Illinois GOP: Chairman says 2006 gubernatorial primary 'was not constructive'

The Chicago Tribune ^ | April 13, 2009 | Rick Pearson

[chicagolady]

Illinois' Republican chairman acknowledged Sunday that his party's often-bitter 2006 primary for governor "was not constructive" in helping nominee Judy Baar Topinka challenge wounded Democrat Rod Blagojevich's bid for a second term.

Andy McKenna also criticized Democrats in the legislature for being "small-minded" by helping push legislation that would let primary voters rather than party officials decide the Republicans' top leaders.

Speaking on WGN-AM 720, McKenna said Republican leaders and donors don't want to see a repeat of the four-way 2006 GOP primary for governor that he contended produced a weakened Topinka who was unable to challenge a better-funded Blagojevich despite heading an administration under investigation.

[BlackElk]

At the very least, should Brady not be required by conservatives to explain his defection on this issue???

My own state senator is Bivins who ran as a "reformer" but joined Brady as one of 13 GOP Senators who got on their knees before the combine and resisted SB 600 with his nay vote. I confronted him at a forum in Freeport and got an answer sufficiently non-specific that I cannot remember its content.

Are you familiar with the Illinois Republican Renaissance Project or with Championnews.net??? What do you think of them?

[BlackElk]

At the very least, should Brady not be required by conservatives to explain his defection on this issue???

My own state senator is Bivins who ran as a "reformer" but joined Brady as one of 13 GOP Senators who got on their knees before the combine and resisted SB 600 with his nay vote. I confronted him at a forum in Freeport and got an answer sufficiently non-specific that I cannot remember its content.

Are you familiar with the Illinois Republican Renaissance Project or with Championnews.net??? What do you think of them?

[PhilCollins]

Yes, Brady should explain why he changed his mind, about SB 600. Please email him at billbrady@senatorbillbrady.com.

Yes, I’m familiar with the Illinois Republican Renaissance Project. I usually listen to their radio show, on Sunday mornings.

[BillyBoy]

I don't agree that Brady is DOA simply because he lost the primary in 2006 (several people have lost one statewide bid and later made a comeback...for example here in Illinois, Durbin lost his first statewide campaign, for Lt. Governor, but was later elected Senator, and there are many examples around the country like Gordon Smith losing his first U.S. Senate bid in 1995, but winning a second bid in 1996) However, candidates who have lost like 3-4 times in a row or more really need to take a rest and try something else (something the Oberweis crowd doesn't get, considering how they demanded conservative loyalty to the guy in his last few campaigns when he was clearly damaged goods)

That said, obviously Brady is weaker than he was in 2006 and his flip-flop on SB600 is disappointing. One of the things that made Brady more appealing that Oberweis in '06 was Brady had a solid record of standing up for conservative principles, whereas Oberweis seemed to change every election cycle (pro-keeping Roe legal in 2002, against Roe in 2004, okay with RINO Kjellander as RNC committeeman in 2004, adamently against RINO Kjellander in '06, etc.) If Brady is going to flip-flop on SB600, he's no better than Oberweis was. (but I'm never gonna believe that Brady spent millions of his own money in 2006 simply to split the conservative vote and get RINO Topinka nominated, that's Oberweis kool-aid drinker stuff from his fan club who simply can't admit Oberweis should have put aside his ego and sat out one campaign cycle)

I went to Adam Andrzejewski's website ( http://www.adamforillinois.com )and was not impressed. He's right on the issues, but I see nothing in his resume that leads me to believe he'd be a credible nominee for Governor. There are thousands more like him around the state, and no one would consider them gubernatorial material. John Cox was a total dud as a statewide candidate but even his resume from the "private sector" was far more impressive than this guy. My resume has FAR more political experience than Adam's and I certainly wouldn't consider myself to be a viable candidate for Governor! I don't get what's with all these conservative flocking to him. That another problem with the conservative movement in the state -- we have a big segment of conservatives who keep trying to go from nothing to the top office in the state overnight. Do conservatives here have a aversion to running PROVEN WINNERS for major office or what? Haven't we learned from the last couple of "wealthy businessmen" the GOP ran in Illinois that they're extremely unlikely to pull that off? I am sick and tired of seeing all these socialist RATs run unopposed for local office because we have so many conservatives unwilling to work their way up. Adam sounds like a nice guy but he should run for State Rep. or something before he tries for the most powerful office in the state. And everytime I ask his supporters to point to his qualifications, or tell me what exactly makes Adam special that he will somehow succeed when dozens of others from the "private sector" failed to win a statewide big overnight, they get pissed off. Chicagolady ran for a Congressional seat, a district 1/19th the size of a statewide campaign, and I could easily point to her proven leadership qualities, such as leading the way to found the Illinois Minutemen. This guy's sole "political experience" seems to be starting an organization in 2008 that no one has ever heard of. Seriously, he needs to think smaller.

Draft Chris Lauzen for Governor? An interesting idea, though I'd like to see him rethink his decision not to run for Congress again. He'd be a very solid nominee against either Foster or Halvelson, and represents parts of both districts (though again, it will obviously be harder for him to win now that the "wealthy private-sector businessmen" the GOP ran in 2008 lost those Republican seats to a RAT). Remember, Chris Lauzen already ran statewide once, for Comptroller in 1998. Most people thought it would be a close race, but Dan Hynes beat him pretty decisively. No doubt the RATs would bring that up.

Ideally, I would like to see conservatives draft (Illinois Supreme Court justice) Bob Thomas for Governor. Now there's a guy who has a PROVEN track record as both a solid conservative and a winning candidate for major office. Remember, judges are elected at every level in Illinois, so Thomas remains undefeated in every one of his bids over the years (DuPage County Circuit Court, Illinois Appellate Court, Illinois Supreme Court). He was elevated to Chief Justice at both the county and state level, so he's already been the top elected official in one branch of Illinois government) Granted, the district he was elected to for the state Supreme Court (2nd district) is considered a "safe" Republican district, but Thomas had to win a really tough contested primary, against "moderate" Bonnie Wheaton (who had big clout, her family FOUNDED Wheaton, Illinois), and the incumbent(appointed) Supreme Court justice, Louis Rathje, who had more experience and could also point to a reliable conservative record. In an upset, Thomas won handily. Plus the guy is a former kicker for the Chicago Bears and thus is something of a celebrity candidate ala Mike Dikta. He just needs to shave the beard if he runs for Governor though, ala Raushenberger). And I know Thomas state publicly that he would not be a candidate for Governor in 2006, but that was because Blago was the incumbent. Blago is now out of the picture and we have unelected sitting Governor pushing an unpopular income tax hike proposal. I think Thomas would be a great candidate, if we can get him to run.

[BillyBoy]

One of the things I find amusing is the Oberweis crowd keeps harping on the fact that state Senator Bill Brady lost the statewide primary for Governor in 2006, and therefore consider him a non-starter for 2008. This from the same people who continually DEMANDED the party slate Jim Oberweis for for:

1) U.S. Senator in March 2002
2) U.S. Senator in March 2004
3) Appointed Senate nominee in Sept. 2004 (and kept yapping that "if only" Oberweis had been selected by the SCC instead of Keyes, he would have undoubtedly defeated Obama)
4) State Party GOP Chairman in 2005
5) Governor in 2006
6) Kane County GOP Chairman in 2007
7) U.S. Congressman in Feb. 2008
8) U.S. Congressman in Nov. 2008

If they held their hero Oberweis to the same criteria in which they are judging Bill Brady, they would have given up on him in early 2003 and found another horse to back for the U.S. Senate in 2004.

And maybe we could have been spared more GOP losses from Oberweis screwing up future primaries.

[Lancey Howard]

Andy McKenna also criticized Democrats in the legislature for being "small-minded" by helping push legislation that would let primary voters rather than party officials decide the Republicans' top leaders.

This tells me all I need to know about McKenna. Is he a rat mole?

[fieldmarshaldj]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DZxJekfRyE

This might be of interest to you on McKenna, as well as on fmr. Sen. Pete Fitzgerald.

[PhilCollins]

During the past 15 years, which Illinois Republicans, if any, ran, statewide, lost, and later ran, statewide, winning the second race? I don’t know of any, but you’ve lived in IL longer than I have.

[BillyBoy]

Jim Ryan ran against Roland Burris for Illinois A.G. in 1990 and lost, then ran for Illinois A.G. again four years later, in 1994, and won. Here are the results:

Illinois Attorney General, 1990
Roland Burris (D), 52%
Jim Ryan (R), 48%

Illinois Attorney General, 1994
Jim Ryan (R), 55%
Al Hofeld (D), 45%

[yongin]

For the past 30 years, none. If a Republican lost in the primary, they usually retire from politics. For example, Jim Ryan teaches political science at College of Du Page and IL Benedictine on part time basis. Oberweis is the only Republican to keep running.

The Dems have the same attitude. When Poshard had thoughts about challenging Ryan again in 2002, Mike Madigan gave thumbs down to the idea. Also a lot of IL Dems didn’t like Burris being appointed. They viewed as a has been looking for the next office to run for.

[BlackElk]

Me too!

[BlackElk]

If Bob Thomas is available, he sounds like a verrrrry good choice. From your keyboard to God’s ears! Also, we can do very well without Oberweis for any office. Conservatives should coalesce early around one candidate and push out any others.

[TheRightGuy]

they would have given up on him in early 2003 and found another horse to back for the U.S. Senate in 2004

but still .... the ice cream is soooo good

[PhilCollins]

I’m glad that Jim Ryan won, but his victory was unusual. Al Salvi, Jim Oberweis, Joe Birkett, Steve Rauschenberger, and Andy Martin ran, statewide, at least twice, each, and lost every statewide race.

[spintreebob]

BB
You are right we need to move forward. I can’t see Brady. If he had said anything at the Bloomington Tea Party he probably would have been booed. The people at the Tea Party are looking for someone fresh ... neither Brady, Obie or Toopinka. They were quite hositile and paranoid that the Brady regulars would try to glom onto the Tea Party.

[Impy]

I remember that race from the radio as my mom drive me to ! school way back when. Rathje and Wheaton (family founded Wheaton?!) were attacking each other, I don’t recall any Thomas ads.

[yongin]

At the end of this month, Mark Kirk will decide to run for either Governor or Senate.

[BillyBoy]

So Congressman Kirk is having a hard time making a decision, eh? I have a suggestion for the RINO. Since he loudly touts his ‘independence’ and is soooo proud of being “independent” of “the right-wing Republican leadership”, he should grow a pair and RUN for office as an Independant. That way he can split the liberal vote with the RAT candidate and make it easier for us to elect a conservative.

In fact, I think I'll call his office and let him know.