Returning Republican Party to Prominence (Con'td)

As I indicated previously, I was going to outline what I believe the Republican Party needs to do in order to return to prominence in Illinois politics and in the US in general.

I will expand each original comment and not in any specific order.

This time I will concentrate strictly on the issue of new leadership and I will probably be in a minority when I say this.

Its time to fire the entire leadership team from Mike Duncan all the way through to the local county chairman that did not get the job done. The bottom line for each party is to get people elected, and not just on the local front. They have an obligation to support the national party as well, and its candidates at the top. Mike Duncan is responsible overall for the performance of the Republican Party on the national scale and he failed MISERABLY.

John Boehner not only failed to get new members elected, he lost additional seats in the House. His performance has been horrible. the question is will anyone else step forward to challenge him? Probably not, and that will only result in more losses in two years.

Mitch McConnell is a nice guy, I happen to like Mitch and agree with a lot of his philosophies; at the same time though, he failed to not only hold onto the Senate seats he had, he lost at least six more. That is frankly unacceptable in today's world.

If any county in the U.S. suffered more Republican losses than gains, that chairman should get the boot. Period. Nada, gone say Asta Lavista Baby.

That is one of the biggest problems right now for the party is the lack of leadership, someone to stand up and say "Hey, this is what we are about and we will not accept defeat, we will not accept the notion that we have to make ourselves Democrats in order to win, that we do not need to compromise our values in order to win elections."

In essence we need someone to stand up, paddle the party on the fanny and say let's go! The also need to repudiate the statements of individuals like Jim Edgar that seem to think that they only way to win an election is to be a Democrat in sheeps clothing. In case anyone noticed he played with the idea of running for Obama's Senate seat four years ago, what did he do? He bailed. He then touted with the idea of running against the incumbent Rod Blagojevich, again, he bailed.

Why? Is it because with his liberal bent he knew that running as a Republican liberal would result in nothing more than a loss?

The last thing the Republican Party right now needs is to take advice from someone who does not have the party's interest at heart.

Even in victory Democrats still cannot help themelves

Even with the resounding thumping that the Democrats handed John McCain on November 4, 2008, they cannot help themselves with accusations of Bush stealing elections, approving the bombing of the towers, etc.

It really is sad that some will always see a conspiracy in everything. How incredibly shallow their lives must be.

I suppose it should not suprise me, they really cannot help themselves.....they have nothing else.

One Final word on the Palin Blame Game

I have just one final word on this fiasco and I am hopefully going to be able to move past it.

Actually it is in the form of a question. "Where in the hell is John McCain?"

This trash talk and blame game has been going on for almost a week now and John McCain has been noticeably absent. Now, is that because he is refusing to give credence to the outrageous comments, does not want to give an unnamed spoiler more press time, or he actually believes some of the crap that is being fed to the media.

If McCain had any decency whatsoever, he would have had his ASS in front of the cameras immediately and put an end to these ridiculous accusations, but then again, I am not suprised that he has remained silent.

McCain cannot accept the fact that this loss was his and his alone. He had no message, had no money, and was willing to allow Obama to get away with too much. He conceded race after race and you cannot win unless you are competitive. He is to blame for this loss, not Sarah Palin.

Will Obama ride to the rescue of his Aunt?

With Obama's aunt facing almost certain deportation, unless of course an INS judge gets cold feet in sending the President Elect's aunt packing back to Kenya, will he step in and ensure she stays?

It is hard to believe that as President or even President-Eelct is not going to have some influence on this case, and even if he does not get involved personally, the perception will be there that he influenced any decision to reverse course.

The best action that can be taken, for Obama and for the country, is to send her back to Kenya and let her make her appeals from there.

Rally around the President-Elect? Why?

Give me one good reason why I should rally around a man whose policies I rejected two years ago and still reject today?

Give me one good reason why I should support a man who happens to stand for everything I oppose?

Rally around Obama? No, I reject Obama now as I did then. If the Republican Party wants to regain the White House in four years, they will heed my advice.

"Never concede anything, and do not rally around a man whose principles are the very ideas you oppose".

Arrogance cometh forth

Well it did not take long; within days of winning the election Barack Obama has shown what will be his trademark over the next four year - arrogance. His comment regarding Nancy Reagan during his press conference shows how arrogant he can and will be.

He can apologize afterwards if he likes, which according to Fox News he did, but that does not take away from the fact that he said it to start with.

Barack Obama has always been an arrogant politician, he believes that he knows best on how to spend our tax dollars, more so than we do. He believes that government is the answer to our problems and the historic waste of taxpayer money associated with the Bush financial bailout now looking at a second round, his arrogance will only grow.

It is going to be a long four years.

Transition Council of Economic Advisers

I wonder if Obama is going to release the minutes from the meeting today? He was blasting Cheney about having secret meetings, its time to see if he will do as he says....

I would not be holding my breath though, one might pass out if you do that

Obama is elected / Markets crash

I know that I am not the only one that has noticed that since Obama won the election that the markets two days in a row went into the tank......

Hmmm, I wonder why that is......

I know, some will say correlation is not causation, but it damn sure smells that way to me.

Returning the Republican Party to Prominence in IL

It is simple, so simple that everyone skips the basics. So I am going to layout over the next several weeks exactly what the Republican Party needs to do in order to return to prominence in Illinois.

1. Elect new leadership. Andy McKenna needs to go and go now. It has been during his tenure that the party has suffered its greatest losses and ultimately as State Chairman he is responsible for that.

2. Return to its principles of fiscal responsibility; low taxes and controlled spending.

3. Operate on the basic and time proven principle that all politics is local. That means you concede nothing, The State Chair needs to emphasize to each county chair that they must have Republican Representation in each and every precinct. Without fail.

4. Articulate the position of the party in a clear and concise manner, and do not act ashamed of it.

Those are simple, probably too simple for the leadership, but its the basics at which the Republican Party has failed.

Some will argue that the Party needs to move to the left, well we did that with Topinka and look where that got us? She was stomped by 10 points. Some will argue that we need to moderate our views, or positions. That is a recipe for failure. We cannot out-dem the Democrats and any attempt to do so will fail.

The last time a Republican carried the state in a Presidential election was when? Anyone know? 1988 - George Herbert Walker Bush. We have moved left since then and what has it got us? Nothing.

I am not advocating that the party move to the fringes on the right, I am advocating that the party re-position itself back to its core, the same core that Reagan espoused.

If we fail to do that, this state will remain a blue state.

Economy is not the worst since FDR

It is in trouble, there is no doubt about that, but calling it the worst since FDR is just plain irresponsible. In 1980 we had interest rates reaching 20%, inflation running out of control at a staggering 12% and unemployment that was close to 8%.

Someone, please anyone show me where that is better than today?

That cannot because it is not. The last thing we need as well is another government funded bailout package. If these companies cannot survive on their own, then they should be allowed to fail.

This is going to turn into the largest grab of private enterprise by the federal government in the history of the country.

Blaming Sarah Palin is shameful

With the election over and McCain being handed the biggest thumping of his career, McCain staffers have started making exuses over their inept handling of the campaign by blaming Palin for their loss.

The smacks of sour grapes, grasping to find someone to blame other than the people they should - Themselves. Let's face it, they screwed up. They conceded far too many races, left no room for error and got away from the basic philosophy of all elections are local, they deserved to lose. To come out after the election and blame someone who their own guy selected is shameful and am embarrassment for McCain.

Own up to your own mistakes, you had a candidate that could not find his own rear with both hands and an Admiral Bird expedition in this campaign, his mistakes are long and stupid and frankly I had a tough time voting for him, in the end I chose McCain over socialism but Palin was a non factor and anyone claiming anything different is a liar and they know it.

Step up and face the music staffers, you blew it and blaming her only makes you look worse.

Fitzgerald as AG? Not gonna happen

The IllinoisReview blog had an interesting discussion on the prospect of U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald being appointed as Attorney General.

http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2008/11/getting-rid-of.html

I would bet the mortgage that it will not happen, I seriously doubt they want him anywhere near Obama, especially with his desire to get everything Tony Rezko has.....

Lindsay Graham needs to make some decisions

You are either a Republican and support Republican causes, or you are a Democrat in sheeps clothing.

Step up Lindsay or Step Out! Your choice.

Governing will prove far harder

than campaign speeches. Obama campaigned far left during the primary (typical for the Democratic Party) and center left during the general election. He gave wonderful, inspiring speeches, and that halting stepping stone voice of his was resounding with crowds.

Now, the election is over and he is faced with cobbling together an administration in 75 days and then govern. He will find that speeches will no longer carry the day, voting present will no longer be acceptable to America, he will have to actually make decisions and take stands; that will prove to be the hardest thing he has ever had to do.

Introspection is a good thing

It allows us to closely look at the causes for our failures, it allows us to adjust and regroup, choosing new leaders that will help guide us back to our place.

There are so many areas that our party needs to concentrate on, reasons why we lost and it will not be accomplished in a day, week or months; but it has to happen or we will be right back here again two years from now, licking our wounds miffed at the world.

Politics is local, always has been and I venture to say it will always be that way and the Republican party ignored that this time. Who was the Sangamon County Chairman for the McCain campaign? Do you know? Because I damn sure do not. I did not have a single Republican candidate call me, or send me a card, or knock on my door. Where was the precinct captains in all this? They did not do their job. Period. Tony Libri, Sangamon County Republican Party Chairman, made a big splash when the party endorsed Rudy, and then guess what? Nothing, nada, dead silence from that moment on.

If we are to make a difference we need to return to the roots, our core values and work up from there, I am willing are you?

Ok I am a little miffed

and I will admit I am sorely disappointed in the election results last night. I am still amazed that any American of Jewish descent actually gave the thought of voting for Obama more than a second thought, let alone actually pull the handle, but I can understand the feeling of helplessness.....I had it too.

After '94 when the Republican Party swept the Democrats out of control in the House and Senate, they went on a feeding binge as though they were a great white shark that had not had as much as a sliver of squid in six months. They increase spending, they spent more, increased spending and still spent more. Along came Bush with his compassionate conservatism and actually did pretty decently through the first four years before losing his senses in the second.

See, the difference between a conservative like myself and the Democrats (or those claiming to be a compassionate conservative) is that I am willing to admit when we make a mistake. I have never heard a single Democrat admit their administration or policies were a mistake or failure.

The Republicans have a rare opportunity here to clearly show the difference of someone of the far left like Obama and themselves, the only question is will the have the nerve to actually do it, polls be damned?

Chris Wallace might need a new career

predicting what politicians will do is probably beyond his pay grade. With Obama tapping Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) as his Chief of Staff, he has once again proved that he has every intention of operating from the fringes of the far left.

Emanuel is an extreme socialist that has removed the words centrist and center from his dictionary.

I really want to say "I told you so" but I will refrain until I see who else he appoints....the flood is coming America and its going to get ugly.

Nancy Pelosi - What happened to the last two years?

Speaker Pelosi made the following statement today "The American people have called for a new direction, a very important part of that change will be the bipartisanship, the civility in which we engage in our dialogue and the fiscal responsibility that we bring to our legislation".

I ask her, where the hell have you been for the past two years? Because I certainly have not seen an iota of civility from the Democratic leadership and bipartisanship? That is code for "Do it MY WAY".

You have had two years in which to engage in civility and bipartisanship and you have not done it, but since the Republicans had their head stuck in the sand pretending to be something they were not, they handed you another election.

I suppose this is no different that Mr. Obstructionist Barney Frank talking about the housing meltdown, of which he was the prime architect.

Oh well, I have 3 years 363 more days of political drama to write about...that is if I am still permitted to write.

Compassionate Conservatism is a joke

and here is a primary reason why. Over the past eight years, President Bush has operated not as a Republican, a keeper of the faith, a guardian of the people, and a stalwart of limited government; rather, he has operated as a "Compassionate Conservative".

Compassionate Conservatism is a euphemism for liberalism. It is a liberal who wants to sound like he is something he is not, it is a liberal that wants to be all things to all people.

We (Conservatives) lost this election because we forgot who we were and we allowed a President to operate as a liberal and defended him as though he was one of us; he was not, never was.

It is time that we return to our roots, return to what made us great, return to our values and refuse to compromise on those principles, if we do not we will never return to the position of gatekeepers of freedom.

I never could concede gracefully

so I figure why start now?

Barack Obama did not "win" this election, the Republican Party lost it. Pure and simple and there is no mistaking it. They lost it with an unpopular President, a faltering economy, and a party that has lost its vision and direction. These problems extend from Washington right down to Sangamon County.

It is time to take back the party from the old guard, the Libri's and Cellini's of the party who have forgotten what the party stood for. The time to start cleaning house is immediately, we do not need a week or two or a month or even six to think about it. We need to immediately start tomorrow morning getting rid of every single one of them that are responsible for putting us in this position.

To think that 28 years ago, Ronald Reagan defined the greatness of this party is difficult to recall when you look at what we have today.

Change may be coming but it damn sure needs to come from within the Republican Party and there is only four years to get it done.....I am not sure that is enough time.

Its finally here - Election Day

Election day is finally upon us and starting tomorrow we can hopefully return to a sense of normalcy; however, something eating away deep down inside tells me that will probably not happen. We will be faced with the prospect of listening to the same old rhetoric crapola day after day.

For what it is worth, I did my part, I walked into the voting booth, I held my nose and I voted for Obama.









JUST KIDDING!!!!! I chose faith over ridicule, I chose fiscal responsibility over socialism, and I chose for my second amendment.

It is important that everyone that is registered to vote votes. In the end you may not like the results, but at least your voice was heard.

Now, time will tell.