What happend to make Illinois so Democratic since 1990? (Chicago, Bush: lawyers, unemployment)

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by j33

Patrick Hughes is a social conservative and the Tea Party endorsed candidate. I doubt he'll get very far with Illinois voters. Out of all the Republicans running, Kirk is the only one who has a chance.

I agree with you. My point is that electing Kirk is not much better than electing a leftist (D). It's like supporting McCain; probably worse!

I wasn't saying that Hughes would win, but was trying to highlight that he offers a clear choice vs whoever his (D) opponent is. Kirk is basically splitting hairs. It's like whether the 'c' in communist is capital or lower case.

[US-Traveller]

I think the biggest problem with the Illinois Republican Party has been George Ryan. I don't think it is unfair to place the blame on him at all. The most popular politician in the state is former Governor Jim Edgar, but he doesn't hold elected office. Former Governor Jim Thompson is also popular. This is the recurring problem for the GOP over the past decade, none of our popular figures hold elected office.

Illinois is one of the states that really bought into the Democratic Party Leadership platform spearheaded by Bill Clinton (the first Democrat to win Illinois in 1992 since 1964 LBJ). Illinois saw good economic growth under Bill Clinton, however Illinois state government was dominated by the GOP during this same period.

The Illinois Republican Party also did some self-destructing. We pushed out Senator Peter Fitzgerald because of his fierce opposition to earmarks, his lone vote against the airline bailout (United headquartered here, American employs a lot of people here, Boeing headquartered here, all previously donated lots to the GOP), his strong support for prosecution and investigation of state government officials like Governor Ryan.

We also pushed out Jack Ryan when his divorce records were unsealed (not smart, he could have recovered). Jack Ryan had been running neck-and-neck with Barack Obama. Then when came time to replace him Bill Brady, Jim Oberweis, Andy McKenna, and others who had been contenders in the primary, declined to run! This screw-up by the ILGOP is 100% why Barack Obama is president right now.

Voters here in Illinois are not the brightest either. We re-elected Rod Blagojevich, a man whom the Chicago Tribune evicerated, Attorney General Jim Ryan took to task, and Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka and Governor Edgar warned us about. Illinois was 48th in economic development from 2002-2008 (absolutely pathetic). Illinois voters need to take a cue from Virginia voters and give Illinois a Republican sweep, otherwise we are completely doomed to become the next California or Michigan.


BTW, The Chicago Tribune has endorsed Andy McKenna for the GOP primary, and has declined to endorse a candidate in the Democratic primary. I plan on supporting Andy McKenna for governor, Mark Kirk (my congressman) for senate, and Robert Dold for 10th district congress.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by LIS123

...It's like supporting McCain; probably worse!...

Would the worse not be the current president?

[ToriaT]

There are a lot of people who are moderate Republicans but their party is no longer interested in representing them. Many vote Democratic even if they aren't Democrats. Also both parties have had corrupt politicians in IL.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

There are a lot of people who are moderate Republicans but their party is no longer interested in representing them. Many vote Democratic even if they aren't Democrats. Also both parties have had corrupt politicians in IL.

The (D) party does not treat its 'moderates' well either.

All of the so-called (D) moderates (Nelson 2x, Lincoln, Bayh, Landrieu, etc) vote down-the-line with the red hard-left MoveOn types that bought and own the (D) party.

[j33]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

Illinois voters need to take a cue from Virginia voters and give Illinois a Republican sweep, otherwise we are completely doomed to become the next California or Michigan.

I generally vote Democratic and don't see that changing at the federal level anytime soon unless a better party comes along who more accurately reflects my views, but I did vote for a Republican for Cook County board president last time around, and am okay locally with the occasional moderate Republican. The problem is that moderate Republicans are becoming an endangered species and being replaced by a brand of conservative Republicanism that scares the hell out of me, and a lot of others who might occasionally be inclined to locally give them a chance due to the corruption and excesses of the local Democrats.

I'm a social liberal and in some areas I'm fiscally moderate and other areas fiscally liberal (e.g. I support efforts to make the state more friendly to business development as long as it doesn't infringe too much on workers rights, however, I also support such things as a fully funded public transportation system so that people can get to their jobs). In my experience, in Illinois, it is the moderate Republican who is successful, yet those are the Republicans at US-Traveller so accurately stated, who are often being driven away. Unless they learn from the Keyes-Obama debacle, they are going to have a rough time of it in the future.

[NYrules]

It just has to do with the fact that Democrats come out and claim they "care", and "change" will be put into place once in office, while republicans just come right out and tell you the truth that they hate you for being (poor, gay, minority, unemployed, un-insured, atheist, etc) and won't give you a d@mn thing and you don't even deserve to be alive basically... Either way though, neither party will do a thing once in office which is why this country is in a major free fall now. So what party do you vote for? The liars or the haters? Obviously we can see which one Illinois favors. Illinoisans like to be lied to and try to keep hope alive vs just voting for the truth. Then again what more could you expect from a state with a major city full of fans that every year go to BAT for a certain team who bombs out EVERY year and EVERY year we hear... "Well next year will be their year" I think we know what team I'm talking about Ahhhh, keeping hope alive on the northside.

[Avengerfire]

[chirack]

I am usually a Democrat and I don't think Illinois will be either a California or Michigan . A California style democrat would have real trouble getting elected. Illinois is a liberal state, but it is a quite liberal state. Also Michigan does have a strong republican party like Illinois. Michigan's biggest problem isn't unionization as much as it is being tied to one industry too much and they never adapted to the future. A Michigan style Democrat might get strong union support, but the business community would likely support another candidate making it a toss up over who would win.

The trouble is the National Republicans have pushed out the Moderate ones and frankly the Moderate ones are the only ones that can get elected here. Also I would say until the blago scandal the Republicans were having a bad run. Unless they do something stupid, I think they will get the governorship this election and make gains in the state legislature. I don't think they will gain the cook county board unless by some strange accident Stroger wins the primary(and I strongly doubt that will happen).

The one thing I do like about the Republican party here is the fact that there were liberals and Moderates and usually I could feel comfortable with the person if they won. However if they keep picking people like Keyes and Oberwise they will continue to have problems. Keyes and Oberwise were flawed. Keyes was into hot button issuses when this state cares more about schools and taxes than abortion. Oberwise thinks that the way to win is to throw dirt at your opponent. His ads are so offensive they caused me to hope he loses(and I didn't even live in that district). Oberwise just turns people off. Judy bar Topika likewise was a weak candidate(i.e. nothing all that wrong with here politically or with the way she ran but she lacked chrasima).

[chirack]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

I think the biggest problem with the Illinois Republican Party has been George Ryan. I don't think it is unfair to place the blame on him at all. The most popular politician in the state is former Governor Jim Edgar, but he doesn't hold elected office. Former Governor Jim Thompson is also popular. This is the recurring problem for the GOP over the past decade, none of our popular figures hold elected office.

I can agree with this.

Illinois is one of the states that really bought into the Democratic Party Leadership platform spearheaded by Bill Clinton (the first Democrat to win Illinois in 1992 since 1964 LBJ). Illinois saw good economic growth under Bill Clinton, however Illinois state government was dominated by the GOP during this same period.

This state was never safely in the hands of either party. We tend to vote along with the winning candidate rather than stay true to either party.

The Illinois Republican Party also did some self-destructing. We pushed out Senator Peter Fitzgerald because of his fierce opposition to earmarks, his lone vote against the airline bailout (United headquartered here, American employs a lot of people here, Boeing headquartered here, all previously donated lots to the GOP), his strong support for prosecution and investigation of state government officials like Governor Ryan.

I agree Peter Fitzgerald was the best candidate in that election. By removing the incumbent you increased the odds of someone else winning. Unless the incumbent is hated the odds favor the incumbent. When the incumbent is not running then it is anybodies race.

We also pushed out Jack Ryan when his divorce records were unsealed (not smart, he could have recovered). Jack Ryan had been running neck-and-neck with Barack Obama. Then when came time to replace him Bill Brady, Jim Oberweis, Andy McKenna, and others who had been contenders in the primary, declined to run! This screw-up by the ILGOP is 100% why Barack Obama is president right now.

It might be the reason why Barack Obama is president, but I don't think McCain was going to win that election unless the Democrats blew it. The country tends to alternate parties. Bush was hated and the economy was nose diving. Not good for whichever party is holding the white house.

I also don't think Jack Ryan could have pulled that off. There was a lot of disdain for republicans after the George Ryan scandal and dragging your wife(who was extremely attractive) to sex clubs when you are the party of morality just isn't good. I don't think most candidates could recover from that. Even worse he won the primary and was likely killed by Oberwise leaking the story. There is nothing worse than having a candidate flame out after winning a primary and the flames were stared from within the party(even worse).

I think the best they could have done is choose a good candidate. An upstanding candidate with an eye to the future. He likely would have lost the election but he might be in a better position to win say the governorship or the other senate seat.

Voters here in Illinois are not the brightest either. We re-elected Rod Blagojevich, a man whom the Chicago Tribune evicerated, Attorney General Jim Ryan took to task, and Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka and Governor Edgar warned us about. Illinois was 48th in economic development from 2002-2008 (absolutely pathetic). Illinois voters need to take a cue from Virginia voters and give Illinois a Republican sweep, otherwise we are completely doomed to become the next California or Michigan.

Ah the George Ryan scandal and picking Judy Bar Topinka are the reasons why he won. The first did major damage to the party and the second was just a weak candidate.