for the Citizens Advocacy Center in Elmhurst blasted the guidelines a month later, calling them an attempt to legislate decency that only chilled free speech.
Those sentiments arose again at the council meeting Monday night, when Paula McGowen, a Glen Ellyn resident, said she was shocked the guidelines barred political comment.
“Isn’t this what America’s all about?” McGowen asked. “It’s freedom of speech.”
Carr then pointed out the statement he read did not mention political speech. Legal staff had reviewed the guidelines to see if any modifications were needed. As such, Carr’s reading of the guidelines Monday night differed from the printed version. The guidelines on the agenda read, “Comments that are personally condescending, political or do not speak to the issue at hand will not be permitted.”
City attorney Ed Walsh clarified the issue by saying city code limits public comment to agenda items. However, historical practice has allowed general, including political, comments, as well.
Walsh said citizen comments should be “ideally on agenda items and ideally on specific city business and ideally not on personal political positions. The city really is not interested in hearing political campaign speeches from anyone.”
City council candidate Jonathan Myers asked if that meant political comment is discouraged, but not prohibited.
Walsh said public comment is “never discouraged.”
Carr agreed.
“We follow the democratic process to a fault,” Carr said. “Anyone who thinks otherwise is absolutely and badly mistaken.”
If Durbin is a far-left liberal, so is Obama - Roy W. Mashek, Downers Grove
http://www.dailyherald.com/opinion/fencepost.asp
(THE LETTER: At the Web site Project Vote Smart, www.vote-smart.org, anyone can see for himself or herself how every U.S. senator and representative voted on every bill that was put up for a vote. With a little checking it is obvious that Sen. Barack Obama’s voting record is practically a carbon-copy of Sen. Richard Durbin’s. Both Illinois senators, both Democrats, vote the same on the social agenda, yet Obama is labeled a “moderate” and a “centrist,” but Durbin is considered a hard-left Democrat. How can this be?)
I've always wondered what compelled Obama not to just vote against Born Alive but attempt single-handedly to thwart its passage, not once, not twice, but three times.
In 2001 and 2002, Obama was the lone senator speaking against Born Alive on the Senate floor. In 2003, Obama killed the bill altogether by burying it alive in a committee he chaired.
I asked former state Sen. Patrick O'Malley why he thought Obama went so far. O'Malley introduced Born Alive and served with Obama on the Judiciary Committee both years the bill was argued there.
"I think he was internally struggling with it," said O'Malley. "His dilemma was obvious. On one hand he holds himself out to be a constitutional scholar, and, of course, our Constitution makes clear that persons born are entitled to all the rights and privileges of full citizens. He consistently characterized the issue before us as being about abortion, but the legislation had nothing to do with Roe v. Wade. It focused on persons born alive. It was so easy to be on the right side of the angels here, but he wasn't."
He was on the wrong side of politics, too. By the third time Obama tried to snuff Born Alive, he was running for the U.S. Senate. The federal version had passed the year before unanimously in the Senate and almost unanimously in the House. Even NARAL went neutral. Pro-aborts agreed to let it pass without a fight lest they appear extreme.
Except Obama. He decided to battle alone further left than any other senator – Boxer, Clinton, Kennedy, Kerry, et al. Risky. Odd.
I might have agreed with O'Malley that Obama fought his internal battle externally, realizing to accept preterm live aborted babies as legal persons weakened his private justification of abortion.
But something in this scenario smelled. The first Mayor Daley once said, "There is nothing so wholesome as a fish," which was his way of defending Chicago politicians, who always smell fishy. Obama is one.
So with the new information out about Obama these days, I re-examined the evidence and found some interesting facts:
So, which explanation makes more sense, that the fire rose in Obama's belly to fight for what he nobly but foolishly thought was the sacred right to infanticide, that he decided, by golly, this was why he was elected, and even if he stood alone, looking like a left-wing extremist, he was going to protect that right?
Or that Advocate got to Obama through its UCC contacts?
Am I inferring faith has no place in legislative decision-making? No. To assert laws should be written, passed or failed in a moral vacuum is to assert the impossible, since laws are expressions of morality.
No, the question Obama must answer is whether his church or Advocate influenced him. Obama has a shady history. Was there quid pro quo?
Advocate recently fell from grace with Obama, Wright and TUCC. They believe Advocate is ignoring their community's poor.
I'm surprised they are surprised Advocate might be mistreating the least of these.
I also think they have a lot of nerve.
It also might send a message about Obama's relative inexperience.
Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 after eight years in the Illinois General Assembly. Lincoln became the nation's 16th president and is considered by many to be the greatest one after a single term in Congress and eight years in the Illinois Legislature.
"There's a clear, very significant symbolism there," said Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes, an early advocate of Obama running for president.
Obama formed a presidential exploratory committee Tuesday and said he would formally announce his decision about running on Feb. 10. That's two days before Lincoln's birthday.
Several Obama supporters said they've been told he plans to announce his decision in Springfield, the state capital. Obama's exploratory committee did not immediately comment.
"It's a great choice. It's the home of the last Illinois president and I think Abraham Lincoln's life and legacy are part of the heritage of all of us," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
Obama lives in Chicago but may want to avoid reminding voters of that city and its long history of corrupt, insider politics.
An announcement in Springfield would emphasize his years of legislative experience there and the connections to Lincoln, who led the nation through the Civil War. Recalling the struggle to end slavery might be another benefit for someone who hopes to become America's first black president.
The city offers several potential backdrops to a presidential announcement: Lincoln's home, his presidential library and the former state capitol where he delivered a famous speech warning that "a house divided against itself cannot stand."
Republican National Committeeman Bob Kjellander was asked to resign Saturday by his party’s 19-member state central committee - a request the Springfield lobbyist immediately refused. The state GOP leaders approved the non-binding resolution during an executive session in their latest regular meeting, held in suburban Bolingbrook. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna declined to release the vote tally or other details but said the signal that leadership has “lost confidence” in Kjellander follows concerns raised by a group of county GOP chairmen. “We don’t have the ability to move beyond that,” he said of the measure.
Republican National Committeeman Bob Kjellander was asked to resign Saturday by his party’s 19-member state central committee - a request the Springfield lobbyist immediately refused.
The state GOP leaders approved the non-binding resolution during an executive session in their latest regular meeting, held in suburban Bolingbrook. Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy McKenna declined to release the vote tally or other details but said the signal that leadership has “lost confidence” in Kjellander follows concerns raised by a group of county GOP chairmen.
“We don’t have the ability to move beyond that,” he said of the measure.
Kjellander said the move was more about the GOP wipeout than anything else.
Kjellander said disgruntled members of the Republican Party were in search of someone to blame after the GOP’s poor performance last fall–though he declined to view himself as a scapegoat. “They’re entitled to their opinion. I have mine,” Kjellander said, noting that the state central committee had no authority to remove him from his post. “Certainly when a party gets wiped out at every level like we did after the last election, people are going to look for scapegoats.”
Kjellander said disgruntled members of the Republican Party were in search of someone to blame after the GOP’s poor performance last fall–though he declined to view himself as a scapegoat.
“They’re entitled to their opinion. I have mine,” Kjellander said, noting that the state central committee had no authority to remove him from his post. “Certainly when a party gets wiped out at every level like we did after the last election, people are going to look for scapegoats.”
But it’s not all about that. And it’s not all about corruption. The right wing has been trying to take over the state GOP for years, and Kjellander is just the latest target. As with the fight over who would replace Lee Daniels, the strategy is to oust Kj and install one of their own. Notice that the self-proclaimed reformers have never gotten behind a squeaky clean compromise candidate that disagreed with them on hot button social issues.
Both actions may be largely symbolic. Kjellander insists he will not resign regardless of who calls for it. While FIRST has been quiet, the RALC and its supporters have been screaming about the rebuke. Unless the State Republican Party is prepared to file suit for infractions, there is probably little recourse against either organization continuing to use the word 'Republican' in general usage.
But that is not to say that party's actions are futile. In the course of the meeting, Chairman Andy McKenna announced he will form a Republican Study Group to help chart a course for the future. He plans to appoint members to this group from various existing activist groups and officials from around the state. The idea is to expand the party's outreach and develop a plan that engages all authentically Republican groups, so as to begin healing the fissures that have so damaged the party in recent years. McKenna also indicated he plans to rely much more heavily on the Republican County Chairmans' Assn. than the party has in the past.
This is a very good development. The Republican Party was being hollowed out in the many years the State Central Committee was treated as a mere figurehead body to be manipulated by shadowy power brokers. Astute observers were able to predict the demise of the party a decade ago just based on that fact. A political organization that operates exclusively from the top down is an organization that is headed for a fall, no matter how powerful it seems. A political organization that works effectively from the bottom up is on the road to recovery, no matter how weak it seems. If these become genuine task forces, rather than pr task forces, the party is genuinely on the road to recovery.
Yet if the party is to expand its outreach in a divided time, it is appropriate (perhaps even vital) for the party to establish what is and is not acceptable behavior.
Whether or not he has done anything wrong, Kjellander has become as much the poster boy for Republican profiteering politics as Gov. Rod Blagojevich is for Democrats. His continued presence in a high level role almost certainly damages Republican fortunes in Illinois. In fact, the high level role he is playing in Mitt Romney's campaign for president significantly reduces Romney's chances of winning the Illinois primary.
The penchant of FIRST and RALC to spend their time working the politics of the grudge against fellow Republicans damages Republican chances in general wherever they operate. (Full disclosure - I had been a member of the RALC for the last two years. I allowed my membership to lapse this year. Though I agree with the organization's written principles, its principle officers seem obsessed with accomplishing through various forms of litigation what they can't accomplish at the ballot box - and that usually translates into far more attacks on fellow Republicans than on Democrats).
The fact is if you want to get a demolition crew all you have to do is hang around any street corner and you'll find plenty of qualified people in short order. If you want to find architects and a construction crew you'll have to spend a little more time and be a lot more picky. We already have more than enough people on Republican demolition crews. The State Party did well in establishing that what we want is a committed construction crew.
DIERSEN HEADLINE: Daniel T. Zanoza blasts January 6 meeting
http://www.politicsislocal.com/artman/publish/article_553.shtml
Republican Assembly of IL Fails to Appoint Oberweis State Conservative Spokesman / Meeting Draws Ire of Some Pro-Family Leaders - Daniel T. Zanoza
On Saturday, January 6, 2007, the Lake County chapter of the Republican Assembly of Illinois (RA-IL) held a meeting in Cook County. The gathering was moderated by Founder Tom Roeser and RA-IL Lake County Chairman Col. Raymond True.
Col. True told RFFM.org the meeting was solely a Lake County chapter event. However, RFFM.org has learned individuals who are not current or past members of the RA-IL were in attendance. However, John McNeal and Earl Gough, leaders of RA's west suburban Cook County chapter, did not receive invitations, while some conservative leaders turned down invitations to the RA-IL meeting which the group referred to as a "Conservative Caucus."
Paid for by David John Diersen