By John Biver

Last week a good friend who is newly involved in his township GOP organization asked me if I thought he was obligated to work for Republican candidates he felt he couldn't support. As an example, he said he can't support Republican Congresswoman Judy Biggert because of her co-sponsoring of Republican Mark Kirk's dangerous and wrong-headed H.R. 1913.

It's a good question, since there seems to be some misunderstanding about the role of precinct committeemen, the party itself, and the people it elects.

Many Republicans hold the view that we owe a blind fealty to those who appear on our party's ballot line. I disagree. The party is the servant to the principles, nothing more. The party has no purpose outside of that service.

Those principles are outlined nicely in the state and national platforms. Simply stated, those principles are: limited government, traditional values, and a strong national defense policy.

It has long been the position of those of us at Champion News that there are some actions taken by our GOP candidates and elected officials that disqualify them from the support of platform supporting Republicans.

The evidence is abundant that our party's problem isn't the Democrats - it's liberal or incompetent "Republicans" that misuse the GOP brand. Often, it's better to have a lousy Republican candidate lose and a Democrat win. Why? Republicans are the only people who can do lasting damage to the public's perception of the Grand Old Party. Democrats can't.

One-hundred percent support of the platform issues isn't required, of course. It's easy for me to name many Republican office holders I disagree with on key issues. They have my support, however, because they're not among the "useless," and I view them as still persuadable on the things we disagree upon.

Every individual Republican is responsible for making his or her own judgment regarding which candidates with an ‘R' by their name is worthy of support.

How can you create a majority party if Precinct Committeemen get to pick and choose who they support? Actually, it's the only way. Until more grassroots level Republicans get serious about the process of vetting and holding their would-be leaders accountable, the party will continue to fail as it has for many years.

The point of our Republican Renaissance project is to encourage just this kind of local rank-and-file participation. We also need a lot more solid platform-supporting Republicans running for office. If a candidate is --

• pro-life,
• not confused about human sexual impulses and therefore defends traditional marriage and is against the entire arrested development "homosexual rights" silliness,
• in support of limited government (making government smaller),
• in support of school vouchers,
• pro-Second Amendment,
• pro-Constitution and pro-law and order (including the issue of illegal immigration),

-- there's a good chance that candidate isn't going to have trouble winning the support of the vast majority of good Republican volunteers. If the office holder then genuinely works towards legislative success (as opposed to just being a place-holder), that candidate will hold onto that support.

The problem is, unfortunately, the Republican Party nationally and especially here in Illinois has been allowing candidates to run that tepidly (to say the least) support only a few of the platform planks.

If Illinois Republicans would have been serious in the 1990s about building upon the state senate majorities and prolonging control of the governor's mansion, their first objective would have been to succeed in governing. You can't maintain public support if you're not using your power to implement good policies.

The same scenario played out in Washington, D.C. when it comes to the national Republicans. Republicans have shown they know how to win. Illinois Republicans won in the 1990s, and nationally we held the Congress for twelve years and the White House for eight.

It's not enough to win elections, however, you have to implement reforms. That's only a profound statement to many on the inside of politics. Hard working Americans understand that getting a job is only the first part. You actually have to perform the job if you expect to get paid.

So - getting back to the premise stated above - why in the world would we want to support candidates who aren't committed to governing according to policies that work best? We've taken that road before - it has gotten us where we are today. Obama is president, Pelosi is Speaker, Reid leads the U.S. Senate, and Democrats run the state of Illinois.

The path to a different future is to support only Republican candidates who understand that change must first start inside the GOP.

If you live in a district with a wimpy or compromised or liberal Republican, it's up to you and your neighbors and local Republican organizations to find better people to step up and serve.

Click here and here to learn more about the first step here in Illinois - the passage of SB600.

John Biver is the Editor of Champion News.