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Tom Swiss - chicagogop.com - June 1, 2009
At midnight on Sunday, Senate Bill 600 effectively died since it was not called for a vote with the House of Representatives in Springfield. In the overtime session, SB600 would now require an unlikely super-majority of 60% to pass.
SB600 calls for the direct election of State Central Committeemen (SCC) for the Republican Party, as opposed to the current weighted vote selection by ward, township, or precinct committeemen. The 19 SCC, one for each congressional district, essentially make up the board of directors for the Illinois Republican Party.
Probably less than 100 politicos in the state actually care about SB600, but some of the ultra-right or Columbine, have been throwing their usual noisy tantrum.
 Jack Roeser, a disaffected 85-year old multi-millionaire from Carpentersville and leader of the Columbine, drew another of his infamous lines in the stand with SB600 to defeat the Illinois GOP establishment. Roeser has spent over $2,000,000 over the years crusading for his causes and has yet to claim any victories.
If Republicans are going to start winning again in Illinois, the Columbine are an excellent example of what NOT to do.
Politics is not business. The old yarn that Republican businessmen would make good elected officials because they would run government like a business is bad logic. In business, every layer of management has the ability to simply fire subordinates. Employees try to fulfill the bosses needs because they desire gainful employment. None of this leverage is available in politics.
All political power, even internal party politics, is achieved by making sure your team has 50% +1 of the voting block or at least a plurality. If you want your side to win Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party or prevent an income tax increase, you need the votes.
The question for Republicans is how to get the necessary votes. This is tricky since being shut out of all executive offices the Republican Party in Illinois has devolved into a warlord-opoly.
Jack Roeser can spend millions playing revolutionary firebrand, but he must not care about a return on his investment. He hired a small group of malcontent pariahs no longer welcome in any legitimate Republican organization, then proceeds to insult and disparage the very people he would need to build a coalition of votes necessary to enact any of the reforms he seeks.
Scorched-earth name calling, ultimatums, and demanding resignations has always resulted in the same catastrophic failure Roeser has been experiencing. There is nothing noble about failure, especially when it is self-sabotage.
True reform comes from within. If Roeser did not have his purity litmus test, he might have been able to form coalitions with enough groups to win some reform measures. Instead of pitching a fit and threatening elected officials with hostile and recalcitrant losers, he should have had the moral courage to work with enough of these people to win his cause. He needs to work with people who have actually won something.
This art of negotiation is where politics is both at its finest and worst. You need to discover where compromise can be made without selling out core values. The best politicians are grounded on their core values while the worst will sell-out for personal gain.
 The TV Show "Survivor" is an excellent example of how politics works. The logo says it all; outwit, outplay, and outlast. The chubby gay nudist, Richard Hatch, who laid around all day won the first $1,000,000 prize over the industrious soccer mom with survival skills because he negotiated votes.
Hatch was easily the least deserving of the prize based on his community efforts, but most deserving because he understood the rules. Republicans need to understand the rules; more outwit and less nitwit.
Going forward, especially in the 2010 election cycle, Republicans are going to need to invite every subsection they can to start winning back executive offices. If social conservatives want a pro-life governor, they will need to demonstrate leadership by embracing team members of different beliefs. If Libertarians want an actual fiscal conservative, they will find a welcome home in the party but need to tolerate some of the griping from the established social conservatives.
Both conservatives and moderates need to understand they will also need to embrace the objectionable independent voter. It is fair play to fight it out in the primary, but after February 4, 2010, the focus turns to winning votes of people who seem to lack the brains or moral compass to even pick a party. The independent vote will pick the next governor.
All groups understand what they want, but it is yet to be seen if they will have the courage to swallow the distasteful medicine necesary for the cure. No one said politics was easy or without objections. Republican leaders must understand the rules of the game.
This is Illinois, Mike Madigan not only understands the game, he plays it exceedingly well and cheats. |
