ICRC

ICRC Election

2006-08-12T22:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we met in Champaign at the Red Barn Restaurant at 10:45 AM to elect officers. We had 10 Steering Committee members present in person:

Simmons
Gough
Redfern
Koppie
Hill
Black
White
Zahm
Collins
Leubscher

By telephone

McNeil
Sykuta
Psak
Morris

Absent

Diersen
Oberweis
Johns
Bludorn
McAloon

14 of 19 sufficient for a quorum

The following were elected unanimously

Craig Simmons- Chairman
Chad Koppie- Vice-Chairman
Phil Collins- Secretary
Earl Gough- Treasurer (Sykuta abstained)
Bill Leubscher- Executive Director

Chairman Simmons appointed:

Collins as Webmaster
Joe Morris as General Counsel and Parliamentarian

Zahm proposed our next meeting to be a "retreat", enabling the members of the ICRC Steering Committee to meet at length to plan out the future of the organization and build unity and shared goals/purpose. Details to come.

We enjoyed an excellent address my Congressman Burton (R-IN) and a very good buffet meal courtesy of the Illinois Forum after the ICRC meeting concluded. Then many of us, including your author, proceeded to the Sen. Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) Porky Picnic in Aurora- another great event and superb host.

ICRC backed winners

2006-03-22T22:40:00.000-08:00

Congrats to our ICRC backed candidates!

The following ICRC supported candidates won majorities in the March 21st Primary:

STATEWIDE

Governor -
RECOMMENDED candidates BILL BRADY & JIM OBERWEIS
received a combined 51% of the Republican vote

FEDERAL

Congress -
* ENDORSED candidate RAY WARDINGLEY won a landslide 71% of the vote and was nominated as Republican candidate for District 3
* RECOMMENDED candidates ROBERT CHURCHILL, KATHY SALVI, KEN ARNOLD & JAMES MITCHELL received a combined 53% of the vote in the District 8

STATE LEGISLATURE

State Senate –
All three ICRC backed candidates were victories on election night for an complete ICRC sweep of ALL contested primaries.
* ENDORSED candidate MATT MURPHY won a landslide 60% of the vote and was nominated as Republican candidate for Distict 27
* RECOMMENDED candidate SUZANNE SIMPSON won a decisive 55% of the vote to defeat a 30+ year incumbent and be nominated as Republican candidate for District 31
* ENDORSED candidate RANDY HULTGREN received a landslide 60% of the vote and was nominated as the Republican candidate for District 48 .

State House -
* RECOMMENDED candidate RANDY RAMEY defeatead two primary opponents and was re-nominated by the Republican Party to be state reprsentative for District 55
* ENDORSED candidate MIKE FORTNER solidly won nearly 60% of the vote and was nominated to be Republican candidate for District 95

Ray Wardingley, Matt Murphy, Suzanne Simpson, Randy Hultgren, Randy Ramey, and Mike Fortner are in our thoughts and prayers as they advance to the November election and look to serve the people of Illinois.

To those that did not win, we wish them the best of luck next time, and I would ask conservatives everywhere to start thinking early about the one true conservative candidate for each race that we can support this fall.

It is true the conservative vote was often split in the primary, but in the general election, may the opposite prove true and the liberals end up hopelessly divdied when conservatives triumph. Looking ahead to November, we could have prospects such as:

Governor
Randy Shufflebeam (CONSERVATIVE)
Rod Blagojevich (LIBERAL)
Judy Baar Topinka (LIBERAL)
James Meeks (LIBERAL)
Rich Whitney (LIBERAL)

U.S. Congress, District 8
Dave McSweeney (CONSERVATIVE)
Melissa Bean (LIBERAL)
Bill Schindler (LIBERAL)

State Represenative, District 8
Glenn Harris (CONSERVATIVE)
La Shawn Ford (LIBERAL)
Julie Samuels (LIBERAL)

Liberals splitting their votes among two or more candidates can lead to conservative victories, just as conservatives inadvertently lost to liberals by splitting up their votes. May conservatives put aside their petty differences and cruise to victory in the real contest of 2006 – the November general election.

Posted by WML

Full candidate responses

2006-02-27T01:00:00.000-08:00

Our full ICRC surveys survey's will be made public, but in the meantime, I am blogging the candidate summary I made for all. What follows is a brief one paragraph summary on each canddiate survey response I currently have in my collection. If you have not read the candidate survey's yet, I urge you to do so, and to look over this email.

Hopefully this will save time at our meeting. I look forward to working with you guys and hope we can make a different with the primary season drawing to a close. Time is of the esssense.

SUMMERY OF CANDIDATE SURVEY RESPONsES
(candidate’s listed in alphabetical order)

Rob Belin
REPUBLICAN candidate for U.S. Congress, District 2
Belin seems like a nice guy and is “with us” on about 80% of the issues, but his survey (and it’s initial “revision” he sent out afterwards) show he’s too wishy-washy on some issues dear to conservatives, particularly the right-to-life issue (he told me on the phone he “read my bible and thought it over so I decided I would support you guys). On the other hand, his essay responses are very well thought out and he seems to have a better sense of what he would do in Congress than the other Republican candidate in JJJ’s district.

Joe Birkett
REPUBLICAN candidate for Lt. Governor
Birkett answers “yes” to most of our questions except conceal-carry, and try to make the case he is an “unapologetic conservative” and that we need him as the “unabashed conservative” in the race. I cannot accept this pitch in light of his running mate. For example, he cites his record fighting corruption but the person he supports for Governor wrote the book on corruption. His assessment that “Judy Baar Topinka and I have a record of running clean offices” is completely false, in my view. Also, he pledges never to march in gay parades and says he won’t let surrogates do it, but apparently doesn’t mind his running mate doing that on the campaign trail. He also might be able to claim the mantle as the one proven conservative in the race, but not with Rauschenberger and Wegman also seeking that office.

Bill Brady
REPUBLICAN candidate for Governor
Brady’s response is excellent and establishes him as a proven, committed conservative. The only weak spot is his hesitation on freezing member initiatives where he says, “it depends on what is considered “discretionary spending.” (Though I should point out his weakness on immigration and gambling were issues not covered in our survey). His essay responses are great and I strongly suggest anyone who is for Oberweis and claims Brady could be somehow be “the next George Ryan” read his answer to corruption. He makes a great pitch. I am still waiting for Oberweis response to our survey, BTW.

Jason Briscoe
REPUBLICAN candidate for State Rep, District 75
Briscoe’s answers are solid all-around. His essay responses are also insightful.

Bob Churchill
REPUBLCIAN candidate for U.S. Congress, District 8
Churchill also stakes a path as a proven, reliable conservative who is with us on every issue. His only weak spot is opposition to term limits (and not everyone on the ICRC is for term limits). His essay responses are brief and lack imagination though, like when he says he will serve on any committee he is asked since Freshmen do not get prime committee assignments.

Mark Fredickson
DEMOCRAT candidate for U.S. Congress, District 5
Fredickson is running against Rahm Emanuel and claims to be with us on every issue except abortion. He’s probably not as conservative as he claims, because he tries to weasel out of a “yes” or “no” answer on several questions (like just giving a generic “I expect the NRA will endorse me” on the gun question) but he is clearly to the right of Emanual and has about 5 times the integrity. He’s probably about the best we’re gonna get out of that socialist Chicago district.

DICK FURSTENEAU
REPUBLICAN Candidate for State Senate, District 48
Fursenaenau’s answers are all-around pretty good, though not the homerun I’m expecting for a candidate who’s running in a safe GOP district. He’s against school choice, unsure on conceal-carry, and opposes the Redfern amendment (and opposes term limits) Otherwise; he’s reliable on all other issues. His essay responses are not very revealing. I would like to see what his primary opponent has to say.

David McAloon
REPUBLICAN candidate for State Rep, District 75
McAloon’s answers are very good overall and he’s very earnest in this survey. His essay responses are nice.

Chris McNeil
REPUBLICAN candidate for State Rep, District 81
McNeil’s answers are great across-the-board and he’s 20 times better than Kosel on our values, and he pointed on in an file attachment compared his record to the incumbent. Very nice essay responses too. The choice is clear.

Jim Mitchell
REPUBLICAN candidate for Congress, District 8
Mitchell is a rock solid conservative except he fell into the trap of supporting higher taxes if it were for education. His essay responses are brief but very insightful – some issues, like returning the Panama Canal to U.S. control, would not be raised by other candidates. He claimed on the phone to be the “only” candidate to support FairTax but I basically got him to admit that the other candidates haven’t’ implicitly endorsed it but indicated they would be open to voting for such a bill. The only problem is he’s pledged to accept no donations and spend little money, which basically makes his campaign DOA in a field with many conservatives, IMO

Matt Murphy
REPUBLICAN candidate for State Senator, District 33
Matt Murphy is against conceal-carry (but otherwise pro-2nd amendment) and is totally with us on all other issues. Like the McNeil survey, this is another case where he’s clearly far superior to than the other Republican candidate for conservatives. Smart essay answers, too.

Steve Rauschenberger
REPUBLICAN candidate for Lt. Governor
Steve comes out in favor of all our issues and makes a very good pitch for our endorsement. His essay is free of references to his running mate, which is odd since they have been tied to the hip as of late (Gitdwitz, to my knowledge, has not answered our survey) I would argue his responses that he’d veto such and such legislation don’t amount to much since he can’t do anything unless the Governor croaks, but he does seem fine as a candidate on his own right (minus some “bad” votes on immigration as Brady)

Kathy Salvi
REPUBLICAN candidate for U.S. Congress, District 8
Kathy Salvi scores a perfect 100% on our survey. I also believe her essay responses were better than Churchill’s, although they were also too brief. She makes a very, very good case for us to endorse her. (Also, to my knowledge, McSweeney still hasn’t answered our survey)

Howard Schug
REPUBLICAN candidate for U.S. Congress, District 2
Schug is much more decisive in his primary opponent in fighting for conservative issues. He’s also the only elected official in the race (Lancing Library Board) That being said, while Schug is the better conservative his essay responses were really lame. Belin seemed to have a much better handle on what he would do in Congress than Schug

Rob Sherman
DEMOCRAT candidate for State Rep, District 53
Sherman is a goofy liberal and perhaps the only “liberal Democrat who’s proud of it” to answer our survey. In a very bizarre turn, he claims to support our platform but says we have the wrong idea for implementing those goals. For example, he claims to be “Pro-Family” and says repealing the “so-called defense of marriage act” and letting “consenting adults marry who they love” would be a strong pro-family initiative. I must give him bonus points for creativity in answering our survey. He makes a good case against Sidney Mathias, and actually does support us on a handful of issues, like gun rights. His primary opponent didn’t answer our survey.

Michael Shannon
REPUBLICAN candidate for U.S. Congress, District 9
I don’t believe Shannon’s answers make him acceptable to conservatives in the primary. He is WAY too mushy on our issues and his “undecided” on about 70% of our questions, though he does spend a great deal of time in our essay section laying out his “vision” We do have to take into account that this is communist Jan Scahnowsky’s district, but still. I haven’t heard from the other little known GOP candidate but I think Jeff Sykuta meet them both and said they seemed to have a “combined age and IQ of about 30”. This makes we wonder if Eckhardt is running again – he may be the only viable option for conservatives.

Ray Wardingley
REPUBLICAN candidate for U.S. Congress, District 3
Ray’s answers are typical of the ICRC, he is a solid conservative. His opponent is a lunatic white supremisist and neo-nazi sympathizer who didn’t have the guts to fill out our survey. ‘Nuff said.

Posted by WML

Bartles endorses Kathy Salvi

2006-02-05T23:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.bartelsforcongress.com/

Bartels Endorses Salvi in Race for Congress
February 1, 2006 – Teresa Bartels announced her endorsement of Kathy Salvi in the 8th District Congressional race.
The following is a statement by Teresa Bartels:

“While I believed that I was the best candidate to defeat Melissa Bean, I know that Kathy Salvi is the only other candidate who can defeat her. Kathy’s commitment to reducing taxes and spending, to winning the war on terror and her commitment to the conservative values of Illinois families, make her an outstanding candidate - one that I am proud to endorse.

This race was never about me – I ran because I wanted the Party to have the strongest candidate to take back this seat for the Republican Party in November – and the strongest candidate for our Party is Kathy Salvi.

Chuck and I and the entire Bartels family wish Kathy and her family all of God’s blessings in the coming weeks and months. And we all look forward to working hard every day to help Kathy on to victory against Melissa Bean in November.”

=============================================

Hey! My blog in over a month! (What can I say? Busy primary season) The Bartles endorsement comes as a pleasent suprise. At first glance, Bartles seemed to be the "moderate" alternative pushed by Mark "only Republicans who are far-left on abortion like me can win" Kirk, but as the campaign progressed, Bartles actually displaced quiet a conservative streak, coming out as pro-life, pro-family, for tort reform, lower taxes, anti-illegal aliens, etc, etc.,... makes me wonder if Kirk dropped her like a hot potato once he realized she wouldn't govern as a female version of him and his trianglaton to please everybody.

Bartles' votes were strictly coming from Kathy, so this endorsement reinfornces the fact she's be the best candidate, IMO, to unite the GOP and crush Bean.

Some of the ICRC support McSweeney. McSweeney's fine on the issue but do we really need another wealthy-but-never-held-public-office type as our nominee? I have no problem voting for McSweeney as a former Crane supporter, but if just 10-20% of Crane supporters throw a temper tantrum and stay home, we're look at a lifetime career for Melissa Bean. You don't "unite" Republicans by slapping Crane supporters in the face by nominating one of Phil's primary opponetns to "replace" him. (bear in mind Crane got about 70% of the GOP primary vote in his LOSING 2004 bid -- and then his RINO opponent endorsed Bean otu of spite. Please, let's not repeat the sitatuion that got us here in the first place)

Some others on the ICRC support Churchill. Let me say that Bob Churchill has been a great leader for us in the legislature and would make a great congressman. He is my second choice after Kathy. That said, I don't believe this is the time or place to elect him to Congress. Bean's biggest advantage is her media-built "nice buisness lady/soccer mommy" image to hide her wacko liberal views, and only Kathy Saliv can neutralize that. With Churchill vs. Bean, we're going to get five montehs of the media bemoaning "How DARE the mean ingorant hacket man attack a nice suburban MOM!" With Kathy on stage against Bean, it's suburban mom vs. suburban mom -- and the only issue will be how Bean is out of touch with her conservative minded constitutents. I think Churchill will have a bright future to higher office in this state, and like Peter Roskam, it's a matter of when he gets that opening.

The other candidates -- Mitchell, Lincoln, and Arnold, I really don't see having a shot and winning the primary. It will be one of the three people listed earlier. I'm in Kathy's camp, and I hope the rest of the ICRC follows suit.

--Posted by WML

IL State & Federal candidate filing. Who's In?

2005-12-22T00:38:00.000-08:00

List of State & Federal candidates from Illinois

We're been consentrating a lot on state senator and state rep. races of late, so I thought the Monday filing period is a good opportunity to review who's running on the state/federal level from Illinois. The liberal blogs are already heating up with comments. Here's an updated for the GOP and Dem primaries along with my take on the sitution

GOP PRIMARY

GOVERNOR:
Bill Brady (R) - State Sen., Developer & GOP Activist
Ron Gidwitz (R) - Businessman, Philanthropist & Ex-State Board of Education Chair
Andy Martin (R) - Legal Activist & Frequent Candidate
Jim Oberweis (R) - Securities Firm Executive, Dairy Company Owner & '02/'04 US Senate Candidate
Judy Baar Topinka (R) - State Treasurer, Ex-State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & Ex-State GOP Chair
Andy Marin was throw off the ballot last time running for Senate. I expect something simular this time. That would leave us with two conservatives (Brady and Oberweis) and two so-called "moderates" (Topinka and Gidwitz)

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:
Joe Birkett (R) - DuPage County State's Attorney & '02 Attorney General Nominee
Lawrence Bruckner (R) - Attorney, Motel Owner, Army Veteran & '06 State Rep. Candidate
Jeremy Cole (R)
Steve Rauschenberger (R) - State Sen., Ex-Furniture Retailer & '04 US Senate Candidate
Sandy Wegman (R) - Kane County Recorder & Ex-Gail Borden Library Trustee
Notice who's NOT on the list. Did Kathuria even bother to file? I talked to him lately and it seems like he backed out at the last second. But there are still five candiates, which begs the question, who is 'Jeremy Cole'? Perhaps he and Martin can run as a ticket.

SECRETARY OF STATE:
Dan Rutherford (R) - State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & Businessman

ATTORNEY GENERAL:
Stu Umholtz (R) - Tazewell County States' Attorney

STATE TREASURER:
Christine Radogno (R) - State Sen., Ex-La Grange Village Board Member & Social Worker

STATE COMPTROLLER:
Carole Pankau (R) - State Sen., Ex-State Rep. & Ex-DuPage County Board Member
As expected, our "down the ticket" statewide races are unopposed in the GOP primary and feature fairly standard ILGOP candidates. Some of the egomanics running for Gov/Lt. Gov SHOULD have looked into the "second tier" statewide offices. Radogno even has Topinka's "blessing" to succeed her as Treasurer. Oh well, we'll make due with what we have.

U.S. CONGRESS:
District 1:
Jason Tabour (R) - Businessman, USMC Veteran & '04 State Rep. Nominee
Jason ran against Brosnahan last time and should have doen well but got slaughtered. Why he's decided to take on Rush in a "safe" Dem district is beyond me.

District 2:
Robert Belin (R)
Howard Schug (R) - Lansing Library Trustee
No clue who either of these are, but looks like at least one is an elected official. It will be a miricle to get good numbers out of JJJ's district though.

District 3:
Arthur Jones (R) - Neo-Nazi Activist, Insurance Salesman & Frequent Candidate
Ray Wardingley (R) - Retired Entertainer, USAF Veteran & Frequent Candidate
Well we know who NOT to vote for, Jones sound like a disaster for the party. Wardingley runs decent campaigns against overwhemingly odds but is ignored by the party and mocked by the media. Notice who DIDN'T file -- what happened to Dennis Cook?

District 4:
Ann Melichar (R) - Attorney
No clue about her.

District 5:
Kevin White (R)
Nada.

District 6:
Peter Roskam (R) - State Sen., Ex-State Rep., Attorney & Ex-Congressional Aide
Roskam is officially unopposed. Let's hope the "moderates" who always lecture us about "party unity" will do so when the shoe is on the other foot.

District 7:
Charles Hutchinson (R)
Don't know who this sacifical lamb is.

District 8:
Ken Arnold (R) - Human Resources Consuting Firm Owner & GOP Activist
Teresa Bartels (R) - Businesswoman & Community Activist
Bob Churchill (R) - State Rep., Attorney & '98 Sec. of State Candidate
Aaron Lincoln (R) - Attorney & Army Veteran
David McSweeney (R) - Investment Banker & Ex-Palatine Township Trustee
James Mitchell Jr. (R)
Kathy Salvi (R) - Attorney & Wife of Ex-US Senate Candidate Al Salvi
Officially a seven way race, but the only ones who have a shot at winning the primary are probably Bartels, Churchill, McSweeney, and Salvi. All would be infinitely superior to Bean, even Bartles.

District 9:
Kurt Eckhardt (R) - Investment Banker, '04 Nominee & '03 Chicago Alderman Candidate
Simon Ribeiro (R)
Michael Shannon (R)
Looks like Kurt is gearing up again after the media crusified him last time around. Two other names have emerged.

District 10:
Mark Kirk (R)
If Mark Kirk is so proud of his "Independant, Thoughtful Leadership", why does he keep running as a REPUBLICAN and telling us what to do? Someone PLEASE run against this guy in a primary.

District 11:
Jerry Weller (R)* - (Campaign Site)
Nothing to see here.

District 12:
N/A
C'mon, nobody has the guts to take on Costello? That's a downstate seat and he's ultra-liberal, minus his "pro-life" views. Granted, it is filled with solid Dem towns, but were' talking at least a 40% GOP vote in the general.

District 13:
Judy Biggert (R)* - (Campaign Site)
Bob Hart (R) - '04 Candidate
Bob ran last time against RINO Biggert and got tossed from the ballot. He's back with a website and more prepared than his last-second entry in 2004. Let's hope he pulls it off and people can send a message to Judy.

District 14:
Denny Hastert (R)* - (Speaker's Office) - (Campaign Site)
Like someone would challenge the speaker in the primary.

District 15:
Tim Johnson (R)* - (Campaign Site)
Nothing to see here.

District 16:
Don Manzullo (R)* - (Campaign Site)
See above.

District 17:
Brian "Gilligan" Gilliland (R) - Homebuilder & NFL Player Agent
Jim Mowen (R) - Real Estate Developer
Andrea Lane Zinga (R) - Ex-TV News Anchor, Ex-Teacher & '04 Nominee
Zinga ran a high profile campaign last time but hardly did any better than the token GOP opposition in 2002. Gililand and Mowen would probably run more favorably against increasingly unlikeable Dem incumbent Lane, but lack the $$$ to make it a real race.

District 18:
Ray LaHood (R)
Nobody challenges LaThug in the primary. Of course if they did, the Peoria machine would probably see to it that they get kicked off the ballot. They don't like "elections" or "nominations" in this rigged GOP district.

District 19:
John Shimkus (R)* - (Campaign Site)
John has been a great congressman and will be an easy victor for yeras to come, surprising since he holds TWO formerly Dem districts. He SHOULD have run for statewide office.

STATE CONSTITUTIONAL OFFICERS:

GOVERNOR:
Rod Blagojevich (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Edwin Eisendrath (D) - Ex-Chicago Alderman, Ex-Chicago Housing Authority Chair & College Official
Philip Sitkowski (D) - Labor Union Organizer
Sitkowski should have probably run against Bean. Eisendrath is the credible candidate (weird name, but hey, he's running against Blago), but I'm sure the party "leaders" will try to throw him out of the race and prevent democracy. He won't win but has the potential to force Blago to deplete his warchest.

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:
Pat Quinn (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Surprsingly, nobody filed against Quinn, even though the Chicago bosses can't "control" him and would panic if suddenly took over in the event anything happened to Blago.

SECRETARY OF STATE:
Jesse White (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Ol' Jesse is back, and probably more vunerable this time.

ATTORNEY GENERAL:
Lisa Madigan (D)* - (Campaign Site)
NOBODY challenge's Mike's little girl!

STATE TREASURER:
Alexi Giannoulias (D) - Bank Vice President
Paul Mangieri (D) - Knox County State's Attorney & '02 State Sen. Nominee
Magieri has the blessing of the Chicago Dem establishment in the hope they can the shake the "we only have Chicago candidates" image by nomatign a token downstater. Giannoulias has $$$ but would be easier to beat.

STATE COMPTROLLER:
Dan Hynes (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Dan Hynes for Temporary Comptroller -- until a better statewide office comes along!

U.S. CONGRESS:

District 1:
Bobby Rush (D)*
Phillip Jackson (D) - Ex-Chicago Housing Authority CEO & Ex-Chicago Chief of Education
I remember when the media's golden boy Obama couldn't even beat Rush. Bobby Rush has done everything possibly lately to make himself look like a loser, let's home Jackson gets a sizeable chunk of the "anyone but Rush" vote.

District 2:
Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Anthony Williams (Libertarian) - Lutheran Pastor, Ex-Democrat & '04 Candidate
The Shaw brothers just don't have the clout they used to. The most oppositon JJJ will get from the left is Williams in the general election

District 3:
Dan Lipinski (D)* - (Campaign Site)
John Kelly (D) - Financial Planner
John Sullivan (D) - Assistant Cook County State's Attorney & Ex-Congressional Aide
Sullivan can run a credible campaign against little Dan the annointed one. On the negative side, Dan is a political hack. On the positive side, he's far closer to us on the issues than any Dem who would topple him in the primary. In the event of the GOP takeover in a decade, the smart move would be to get Dan to switch sides.

District 4:
Luis Gutierrez (D)*
So-called "socially conservative" hispanics voted OVERWHEMINGLY for this Castro-loving far-left winger in the last Dem primary against a "moderate" hispanic challenger. Forget about anyone trying to dislodge Luis.

District 5:
Rahm Emanuel (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Mark Fredrickson (D) - Salesman & Frequent Candidate
John "Johnny Hap" Haptonstall (D) - Radio Journalist
It's nice to see the DCCC's golden boy doesn't skate anyway scot free. Neither opponent is likely to mount a credible campaign, but it does force Rahm to campaign in his own district when he wants to go out and fundraise for other Dems.

District 6:
Christine Cegelis (D) - Software Firm Account Manager, Technology Consultant & '04 Nominee
Tammy Duckworth (D) - Iraq War Disabled Veteran & Non-Profit Group Executive
Lindy Scott (D) - College Professor
The Dem establishment touted Cegelis as the next Melissa Bean, then dropped her like a hot potato when she couldn't raise any $$$ against Roskam. Duckworth doesn't even live in the district (hey, at least the Dems are consistant in who they pick to "represent" people) but she fits Emanual's "theme" of running disabled milltary vets who denounce the war in Iraq. A curse on both their houses. I say we promote Scott and make it even more confusing for the Dems in their quest to take DuPage county.

District 7:
Danny K. Davis (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Jim Ascot (D) - Realtor
Robert Dallas (D) - Political Consultant, Ex-Republican & Frequent Candidate
Dallas ran as a real George Ryan type RINO in 2002, so it's fitting he's running as a Dem. If they have debates if this primary, it will consist of "I love socialism more!" "No, I do!"

District 8:
Melissa Bean (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Surprsiingly, nobody challenged Bean the abortion queen in the primary when the Dems are fed up with her for flip-floppign and doing whatever to get votes (gee, didn't we TELL them that would happen?) Not to worry though, he LAST primary opponent from 2004 is now running as an "Independant" in the general and will be sucking liberal votes from her. Yeah, baby!

District 9:
Jan Schakowsky (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Lefists love Jan. Their dream of "diversity" is a Jan Schakowsky is every one of the state's 19 districts.

District 10:
Dan Seals (D) - Marketing Executive & Ex-Congressional Aide
Zane Smith (D) - Winnetka Park Board Member & Attorney
Never heard of either of these guys, we'll see if they can locate an issue to disagree with Mark Kirk on. The last two Dems tried running to the LEFT of RINO Kirk, which is really dumb. Run more like Lauren Beth Gash to confuse the poor votesrs of this "centrist" district.

District 11:
Jerry Costello (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Ken Wiezer (D) - Contractor & '04/'98 Candidate
Don't know about Jerry's primary candiate, but if he managed to win we'd NEED someone to run here in the general!

District 13:
Bill Reedy (D) - Businessman, Ex-Baptist Pastor & Ex-Teacher
Joseph Shannon (D)
Reedy will probably be the nominee. Will he try to get conservatives to cross for him? Candiates of the "religious left" are always interesting.

District 14:
John Laesch (D) - Navy Veteran
Ruben Zamora (D) - Teacher, Liberal Activist & '04 Nominee
Zamora ran last time and got slaughted. Laesch might do better but we're talking Hastert's district here. No Dem will turn Hastert into Jim Foley, no matter what stupid thing Denny does.

District 15:
Lane Evans (D)* - (Campaign Site)
Zzzzz.

District 15:
David Gill (D) - Physician, Democratic Activist & '04 Nominee
This race will be a repeat of 2004, with the same results. See Adlai Stevenson '56.

District 16:
Richard Auman (D) - Ex-Galena Mayor
Sounds like a good candiate on the Dem side. We should be careful, but thankfully this is a extremely conservative district.

District 17:
Lane Evans (D)* - (Campaign Site)
A few years down the line, Lane should get a primary challange once the Dems wake up and realize this guy "delivers" nothing but rhetoric to their district.

District 18:
Steve Waterworth (D) - Landscaper & National Guard Veteran & '04 Nominee
LaHood's "token" opposition is back for another beating. Note the central Illinois Dems never help this guy out. They're quite content with Obama-loving Ray LaHood.

District 19:
Vic Roberts (D) - Retired Coal Miner, LaRouche Activist & '02 Candidate
Dan Stover (D) - Centralia City Councilman & College Professor
Roberts ran last time and was mincemeat in the general. Stover would be a more mainstream, media-friendly candidate. Therefore I say, Go Roberts Go!

Posted by WML

Luis Gutierrez looking to run Chicago?

2005-12-14T23:19:00.000-08:00

Will Gutierrez run for mayor in '07?

The Sun-Times (Lynn Sweet in particular) is reporting that Congerssman Luis Gutierrez (D-Rigged Safe 'Hispanic' Seat) is putting out feelers to run for mayor of Chicago in 2007.

Jesse Jackson Jr. has been hyped up for a while as the guy who will topple Daley. Although I'm sure Jesse is working to force the big guy into "retirement" next time, I think Jesee will ultimately take a pass on the mayoral race (perferring to wield power behind the scenes) and instead have a surrogant like James Meeks to run in his place and address his issues. JJJ is probably looking to build up seniority in Congress and become the Illinois equivilent of John Conyers or Charlie Rangel by 2025.

What I have been arguing for a while is that Gutierrez will come out of nowhere and win a three-way race in Chicago (split along ethnic lines... Chicago Democrats are nortorious for their racial segregation in politics) with the media annointing him. I know the way the media works, and there is no better headline for them than an "upset" that would lead to "Chicago's first Hispanic mayor" I can just see them going ga-ga in the leadlines and saying how it ushers in a new era for Chicago and for the latino community, blah blah blah (the media just loves minority "firsts", see Barack Obama) Some have pointed out the hispanic vote won't have enough numbers to elect Luis by 2007, but I'm assuming he racks up about 80-90% of the vote in hispanic wards and he gets about 1/3rd of the white Dem vote if Daley retires and they end up with a weak "heir apprent" who will certainly lose to JJJ or another black candidate. The white Dems will then crossover to Gutierrez to "stop" Jesse Jackson and company.

Chicago politics. They think they're actually making a change, but I can see this stuff play out way in advance. It's all a matter of which left-wing kook is most beloved by the media.

A Gutierrez adminstration would be a disaster, BTW. But Chicago has to hit rock bottom before they start to climb back up.

Posted by WML

Followup: An open letter to Kathy Salvi

2005-12-13T23:13:00.000-08:00

Jim Oberweis announced at the joint ICRC-TAPROOT Christmas Party that he is recruiting Kathy Salvi as his running mate

Dear Kathy,

Hi! I am one of the conservative volunteers on your contact list and I have been looking forward to a chance to stop by the Mundelein campaign office during Christmas break when I have the chance to help your campaign.

At the recent ICRC/TAPROOT Christmas party event I attended, Jim Oberweis said he plans to run with Kathy as his candidate for Lt. Governor. I have no problems voting for Jim against Blago, but I think it would be a MISTAKE for Kathy to drop out of the Congressional race and run for Lt Governor at the last second. Keep up your current campaign! Please Kathy, we need you to crush Bean!

Pairing Kathy with Jim seems similar to the Topinka-Birkett matchup as it greatly benefits the Governor candidate but does little to help the prospective Lt. Governor candidate's career. The Salvi name is strong in the 8th district precisely because her husband Al was elected state rep. and swept all 24 townships there in his statewide campaign. The Salvi family is beloved in THAT part of the state, but a statewide campaign is much harder because Illinois as a whole is heavily controlled by Democrats right now and everyone in Chicago votes Democrat.

With the Congressional campaign, Kathy stands out as the LONE conservative woman in the race (Bartles is a woman and pro-life, but clearly the "moderate" candidate on almost every issue). With the Lt. Governor race, Kathy has to go up against people with bigger oomph than McSweeney, Bartles (famous names like Rauschenburger and Birkett).

She also would be entering a race where we ALREADY have an elected "conservative woman" who has been campaigning for the job for months (Sandy Wegman). Either Kathy and Sandy run against each other and compete for the same voter base, or Sandy (who has been campaigning hard for this race), "steps aside" for Kathy's 11th hour entry. It seems unfair to tell Sandy to "get out" after all the time and money she put into this effort leading up to filing to run. There is room for both Sandy and Kathy on the ticket -- when they run for different offices!

Oberweis has lobbied Kathy to get out of the "crowded" GOP primary in the 8th district -- but if she accepts his offer, she enters an EQUALLY "crowded" Lt. Governor primary where she would have JUST as many opponents (at last count: Birkett, Rauschenberger, Kathuria, Bruckner, AND Shearer -- and that's assuming Raymond Poe keeps good on his plan to drop out). Either way, it's a lot of people to run against in the primary!

As you can see, the Lt. Governor race would be very difficult for Kathy, but it would certainly help Oberweis win the primary. Pairing Oberweis with Wegman doesn't accomplish much because they are both from Kane county, but recruiting Kathy into the race gives Oberweis support in GOP-rich Lake Country. A win-win for Jim Oberweis, a lose-lose for Kathy Salvi.

Kathy would be a terrific Congressional candidate and a great Lt. Governor. I would be proud to vote for her for either office. But in terms of her own vitality, I urge her to pass on a last-minute switch to the Lt.Gov. race's and to instead focus on beating Melissa Bean. She'll be glad she did.

Best wishes,

Bill M. Leubscher

P.S. Remember -- Bean is a total phony and 10X worst than Lt. Governor Quinn anyway (at least he's honest about his liberalism!) Stay the course!

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Posted by WML

An open letter to Joe Birkett

2005-12-11T01:03:00.000-08:00

Topinka Taps DuPage Prosecutor For Running Mate

Dear Mr. Birkett,

I am a lifelong Republican from Cook County and a longtime supporter of yours. I am a member in good standing of organizations like the Worth Township Young Republicans and the Illinois Republican Liberty Caucus. I am from a family with a longtime tradition in law enforcement, including my father, uncle, and cousins. I worked hard to help you reach your landslide 2002 primary against Bob Coleman. I went door to do you to help you get votes throughout Worth Township in the 2002 general election against Lisa Madigan. I was eager to support you in your potential campaign for Governor and considered you one of the best candidates we could run against Rod Blagojevich.

All that aside, I will NEVER support your candidacy again if you become Judy Baar Topinka’s running mate.

Mr. Birkett, Judy Barr Topinka would be a disaster for the Republican Party if she were nominated. Topinka stood by and supported George Ryan throughout his tenure, including his horrific decision to give blanket amnesty to all murderers on death row. You’re well aware of the damage that caused. Judy Baar Topinka gladly accepted the support of corrupt machine figures and “former” radicals like Bobby Rush, once the “defense minister” of the Illinois Black Panthers and recently facing mortgage foreclosure for his failure to comply with the laws. You’re well aware of the damage that causes. Judy Barr Topinka was a disaster as party chairman, pushing Jack Ryan out of the race and then sitting ideally by for a month while the media anointed Obama as a deity-like figure. You’re well aware of the damage that caused. In short, Judy Baar Topinka will work to undermine everything you worked so hard to achieve. Surely the price of beating Rod Blagojevich is not that high.

I welcome any Republican who can defeat Blagojevich, but Topinka is not a Republican. She is not even a “moderate”. She is a person concerned solely with her own agenda, and that is the agenda of promoting Judy Baar Topinka. She will use to try use you to get conservative votes, and she will ensure you will not have any credibility with conservatives in a future campaign after you are forced to defend her “record” for months on the campaign trail or in the governor’s mansion. Many Republicans, from Republican committeeman Kurt Eckhardt to two-time Congressional nominee Jim Nalepa, will testify to the betrayals they faced once they though Topinka was on their “side” in a campaign.

I would love to vote for you again, but I cannot if you stand by Topinka’s side. It is nothing person. I would not support Judy Baar Topinka if she resurrected Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan to be her running mate. I would not support her if Peter Fitzgerald was her campaign manager or the ghost of Everett Dirksen endorsed her. I will do everything possible to work towards her defeat in the primary, and that does not change if you are her running mate.

Mr. Birkett, you ran a great race against Mike Madigan’s baby and you have a bright future ahead of you. Please, I beg you, do not throw it away by aligning yourself with Judy Baar Topinka. Look closely at her record – which represents everything you stand against – and announce you have reconsidered and must decline her office and continue to serve as state’s attorney throughout this campaign. Or run for Lt. Governor in your own right, but do not ever endorse her in the primary. If you support her, you turn your back on thousands of conservatives that rallied to your side and they will never do so again.

The ball is in your court now. You can crusade for law-and-order; fighting corruption, political reform, or you can push it all aside to get on a stage with Judy. The choice is yours.

Respectfully submitted,

Bill M. Leubscher
Evergreen Park, Illinois

Posted by WML

Rauschy Out?

2005-12-07T01:54:00.000-08:00

Raushenberger to drop out of Governor's Race, run for Lt. Governor?

Talk about an 11th hour decision.

First Birkett, now Rauschy. It's good that the GOP field is clearing up so we can get behind ONE conservative to stop Topinka once and for all. I don't know why Steve is jumping into the Lt. Governor race, it's already crowded enough with four existing candidates. He should have switched to comptroller or treasurer.

I encourage all the Raunchenberger supporters to get behind Senator Bill Brady, who I think is the strongest person we can offer to beat the Topinkavich machine in 2006. Oberweis had his shot in 2002 and 2004, GOP voters rejected him both times. That, combined with his 180o degree turns on abortion, immigration, and Kjellander make him damaged goods. Oberweis is much better on the stump now than he was in 2002, but I wish we had gotten him as party chairman last year to avoid the crowded primary this time around. Brady is also dead even with one-term Blago in the polls -- quite amazing when you consider most Illinoisans don't even know who Brady is.

Assuming Sandy Wegman is the GOP nominee for Lt. Governor, Brady is also the best candidate to balence to the ticket. With Rauschenberger/Wegman, we would have two GOP nominees from Elgin, with Oberweis/Wegman, it's two GOP nominees from Kane County. A Brady/Wegman ticket not only makes better campaign signs, but it gives us a diverse ticket with one candidate from the Bloomington-Normal area and another in the Chicagoland area wedged between Cook and Kane counties.

As Brady notes on his website, the biggest reasons he is our best bet include:

--Mainstream, PROVEN conservative record
--Fresh face & new beginning for Republican party in Illinois
--With Rauschy out, best polling to defeat Blago in general election
-- Downstate vote will turn against Blago in droves, will help the rest of the ticket
-- No previous losses on record, best candidate to take out Topinka in primary
-- Only primary candidate left with solid conservative values, business experience AND elected experience.
-- Will draw from every traditional GOP voter segment in the primary and have “crossover appeal”
-- Articulate, trustworthy and engaging personality. Much more telegetic than Oberweis or Gidwitz

I would hope other ICRC members would join me in getting behind THE candidate who can beat Topinka one-on-one. It is time for Jim Oberweis to put aside his ego and support the strongest conservative in the race so we do not split the conservative vote in March. We win in a three way race between Topinka vs. Brady vs. Gidwitz.

Posted by WML

Dems slap each other around in 6th District

2005-11-29T00:54:00.000-08:00

Emanuel recruits Duckworth to stop Cegelis in RAT primary

According to Lynn Sweet in the Sun-Times, the "powers that be" in the IL Dem Party have turned on Christine Cegelis (you know, the phony that they touted as the "next Melissa Bean when she got 44% against Hyde in '04)

Apprently, as chairman of the DCCC, Emanuel has been encouraging Army Maj. Ladda "Tammy" Duckworth (who lost her legs in the Iraq and can play the Max Cleland card) to undermining Cegelis because he is "convinced she cannot raise enough money to win a general election where the front-runner for the GOP nomination is state Sen. Peter Roskam" (Gee, I thought Roskam was dooooomed against the Melissa Bean wannabe ::snickers::)

IMO, any Dem running in DuPage county was going to have a huge uphill battle (and sorry, Roskam is NO Crane), but Cegelis was probably the only one with a prayer of winning because of the name recongition and the "she's Melissa Bean II" hype. However, Tammy" Duckworth has her own Bean factor due to the fact she actually lives three miles OUTSIDE Hyde's district.

Roskam is running virtually unopposed to suceed Hyde, so I'm all for the DuPage Dems beating each other up in the primary and sqandering what little resources they have. It is a useless execuse, like all the problems caused when several Republicans decided to "take out" Maureen Murphy as Chairman of the Cook County GOP. It's a fight over breadcrumbs.

Ironically, the national GOP is having a lot of problems this election cycle, but things are going pretty well for our side on the state level. Could Illinois '06 be a repeat of Illinois '98 where we lose seats in Congress nationally but do well in state offices?

Posted by WML

Mehlman promoting Topinka

2005-11-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

Illinois Gubernatorial Race: Topinka gets a sign from top GOP leaders

The Sun-Times reported on November 24 and 25 that "top GOP leaders" in the national party recruited Topinka to run and are interferring in our STATE primary. As Lynn Sweet noted in her column:

"Privately, Mehlman, who managed the Bush-Cheney 2004 re-election campaign, huddled with state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, who on Wednesday officially jumps into the March 2006 GOP primary for governor....Mehlman's meeting with Topinka signals that GOP national leaders -- sensing blue state Democratic Illinois could turn red in the 2006 race for governor because of Blagojevich's many vulnerabilities -- may not stay neutral in the contest...Mehlman sought the time with Topinka. They discussed the primary, working on the assumption that everyone stays in the race...Worry about money was what almost kept Topinka from running. A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about how Topinka was probably not going to run because she felt that Mehlman's RNC and the Republican Governors Association were not making any firm financial commitments to her campaign. Alerted by the column that Topinka was serious about not getting in -- and concerned that polls showed other candidates facing a big uphill battle to defeat Blagojevich -- the White House, RNC and RGA sent Topinka the signs she wanted."

I was never a big fan of conservatives who use the mantra "states rights" (that phrase has been hijacked by too many racists), but in a very real sense, there is no reason why the national party should be trying to impose their will in a STATE primary. The office of governor of Illinois will not effect the makeup of the federal government. Add the fact that "national party leaders" only know Judy is the "sole GOP statewide official" in Illinois and are clueless about her "record" and potential to be IL equivlent of Jim Jeffords -- and we are looking at a disaster in the making.

I would hope the ICRC and like minded groups start a letter writing campaign to local, state AND federal Republican officials to let them know Judy Baar Topinka is UNACCEPTABLE to the party's base and WE WILL NOT VOTE FOR TOPINKA IN THE GENERAL ELECTION is she is the party nominee.

Right now I can only speak for myself, but the early murmuming I'm getting from fellow conservatives is about 90% of us will never stomach Judy in the general election.

Posted by WML

Birkett is out

2005-11-24T00:06:00.000-08:00

Birkett announces he is not seeking statewide office in 2006

Joe Birkett sent out an email earlier annouincing he will not run for Governor or any other statewide office in 2006. While I was undecided for Governor, I am sad to see Joe will not be our nominee against Lisa Madigan again.

On the other hand, I do understand Joe's rationization since he'd have to go up again a now incumbent Lisa Madigan that the media insists has somehow "proven her independance" (really? When do the indictments of daddy's corrupt buddies in Cook County start coming?)

Some of my fellow conservatives seem to have a grudge against Joe, and a few have even referred to him as a "gun grabbing RINO" because they don't like his stance on conceal-carry (nevermind the fact Joe is with us on all the other gun issues, got an "A" rating from the NRA and ISRA, and had many pro-gun groups running ads for him while sitting on the fence in Jim Ryan vs. Blago race)

We must never forget Joe was the strongest non-incumbent GOP candidate in the diasterous 2002 election cycle and campaigned hard to show he really wanted the job. I hope we see Joe in some future campaign. To the Joe Birkett detractions, I must ask -- would have preferred to see pro-abortion, anti-gun, Madigan-plant Bob Coleman as our nominee for A.G. last time? Lisa would have loved having that "campaign".

I'm none too fond of Jim Oberweis "Taliban" comment from 2002, but I wouldn't attack Jim as an abortion-loving socialist, though doing so is tanamount to what some "conservatives" have said about Joe and guns because they don't like some comment he made.

Let's remember that this campaign is about beating the true RINOs, and whether we personally dislike Birkett, Oberweis, Raunchenburger, etc., we can at least agree they are ALL far better than JBT would ever be.

In related news, it is now being reported that Sheehan will not seek re-election as Cook County Sheriff, and the "power that be" in Cook County have decide to annoint Tom "I managed to get crushed by Judy Baar Topinka" Dart for the job.

Apprently it isn't enough for the "party of diversity" to have all their candidates from one city (Chicago), but they are now choosing candidates who all live in the same WARD (Boss Hynes in the 19th ward). How nice that all our "statewide" officials live within a few blocks of each other on the southwest side of Chicago.

Posted by WML

IL Libertarians sitting out '04, but Greens have full slate

2005-11-23T01:20:00.000-08:00

IL Libertarians sitting out '04, but Greens have full slate

Per politics1.com, it seems the Illinois Libertarian Party has taken the highly unusal option of voting to not field any statewide candidates next year so they can focus on "rebuilding" -- recruiting more members and financial resources. I guess the fact a bunch of their guys defected to the GOP and "big name candidate" Cal Skinner for Governor got less votes than their nominee for Attorney General (who wasn't even campaigning for the job) gave them the hint.

This will be the the first time since the 1970s that the Illinois LP failed to nominate any statewide candidates.

In all seriousness, there are alot of good Libertarians I admire and their presence will be missed, thoigh I am really tired of hearing them whine about a massive GOP conspricy to throw them off the ballot every election (they stayed on the ballot in 16 out of 17 elections here I believe, only time they were "thrown off" was 1998). In the general election, I do hope the LP fields some socially conservative Libertarians against individual RINO candidates in "safe" GOP districts.

However, not to worry on the third party front, because both the the Illinois Constitution Party and the Illinois Green Party are both running statewide candidates in Illinois next year.

I think the Illinois CP got rid of the anti-Catholic nut they had as "chairman", and now have a credible candidate for Governor. However I doubt I would support him except in the doomsday scenario of Topinka getting the GOP nod.

As for the Greens, the watermellon party (Green on the outside, commie RED on the inside) they have a full slate this year, which will certainly hurt the Dems more than us -- just 2% of disgruntled liberals switching from Rod to Green could doom his re-election, and the full slate means they can vote Green across the board instead of voting for Dems lower down on the ticket.

The Illinois Green Party slate 2006 is as follows --

GOVERNOR:
Rich Whitney - Attorney, Ex-Journalist & '04/'02 State Rep. Nominee

LT. GOVERNOR:
Julie Samuels - Community Activist & '04 State Rep. Nominee

SECRETARY OF STATE:
Karen Young - Market Researcher

IL ATTORNEY GENERAL:
David Black - Attorney & '04 Champaign County State's Attorney Nominee

IL TREASURER:
Dan Rodriguez-Schlorff (Green) - Congregationalist Minister & Gay Marriage Activist

IL COMPTROLLER:
Alicia Snyder – No known information about this candidate

Libertarians supposedly draw more votes from disgrunted GOP than Dems (in theory they draw equally from both parties, but libertarian-minded Dems are a dying breed), but the Greenies most definitely draw more angry Dem vote than angry GOP vote (I was all for having Nader on the ballot, but no way would I ever VOTE for him)

All in all, the AWOL status of the LP and the full slate from the Greens definitely helps us when 2006 rolls around.

Remember to tell liberals who are disappointed with Hot Rod & Bean the Abortion Queen -- you can ALWAYS vote for "honest progressives" Whitney and Scheurer instead!

Posted by WML

Blago primary challenge?

2005-11-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

ICRC

The latest buzz on the radio is that Edwin Eisendrath (DemocRAT) - an Ex-Chicago Alderman, Ex-Chicago Housing Authority Chair & College Official, will formally mount a primary challenge to Blago. Eisendrath has said Blago hasn't fulfilled his campaign promises, though it doesn't look like he's officially announced a challenge, merely "exploring" the possiblity. Well he better explore pretty quickly to get on the ballot in time.

Michael Sneed also reported in the Sun-Times that Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine might be interesting in challenging Blago. Devine is obviously far more popular in Illinois DemocRAT HQ of Cook County than Blago will ever be. Sneed has been wrong fairly often in the past though -- Devine hasn't given any public indication that he's interesting in running, but merely "works the room" like he's seeking higher office.

Obviously Devine would be the stronger of the two if he ran. Our best case scenario would be if Devine (or someone in a simular mold) beat the tar out of Blago in the primary and forced Rod to spend millions, after which Rod eeked out renomination by the skin of his teeth. and limped into the general election. This would:

A) Cancel out the effects and money loss in our tight primary race for Governor

B) Keep the RATs focued on their slate, thus preventing them from "crossing over" to vote for JBT or other liberal Republicans running in our primary.

Any primary challenge scenario is unlikely to surface with the Dem machine loyally behind Blago in public (despite their internal spats) but we should encourage it and hope for such an outcome to destroy Blago from within.

Illinois Leader is no more

2005-11-19T23:57:00.000-08:00

Illinois Leader Terminated

It's now apparent that Dan Proft has pulled the plug on the once venerated Illinois conservative news source, IllinoisLeader.com.

Apprently the advertising spots on the Leader were not making up for all the operating costs and all the changeover in staff had left the leader in disarray. (Not to mention all the liberals infesting the Leader message boards)

On the bright side, Krystle Russin's own ReaganReview.com still exists for conservative news and debate on Illinois politics.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

With the Illinois Leader gone, I will be posting blog updates on ICRC far more often. I encourage the rest of you to do the same. The death of the Leader within a single state election cycle (2002-2006) could give us some costly lessons on how to ensure the Illinois Center Right Coalition is spared a simular fate. Stay focused, stay on message, avoid Democrat/liberal inflitration, and don't back down from a fight.

ICRC

2005-11-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

ICRC

Bean’s Primary Opponent (Scheurer) now opposing her as Independent

Scheurer Versus Bean: Not In Primary
Cristel Mohrman
Pioneer Press

After losing to Melissa Bean, D-8th, in the Democratic primary in 2004, Bill Scheurer plans to return to the political scene for a rematch.

But this time, the Lindenhurst resident said he will run as either an independent or third-party candidate to ensure his name appears on the Nov. 2006 election ballot.

Scheurer, who ran last year on an agenda to end the war in Iraq, said his standpoint on that situation has not changed. This time, though, he will expand his platform to include his support of balanced budgets, the end of the United States' dependency on foreign oil and a universal health care program.

"I'm open to the approach we take on that. The main thing we have to agree to upfront is we are no longer going to have a society where one in six of our neighbors does not have health care insurance," he said.

He said his platform sets him apart from Bean, as well as the seven Republican primary candidates. But, he added, he doesn't plan to launch a campaign against Bean and the prevailing Republican candidate. Instead, he said, his efforts will focus on delivering what he believes 8th District residents want.

"We're acting like the other candidates aren't even out there. We intend to focus on the message, the issues that we want to bring to the voters," said Scheurer, who describes himself as a "progressive conservative."

"We talk about 2004 as political speech, and 2006 as political action," he added.

So far he has gained the endorsement of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. The union made the maximum $5,000 donation allowed by law to Scheurer's campaign.

Scheurer, a Lake County resident for 27 years, is editor of the PeaceMajority Report as well as a writer and publisher. He holds degrees in religious studies and law. He and his wife, Randi, have four adult children, including a son who is stationed in Baghdad.
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Independent Candidate Emerges For Bean’s Seat
By Joseph Ryan
Daily Herald Staff Writer

Freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean may have to fight for her seat from both sides in November 2006 as she faces not only a Republican, but also a former Democrat with union support.

Bill Scheurer, who lost to Bean in the 2004 Democratic primary, says he is running either as an independent or under a third-party label for the 8th Congressional District that covers most of Lake, northwestern Cook and western McHenry counties.

He will have to decide by December when petitions are due.

The Lindenhurst attorney’s campaign pitch on balanced budgets and universal health care could make waves in the 2006 November campaign for Bean, who relied on traditionally Democratic supporters in 2004 but reached out to moderate Republicans to unseat Phil Crane, a 35-year conservative icon in the U.S. House.

Scheurer says his candidacy has legs this time because he can attract Bean’s former union supporters, who have split ways with her for supporting an international trade pact they say will cost American jobs.

An early sign of this support, he says, is a $5,000 check to his campaign from the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Scheurer claims five other large unions have promised an equal amount, but he declined to name them.

“We went out and supported her campaign last year,” said Jim Brown, who heads the machinist’s unions Midwest territory. “She slapped us in the face.”

The machinists union, which represents 25,000 Illinois workers, has given Bean $15,000 over the last two years, federal records show. Overall, unions gave her 2004 campaign more than $235,000, out of a total of about $1.5 million in her campaign war chest.

Bean’s spokesman Brian Herman declined to comment on Scheurer’s candidacy or union support, other than to say she stands by her vote. Several large corporations in the district supported the trade pact.

This summer, large unions attacked Bean for voting for the Central American Free Trade Agreement, a measure trade-hawk Crane also supported. The Chicago Federation of Labor, an umbrella group for several big unions, and the United Steel Works of America organized pickets of her Schaumburg office. Some vowed to run a challenger.

But for now Scheurer’s $5,000 check is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of cash set to be spent in next year’s general election.

In 2004, Bean and Crane spent a combined $3.1 million. Outside groups spent millions more. This year, Bean already has more than $1.1 million in the bank.

The six Republicans facing off in the primary are also amassing massive campaign war chests. Barrington Hills investment banker David McSweeney and Wauconda attorney Kathy Salvi have committed to spend $1 million.

In his 2004 primary bid against Bean, Scheurer roped in 22 percent of the vote with few volunteers and no money. He had an equally small operation for his subsequent run against Republican state Rep. Jo Ann Osmond in the 61st District in November 2004. He lost that election with 42 percent of the vote.

“We didn’t really run campaigns,” Scheurer said of his earlier bids. “It was more political speech. This is political action.”

Scheurer said his campaign mantra will focus on supporting universal health care, opposing the Iraq war, balancing the federal budget and spending significant public funds to research alternative energy.

I’ve spoken with Bill Scheurer several times during email and encouraged his campaign. (of course I left out the fact I was a Republican) Bill Scheurer is a liberal’s liberal but there is little doubt he is sincere in what he believes and consistant on the issues, which definitely sets him apart from Melissa “tell people whatever they want to hear” Bean.

He is an excellent position to draw Democrat votes away from Bean because Schuerer is a mirror reverse of Bean in many ways. She has zero exerpienece but voted for the Iraq war, he has kids on active duty is an outspoken peacenik. She took donations from every labor union on planet then stabbed them in the back with CAFTA, he has a white coller background but is practically Michael Moore on labor issues. She calls herself an “social moderate” but is ultra liberal on abortion, he calls himself a “progressive” but is centrist on abortion. She’s an empty media creation who’s only issue is “I’m not Phil Crane”, he’s a Christian socialist with an agenda.

Scheurer is a clever guy, I suggested he run as a Green but he pointed out a Green party candidacy would likely be doomed in the conservative 8th district. Obviously his objective is get some blue-coller working classic Republican votes and hit at least double digits. We should encourage his “Republican” support by helping his guy get on the ballot and give him vocal praise and promote his campaign publically, even though we would never vote for him (nevertheless, to Bill and his supporters, this would seem like “proof” he’s drawing votes from “both” parties)

We may not agree on whether the GOP nominee should be Salvi, McSweeney, or Churchill, I think we can all agree the odds would be in our favor more with Bean’s previous primary opponent out to plague her in the general election. It could be the reverse effect from Crane’s RINO opponent coming out for Bean in 2004.

You can find out more about Bill Schurer at his campaign site, http://www.winwithbill.com and at his blog http://billscheurer.blogspot.com. He could well become the Ralph Nader of Illinois. I encourage all of you to shoot him an email and offer support and advice for his campaign. In this case, is the enemy of my enemy my friend?

ICRC

2005-11-14T19:26:00.000-08:00

Back to Posting

2005-08-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the hiatus. One of the tough things about blogging is that I have knowledge of a lot of political scoops but I do not believe in anonymous postings and I have confidences to protect. I did attend the State Fair but did not get to talk to Cross or Savaiano about SB600. I did talk to Dallas Ingemunson at the Kendall County GOP picnic last Saturday. He said that it is dead in the House and should be dead in the House. Dallas said that if voters elected their own State Central Committeemen, as they did in the past, we would end up with "kooks."

Reform?

2005-08-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

Now that Rep. Cross has come out for ousting KJ will he support SB 600? I'll ask him this question at Republican Day in Springfield Thursday and let you know. I'll try and ask Skip if he'll free the bill from the Rules Committee.

The Crass Archpundit

2005-08-17T23:11:00.000-07:00

Here's an "articulate" posting today from that St. Louis lefty at www.archpundit.com: One Thing I'll Never Get
Is the anger and energy to challenge Melissa Bean when there is a perfectly good target for the primary in a safe Democratic Seat: Dan Lipinski.
John Sullivan is running against him and will be on Public Affairs
What I don't get about the anger towards Lipinski and the anger that has faded towards Lipinski is that Bean has her faults--primarily the bankruptcy bill for me, but she is pro-choice and moderate on gay rights issues. Lipinksi is a fucking cave man on both. I get the Speaker's support of Lipinski's son. It's how business is done and there are long time ties there, but why the hell would regular Democrats work or vote for this Lipinski? I think an ICRC endorsement for Dan Lipinski may be in order if Larry hates him so much.

Loss of a Principled Conservative

2005-08-12T00:59:00.000-07:00

Carpentersville activist, assistant precinct committeeman dies
By Alexia Elejalde-RuizDaily Herald Staff WriterPosted Friday, August 12, 2005

Don Rodig, a Carpentersville community activist and assistant precinct committeeman for the Dundee Township Republicans, died over the weekend of a heart attack. He was 49.
Rodig ran twice for a seat on the Carpentersville village board, netting newspaper endorsements, but he was unsuccessful in both the 2001 and 2003 trustee races.
Former village Trustee Nancy Moore said she and Rodig helped each other in their campaigns.
“He’s one of those people who gets involved in politics for all the right reasons,” Moore said. “He stayed out of the whole politics of everything.”
Rodig had previously served on the village’s ordinance committee.
Rodig served on the executive committee of the Dundee Township Republican Central Committee and was an assistant 33rd Precinct committeeman.
He worked as a senior product specialist for Panasonic Information Systems until he was laid off about six months ago, said John Noverini, a member of the Kane County board.
Noverini, a former Carpentersville trustee who became acquainted with Rodig when he would speak at village board meetings, called Rodig a “family man, a good neighbor and citizen who was a good example for his kids.”
Rodig leaves behind his wife, Vicky, and five children: Joshua, 5, Megan, 7, Lindsey, 9, Greg, 12, and Johanna, 14.
A funeral was held Wednesday night at Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Elgin.

Don Rodig R.I.P.

2005-08-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

Sadly, Carpentersville conservative Don Rodig passed away suddenly Saturday night, apparently of a heart attack. Don was a kind and principled man who had run twice for Carpentersville Village Board and also for Precinct Committeeman. He cared about pro-life above everything and was a devoted husband and father to five. He has left us much too soon. Arrangement are as follows:
Vineyard Christian Fellowship Church
205 Fulton Street Elgin, Illinois
Ph. 847-697-8001

Wednesday, August 10th.

Visitation will be from 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Funeral Service will begin following visitation at 7:00pm Life is fleeting. Go hug a loved one.

Highway Bill

2005-08-08T15:48:00.000-07:00

Speaker Hastert has brought lots of needed transportation dollars back to the Fox Valley. That is very good news. Especially the $70 million for a Stearns Road corridor connecting DuPage and Kane. I was advocating that solution in 1995 as a 26-year old candidate for Kane County Board when my opponents wanted other routes built first. The bad news is that only $4 million is earmarked for necessary widening of Route 47 and $207 million is pledged to the unnecessary and prime property grabbing "Prairie Parkway." That route should not go through the properties of unwilling sellers, rather it should be a bypass route around Sugar Grove. That's a community that wants it.

Union chief rips Melissa Bean for backing trade pact (potential primary challenge?)

2005-08-03T00:34:00.000-07:00

Union chief rips Bean for backing trade pact (Democrat that voted for CAFTA)Chicago Sun-times ^ July 30, 2005 SCOTT FORNEK
Posted on 07/30/2005 5:01:49 AM CDT by RWR8189
Freshman Democrat Melissa Bean will "pay a serious price" for voting for the Central American Free Trade Agreement in the U.S. House, a top labor leader said Thursday, predicting that unions will deny her crucial support in her effort to hold on to her northwest suburban congressional seat.
"Almost all the unions in this particular area supported her both with mobilization -- knocking on doors -- and with money, and up comes what is a true test in terms of a vote, and she can't stand with us?" said Gerald McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the largest union in the AFL-CIO.
"She'll certainly feel an effect in terms of contributions and resources," McEntee said. "She'll pay a serious price with the workers in her area."
Leaders, workers feel 'betrayed'
Illinois AFL-CIO President Margaret Blackshere said one local labor leader told her he was considering looking for a candidate to challenge Bean in the Democratic primary in the 8th Congressional District.
"They are angry. They feel betrayed," Blackshere said. "It will be difficult for her to get support in the future."
Bean became a top GOP target after she ousted longtime Republican incumbent Phil Crane last year. In that race, labor unions gave the Barrington Democrat $235,200 -- nearly 49 percent of the political action money she took in, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This year, labor has kicked in at least $67,500.
As the AFL-CIO's convention adjourned at Navy Pier, national President John Sweeney told the Chicago Sun-Times he is "really angry" at Bean and the other Democratic defectors. But he said local union leaders will decide whether to support Bean's re-election.
"She's probably out of touch with her district," Sweeney said. "When's the last time she talked to workers about this?"
Bean was one of 15 House Democrats -- and the only one in Illinois -- to vote Wednesday for the trade agreement, called CAFTA, which squeaked through 217-215 after earlier passing the Senate.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Bean tries once again to play all sides of the aisle and it looks like this time she may have overplayed her hand and bitten off the one that feeds her. Excellent opportunity to make sure Bean drains precious money and resources fending off a primary challenge so she doesn't emerge with united Dem resources while the GOP is picking a nominee.

Also bear in mind that "moderate" Melissa Bean continues to vote ultra-liberal on social issues, so while aligning Dems, she's not winning over any Republicans.

Posted by WML 8/3/05

Big Sunday in Politics

2005-08-02T03:13:00.000-07:00

The NW Suburban Cook picnic at Busse Woods was a fun time. Gary Skoien gave a rousing speech against corruption and it seems that he will redouble his efforts to fight Mayor Daley in Chicago. ICRC's Scott Bludorn was working the crowd as was incumbent Rep. Sidney Mathias. I had a good talk with 8th District Congressional candidate Teresa Bartels. She indicated a strong pro-life and pro-business platform and would like to compete for conservative support against current and potential candidates like David McSweeney, Kathy Salvi, and Bob Churchill. At night I went to the Republican Jewish Coalition event in Skokie. Co-hosted by ICRC's Joe Morris, it was a great GOP Governor's forum. 6 candidates were there- 5 conservatives- Oberweis, O'Malley, Rauschenberger, Brady, and Birkett and one moderate- Gidwitz. Pat O'Malley sounded like he was getting the fire in the belly for another run and Joe Birkett sounded more like a committed candidate than I expected. The CW may be wrong on O'Malley and Birkett. They may both be in this one for the long haul. Later today is the Rauschenberger announcement. I will attend as I did at the Oberweis and Brady announcements. The GOP in Steve's Senate District had no strong candidate to replace Steve as of about a week ago. After today, there will likely be three propsects- older brother John Rauschenberger, Kane Treasurer David Rickert, and Streamwood Mayor Billie Roth. I like all 3 of them. How's that for a cop out? But if they all ran, which they would not, I'd be obligated to support Rickert.

More on the Boat Cruise

2005-07-26T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dave Diersen's excellent Daily Digest had this report that I want to use to supplement my entry last night. Subscribe to Dave's free newsletter, which would cost you a fortune if you subscribed to a news clip service, by e-mailing him at Diersen@aol.com GOPUSA ILLINOIS
-- Many attend Family-Pac boat cruise honoring Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson including Biggins, Birkett, Brady, Dillard, Froehlich, Hultgren, Kjellander, McSweeney, Oberweis, Parke, Rauschenberger, and Wegman - Dave Diersen
http://www.gopillinois.com/
At least 150 attended an outstanding Family-Pac boat cruise hosted by Paul Caprio honoring Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson on the Evening Star Monday evening, July 25. Attendees included Avila, Biggins, Birkett, Bludorn, Brady, Cox, Diersen, Dillard, Driscoll, Economos, Finnegan, Froehlich, Gorman, Hedrick, Hill, Hogan, Hultgren, Johns, Kjellander, Martin, Maurer, McCarthy, McCulloch, McNeal, McSweeney, Murphy, Oberweis, Parke, Patlak, Pullen, Rauschenberger, Rickert, Rios, Tom Roeser, Stanek, Scheidler, Simmons, True, Watson, Wegman, and Zahm. Diersen had an opportunity to speak with Kjellander - Diersen decried the negative impact of Jim Edgar's delay in making a final decision to run for governor and urged Kjellander to urge Jim Edgar to make his final decision ASAP.GOPUSA ILLINOIS

Family-PAC Boat Cruise a Rousing Success

2005-07-25T23:46:00.000-07:00

What a great time on the Family-PAC boat cruise tonight. The 4 best conservative candidates for Governor came- Birkett, Brady, Oberweis and Rauschenberger. I went to the Oberweis announcement in North Aurora a few weeks back and will attend Brady's in Carol Stream tomorrow and Rauschenberger's in Elgin on 8/2. Paul Caprio gave a strong defense of Family-PAC's efforts on protecting a pharmacist's right of conscience. Event Honoree Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson and DuPage Senator Kirk Dillard attended. Several State Reps were in attendance- Bob Biggins, Paul Froehlich, Terry Parke, and Randy Hultgren. Three of my favorite conservative women were there, Doreen True of RALC, Jill Stanek, and Maureen Murphy. The great pro-life champions Penny Pullen and the Schiedlers also came tonight. My choice for Lt. Governor, Sandy Wegman, worked the crowd and my Kane County neighbor, Dave Rickert, Kane County Treasurer, is a future star as well. Challengers for State Reps. Bassi, Beaubien, Jenisch, and Kosel were making good impressions on the attendees. We had a quorum of ICRC members on board- McNeal, Diersen, Simmons, Hill, Hedrick, Cox, Bludorn, and me (8-15). This event, the Hastert Farmer's picnic earlier this month, the NW Townships Picnic on the 31st and the Lauzen Porky Picnic on 8-13 are among the can't miss events of the year. There were too many other good people to mention. Come out next year and see for yourself!

Don't have to go to the zoo to see this RINO

2005-07-24T14:16:00.000-07:00

Look at this list of endorsements for State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan from her web site (www.repmulligan.org): November 2004 Endorsements
ENDORSED BY:
Chicago Tribune Chicago Sun-Times Daily Herald Pioneer Press Associated Firefighters of Illinois Illinois Education Association Illinois Federation of Teachers Sierra ClubWomen's Campaign FundWISH (Republican PAC — Women in the Senate and the House)Illinois NOW National Association of Social Workers Personal PAC Illinois Planned Parenthood Service Employees InternationalTownship Officials of IllinoisItalian American Political CoalitionMexican American Political Action Committee Independent Voters of Illinois Maine Township Regular Republican OrganizationElk Grove Township Regular Republican Organization"A" rating from Illinois Citizens for Handgun Control
I've bolded the most embarrassing ones. Advice to one of the GOP Governor candidates: Stop bragging about her endorsement of you. I sure miss Penny Pullen's integrity, and steadfastness for family values, in the House. Any volunteers for a primary run against this far left "Republican"?

Get Back In the Car

2005-07-21T23:39:00.000-07:00

And when a passenger of any ethnicity emerges from a car during a night-time traffic stop and plays the "do you know who I am???" card, a police officer would certainly be angry and even, depending on the circumstances, alarmed. I have to agree with this comment by the Trib's Eric Zorn regarding the recent incident between Rev. Senator Meeks and a Chicago policeman. Meeks has a whole lot of potential to be a reform-oriented and conservative Democrat and has cast some good votes, but this is a setback for him. He can recover though. I think he will.

Congrats. Senator Millner

2005-07-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Millner named state senator
BY KAREN SHOFFNER STAFF WRITER
As a new state senator, John Millner sees his biggest challenge as getting to know his new constituents.
"My biggest concern is to learn the communities and their issues. I was representing DuPage, Kane and Cook counties. Now I have more of Cook County," Millner, a Carol Stream Republican, said.
On July 1, Republican Party officials from the 28th District appointed Millner, a two-term state representative, to replace former state Sen. Kathleen L. "Kay" Wojcik, who officially stepped down June 30.
The committee is made up of state Sen. Kirk Dillard, a DuPage County Republican representing the 24th District; state Rep. Paul Froehlich, R-56th; Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Gary Skoien; Hanover Township Republican Committeeman Brian McGuire; and Kane County Republican Central Committee Chairman Denny Wiggins.
Skoien was not present for the vote.
Froehlich, who is Schaumburg Township's Republican committeeman, said 100 percent of the vote went to Millner. Froehlich had also expressed interest in replacing Wojcik.
Froehlich called Millner a "competent" legislator. He agreed with the new senator that he has his work cut out for him.
"His challenge now is to get to know people in my half of his district and for them to get to know him," Froehlich said.
Millner will share office space with Froehlich at 15 W. Weathersfield Way at the intersection of Roselle Road and Weathersfield Way.
After his appointment, Millner was named spokesman for the Senate Housing and Community Affairs Committee by Senate Republican Leader Frank Watson. Millner will also serve on the Senate's Licensed Activities and State Government committees.
Millner has been a member of the House representing the 55th District since 2003. Before going to Springfield, Millner was a policeman. Starting in 1972, he rose through the ranks from patrolman to Elmhurst's chief of police, a position he held for 16 years. He was also a bank director with the Community Bank of Elmhurst and president of a firm that specializes in training seminars and consulting to government and business.
During his years in law enforcement, he became familiar with the legislative process. He is a past president of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and was the chairman of its legislative committee. His experiences in law enforcement led him to help write the legislation that would become Illinois' anti-stalking law in the early 1990s.
That success, and the subsequent impact of the law, opened his eyes to the power of the General Assembly.
"This is just one piece of legislation. I thought, we can do so much if the legislature understood what the community was going through," he said.
He has served on several House committees, including Public Safety Appropriations, Transportation, Registration and Regulation, and Consumer Protection. He has sponsored and passed legislation that cracks down on sex offenders, keeps guns out of the hands of violent criminals and protects consumers from identity theft.
Millner will run for election to the 28th District seat in the 2006 primary and general election. Should he win, he will serve a two-year term. He'll be eligible to run for a four-year term in 2008.
The 28th District stretches across Cook, DuPage and Kane counties and includes Palatine, Rolling Meadows, Schaumburg, St. Charles, Roselle, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, Bartlett, Elk Grove Village, South Elgin and Hoffman Estates.
Karen Shoffner can be reached at kshoffner@pioneerlocal.com.
I worked on the Primary campaign for Randy Ramey against Millner for State Rep. a few years back. Right afterwards John and I talked and put the primary behind us. He's a class act. A solid conservative. Returns all calls and e-mails promptly. If we had more Millnertypes in the State House and Senate we would have large majorities in both chambers. As for the race to succeed him in the State House, the candidates are Ramey, now the Chairman of the Wayne Township Republicans, Matt Fuesting who is a former DuPage Asst. State's Atty., and Carol Stream Trustee Pam Fenner. It looks like the ICRC Candidate Recruitment and Vetting Committee has some work to do here.

Specter shows true colors

2005-07-17T23:38:00.000-07:00

From www.politics1.com - SUPREME COURT: US Senate Judiciary Chair Arlen Specter (R-PA) said on Fox News Sunday that he hopes President Bush ignores pressure from social conservatives and instead nominates as moderate to replace retiring Justice Sandra O'Connor. Specter said he believes it is "in the national interest" for the President to nominate a centrist with broader experience than just having served on a federal bench. Specter said. "It's helpful to the country to have somebody who is a swing vote, which maintains the [current] balance," he said. Specter also suggested the court would be enriched by selecting a nominee who has also served in other political offices -- as did former Arizona State Senator O'Connor and many former Justices including former Governor Earl Warren, former City Commissioner Potter Stewart, former Governor Charles Evans Hughes, former President William Howard Taft, former Attorney General Tom Clark, former US Senator Hugo Black, former Governor Frank Murphy, former US Senator Fred Vinson, former Labor Secretary Arthur Goldberg, former US Senator Harold Burton, former SEC Chair William O. Douglas, and others. President Bush and Rick Santorum saved Specter's butt in the 2004 Primary against Toomey. Specter should be taking advice and consent from them rather than giving it. Loyalty is a fleeting thing.

Money first, Innoncent Life second

2005-07-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

From the Mike Ramsey article at www.lincolncourier.com : State Rep. Mike Smith, a Canton Democrat who supports stem cell research, said he hopes some of the money will be funneled to Peoria medical facilities. Rep. Dave Leitch, a Peoria Republican, already was working the phones Thursday with that possibility in mind.
Leitch said at least two sites in Peoria — the University of Illinois College of Medicine and Bradley University — are doing research on stem cells from umbilical cords, which are another source. Leitch has been a proponent of cord-derived stem cells and said he’s "neutral" on embryonic stem cells.
The embryonic variety "soaks up the media attention because it’s controversial, it gets a lot of publicity," Leitch said. "I think that is to the detriment of the critical accomplishments and potential for greater achievement with the umbilical cord blood that we’re already doing." I guess conservatives ought to switch their support of Leitch to neutrality. It's amazing to me how people who have been in public office so long have a hard time taking firm, principled positions.

Congrats Peter Roskam

2005-07-15T18:57:00.000-07:00

According to www.illinoisleader.com and www.jeffberkowitz.blogspot.com , Sen. Pankau is out. Former DuPage Recorder Carney got out earlier in the week. It's looking good for Sen. Peter Roskam to win the primary to succeed Congressman Henry Hyde without opposition. This is a positive development as Peter has always voted conservative and taken the lead on many occasions with conservative legislation. If he has a weak spot it is that he has not done a lot of grassroots conservative grooming of future leaders. But, grooming in Illinois has always been the domain of Democrats and moderate Republicans. However, I can't ask for a better replacement for Hyde than Roskam. In fact, it will be an improvement on the issue of the 2nd Amendment.

RestoreTrust.us

2005-07-13T18:23:00.000-07:00

Nice job here from our ICRC Treasurer John Cox:
Restore Trust Updates
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
The Height of Hypocrisy7/13/2005 9:47:00 AMDear Friends,Despite Governor Blagojevich's recent actions to cut state pensions to plug massive holes in the state budget, his Administration reportedly is proposing to filter $3 million to $4 million in taxpayer money to a proposed baseball stadium project involving top Democratic political contributor and wealthy Metro-East trial lawyer John Simmons.Just how politically connected is John Simmons?Simmons donated almost $1 million over the last two years to Democratic campaigns, including those of Blagojevich, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and former Supreme Court candidate Gordon Maag. According to the Illinois GOP, Madigan alone has received $55,000 in campaign contributions from Simmons.Simmons is a principal in the SimmonsCooper law firm of Metro-East Illinois -- a firm which has become notorious as one of the largest asbestos litigation firms in the country. Keep in mind that this country's asbestos lawsuit craze has driven almost 70 companies into bankruptcy, costing as many as 60,000 Americans their jobs. Bottom line -- John Simmons is an extremely wealthy trial lawyer who is benefitting from our hard-earned taxpayer dollars while our state struggles to recover from a budget and jobs crisis.This is the height of hypocrisy.And it's even more evidence of the need for the citizens of Illinois to demand that their elected officials are motivated by service over profit, doing what's right over what's politically expedient, and earning the trust of those who have entrusted them with their votes.That is why we have formed Restore Trust -- a statewide campaign to battle corruption in state government and end the pay-to-play political system that has weakened voters' trust in elected officials.Employers avoid states with corrupt political systems, and they bring new jobs and investment to those states with friendly business climates. Unfortunately, Illinois' reputation for corruption is threatening Illinois jobs, raising prices for hard-working families, and causing employers to think twice about locating in our state.I urge you to join our fight. Demand that your elected leaders sign the Restore Trust Pledge -- and urge your politicians to follow these four principles of public service: . Political contributions must not be accepted from anyone or any group or business having connections to government decision making on the part of the political leadership;. Lobbying and speaking fees should be voluntarily eschewed for years after service so the two cannot reasonably be connected;. Government employee unions and others who depend on politicians making decisions need to be either banned from political involvement and contributions or severely limited by the politicians themselves.It's time to take back our state from the politicians who serve their personal interests over the public good -- and from the special interests who control the Springfield politicians.With your help, we can do just that.Thank you for your support,John H. CoxFounder and ChairRestore Trust
Copyright © 2005, All Rights Reserved

Sad day in Illinois

2005-07-12T14:16:00.000-07:00

At what cost is the moral bankruptcy of Illinois? How about $10 million? That is the amount of money that Gov. Blago found out of thin air to award for delving into stem cell research that includes the unproven and unethical life destroying embryonic stem cell research. Here's the link http://il.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=3&RecNum=4149. Sadly, first to triumph this bad news is the Join Cross Blog at www.joincrossblog.com. Of course Rep. Cross has been leading a tiny band of RINO Republicans in favor of embryonic stem cell harvesting for a long time. It took his jogging partner, a Democrat Governor, to make this happen outside the legislative process. It was done by executive fiat. What a tragedy. The real promise is in cord blood and adult stem cell research, but pro-aborts like Blago and Cross want to liberalize public opinion on the sanctity of life by trying to appeal to the emotions of parents with sick children. Extending the promise of the false hope of embryonic stem cells is intellectually and morally dishonest.

Standing Up for Innocent Life

2005-07-11T15:13:00.000-07:00

I have sent the following letter to key Kane County media in response to the story cited below. The issue of how politcal leaders handle an issue like this is very instructive as to their morals and values. If you view conception as a miracle and a blessing you will agree with the ICRC position on this nuance of the pro-life issue. If you see life as an inconvenient intrusion into your lifestyle, you will consider conception an "emergency" that needs to be handled with deadly force. Whose side are you on? Dear Editor:

I purposely took my grocery list and wallet into the West St. Charles Jewel Saturday afternoon as a show of support for the courageous pharmacist who exercised the right of conscience Wednesday by refusing to fill a prescription for the morning after pill, otherwise known as "Plan B, emergency contraceptive."

The whole concept of a "doctor" prescribing a pill to terminate a prospective pregnancy, after conception has occurred, is repugnant to me. Let's look at this on it's face. Plan A is taking birth control pills, abstaining from sex, or using another method to prevent the creation of life in the womb. Plan B then, by definition, must be to end that life if Plan A does not work.

And a "doctor" and pharmacist are supposed to go along with that under the guise of medicine? To make it worse, it is called an "emergency."

What exactly is the medical emergency? "Help, I may have a baby born inside of me. Please give me a drug- FAST- so I may kill her!"

I commend the work of Family-Pac and others that are working to overturn Governor Blagojevich's heavy handed state edict calling on pharmacists to dispense killer drugs like "Plan B", even if doing so violates the religious and moral conscience of the doctor or pharmacist.

For those who say that "Plan B" is a legal drug, I say yes, for now, it is. If you are insistent about using it because you have utilized inadequate measures to avoid pregnancy, get someone with your weak moral code to give it to you. Don't force a doctor or pharmacist that takes their Hippocratic oath seriously to be compliant with you in ending your baby's life.
Birth-control pill request allegedly refused
Publication
Northwest Herald
Date
July 09, 2005
Section(s)
Main
Page
By KELLEY CASINO
Shaw News Services
State officials will investigate a report that a St. Charles pharmacy refused to fill a Geneva woman's birth-control prescription.
Megan Kelly, 29, said a pharmacist at Jewel-Osco, 652 Kirk Road, on Wednesday refused to fill her prescriptions for the birth-control pill Ortho Tri-Cyclen and the emergency contraceptive pill Plan B.
"We opened an investigation based on the story that was in this morning's paper," said Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation spokeswoman Susan Hofer, referring to Friday's issue of the Kane County Chronicle, a sister publication of the Northwest Herald.
A 150-day emergency rule filed April 1 by Gov. Rod Bla-gojevich requires Illinois pharmacies that sell contraceptives to fill prescriptions for birth control "without delay."
"The rule is very specific that it is the responsibility of the pharmacy to ensure that if the medicine is in stock the prescription gets filled," Hofer said. "The governor made it very clear in April that he expects Illinois pharmacies to sell prescriptions without delay, and we take that very seriously."
It is unknown how long the investigation will take.
Osco Drugs officials declined comment on the St. Charles incident other than to release a statement that read, "Out of respect for the privacy of our customers and in compliance with federal privacy regulations, we are unable to comment on pharmacy transactions."
Karen Ramos, pharmacy spokeswoman for Osco Drugs, also declined to disclose Osco's policy regarding the filling of birth control and emergency contraceptive prescriptions.
Should investigators determine that the St. Charles pharmacy was not in compliance with the emergency rule, Hofer said, the penalties could range from a reprimand to revocation of the pharmacy's license.
"I want Jewel-Osco's policy to change, and whatever it takes to get it changed, I'm happy to do," said Kelly, who also contacted Planned Parenthood about the situation.
"I just don't think it's right they make women feel uncomfortable for getting prescriptions filled that a doctor has prescribed for them."

Platform Republicans

2005-07-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

A phrase that has been adopted by the Republican Assembly of Lake County (www.ralc.net) is "Platform Republican." That stands for a Republican who has views and values in line with the National and State Republican Party platform. Unfortunately, there are many "Republican" State Reps. and State Senators whose views and values are more in line with the Democrat Party. We have too many now that we call RINOs, standing for "Republican in Name Only." The only way to change that is in open seat races and Republican Primaries. The ICRC will be targeting several key races this Spring in an effect to elect Platform Republicans. Our two candidates in the Spring of 2004 were Joe Wiegand and Pat Sutarik. Both did very well- Joe getting about 45% of the vote and Pat coming in 2nd in a race that broke down about 45-40-15. This time I expect we will not challenge Bob Pritchard, who has been casting conservative votes in Springfield with consistency. However, Suzi Bassi will be challenged again and I expect ICRC will soon be vetting an exciting young teacher named Tom Morrison who has expressed interest in running. He has taken the necessary first step in securing Pat Sutarik's support and a great second step, selecting a bright and aggressive campaign manager- Drew Veeneman. ICRC Steering Committee member Scott Bludorn and regular member Dennis Driscoll will be taking on RINOs Sidney Mathias and Mark Beaubien, respectively. More on those races later.

ICRC Joins the Blogosphere

2005-07-09T23:49:00.000-07:00

A pledge that I made, if elected as President of the ICRC (www.illinoiscenterright.com) was to establish a blog so that the 15 members of our Steering Committee could post news, opinions, and events as often as they wished. This should be a forum that is not afraid to be provocative and should, eventually, be a required daily stop on the Internet for Illinois conservatives (and even our opponents). I have accepted this position for a one-year term and plan to make it a very active and successful year. Let the blogging begin.