Champion News - Setting the Standard

Posted: November 17, 2008

Illinois Republicans can fix the Illinois Republican Party. But they need some roadblocks removed.

The rank-and-file has to be empowered to get rid of bad management. There's no end in sight for the Election Day trainwrecks until Illinois Republicans stand-up and demand some accountability within their own State GOP.

This is just basic corporate governance reform, the kind of thing that every shareholder in every company is constantly concerned about - especially these days. In other words, how do you make certain your managers and your board of directors are doing their jobs, and not just working for their own accounts?

There's a good plan on the table of course and it's time to get it done. Every Illinois Republican deserves a say again in the selection of the 19-member State Central Committee. That committee really is the State Party. It's analogous to a corporation's board of directors.

Not only does that committee of 19 alone choose the State Party Chairman, it's responsible for overseeing the direction of the Republican Party in Illinois. And only that committee has the power to reign in the astonishing unprofessionalism and misuse of the State Party franchise that we've all witnessed in recent years.

It should be pretty obvious by now why the method by which those 19 are chosen is so important.

Barack Obama is no doubt thrilled today with the job our State Party's done in Illinois, but no serious Republican can be.

Don't forget, while Republicans nationally are lamenting two bad elections in a row, here in Illinois we've had five - that's every election going back to 2000. And if we're going to be really honest about it (especially with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight), electing George Ryan in 1998 makes that a bad year too.

Let's just say there's a bad trend.

The Illinois GOP was losing significant ground in 2002 and 2004 for example, even as the national party was making historic gains in many parts of the country. To the extent the GOP in other states had setbacks on November 4th, in many cases they could better afford to give back some territory.

Since the latest tsunami two weeks ago, all the usual suspects are trotting out the same tired talking points and prescriptions. Do a Lexis/Nexis search and you'll find pretty much the identical truisms being repeated after the disasters of 2002, 2004 and 2006.

We get the same old empty generalities and circular analysis. They can all pretty much be summed up as "Republican candidates need to get more votes or Republicans won't win." Yeah, that's kinda how elections work.

The most predictable one-trick ponies have to be Jim Edgar and Judy Baar Topinka. Like moths to a flame, they're drawn to the television cameras on election night to parrot the old "if Republicans would just run moderates they'll win in Illinois."

Really? Putting aside the fraud often behind the whole "moderate" term, didn't Edgar just back Topinka as the model back in 2006, and didn't she get her clock cleaned - along with the rest of the Topinka clones that year? And let's not forget it was against mostly weak Democratic candidates to boot.

It's time for regular Republicans to wake up and get engaged. The old guard here is as out of ideas as they are of one-liners.

What's holding the Illinois GOP back isn't some conservative vs. moderate schism. The real problem is bad management that's not accountable to Republicans.

There's no conservative or moderate way to rig a state political convention for example, one that destroys all energy for volunteerism for the rest of the year. That's exactly what our current State Chairman Andy McKenna, Jr. did in June. McKenna says he's a conservative.

But four years prior, McKenna's predecessor Topinka ran a state convention that was nearly as bad and divisive, and she says she's a moderate.

The common denominator of course is that McKenna and Topinka were both jammed into the Chairman post by the same old circle. Both answer to the same small group.

Call it the bipartisan Illinois Combine - call it whatever you want - but I'm talking about that Hastert/Ingemunson/Thompson/Edgar/Kjellander/Cellini club. Some Democrats like Mayor Daley also get a membership.

Folks, this is not a club that's concerned about ANY social issue. They may adopt a moniker like "moderate" because that's viewed as the path of least resistance in front of a gullible press corps, but in most cases they aren't out there advocating on any side of any social issue - with the exception of more gambling.

Their real pet issue is keeping the corner on some party titles that can be parlayed into jobs, contracts, cash - or in some cases just ego stroking.

And so I come back to the 19 who compose the State Central Committee (one from each U.S. Congressional District). It's not enough to just fire all 19 (and they certainly should be replaced). Under the system we have now for their selection, we'll just end up with more of the same, and the next Chairman they pick will just be another weak figurehead like Andy McKenna.

Illinois Republicans just need one Sarah Palin-like reformer among the 19. Three or four would be better, but one would be a huge advance. But we need at least one person with a backbone on there who will stand-up and address at least the worst problems. We need at least one member on there who will be straight with the rank-and-file.

Direct democracy isn't perfect of course - and even the fairest and most open of elections can still produce disappointing officials. We can all think of many examples.

But again, Republicans don't have to get it right in all 19 districts. Returning to direct elections creates a good chance for at least some real leaders to win a slot. There is no realistic chance now.

Our current system for selecting the State Central Committee is simply too easily rigged - and that's exactly what former Governor Jim Thompson and his cronies knew when they took the Republican rank-and-file out of the equation back in the late 1980's. Their goal was to consolidate power and to make the State Party an exclusive tool for themselves, family and friends.

To add insult to injury, the Illinois Democrats kept direct elections for their State Central Committee. It was only the Illinois GOP which adopted the much more closed, easily rigged system we have now.

So a Bill Cellini could gorge at the government trough without interruption. A Bob Kjellander could make a personal fortune courtesy of a Democrat administration and STILL get re-chosen for a top GOP office, like he did in 2004. Or a Dennis Hastert could make a huge profit on land that quickly jumped in value after he personally inserted federal earmark legislation for a nearby highway.

And if the Feds start asking too many questions, no matter - just scheme to get rid of the U.S. Attorney (okay, fine, allegedly schemed). The point is for most of the past two decades none of these old faces had to worry about "the party" saying a peep about anything. The board of directors was in the tank.

But here's the good news. That old guard is falling away, and this direct election reform is going to happen. It's only a question now of who decides to stay on record on the losing side of history.

I know we're almost there when I see the biggest Democrat on our State Central Committee trotting out to warn that we'll get Democrats on the State Central Committee if Republicans get their vote back. It doesn't get much goofier or desperate than that.

That would be Skip Saviano of course, that Chicago Democrat with the phony "R" by his name who has not only been the chief roadblock to direct elections as a State Representative - the guy's also one of those 19 who has been running our State Party into the ground for years. (To fully appreciate the astounding level of Democrat infiltration we have right now in our State GOP thanks to the current system, see here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

A real campaign for a spot on the State Central Committee will force a healthy debate about the direction of our State Party - as well as what its role should be. With an Illinois GOP that's long been lifeless, I think that's a debate every concerned Republican should welcome. Let's see who has the best ideas and let's have Republicans decide for themselves who is best suited to lead.

There's a working group that's already busy trying to close the loop on this long overdue direct election reform. Committed Republicans like State Senator Chris Lauzen are of course onboard for what will hopefully be the final push.

There are two ways to give Republicans back their vote. Under the law as currently written we can go back to the original method (one Republican, one vote) at a party convention by majority vote of the delegates. Or, the law can just be changed so that a party convention is unnecessary (that's what SB 600 is about).

I personally don't care how the reform gets done as long as it gets done soon. All 19 posts are up in early 2010 and ALL Republicans need to be doing the choosing this time.

If you would like to join our direct election working group, I encourage you to do so. Just shoot me an e-mail at dibendahl@ilryp.org or call me at 312/648-0061.

Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party. He is Co-Founder of Republican Young Professionals (RYP).