Posted: August 16, 2008

By Doug Ibendahl

 

Republican Day was Thursday at the State Fair in Springfield. It's hardly a surprise the turnout was the lowest in history, or at least in our lifetime. I think that's pretty safe to say.

 

A Chicago Sun-Times reporter put the attendance at a paltry 150. But even that embarrassingly low figure was probably a generous estimate. The photos here speak for themselves. I've been to Republican Day several times in years past. Our party has had disappointing days at the fair before, but I've never seen the main event even close to that empty.

 

I didn't go this year. Like most Republicans, I saw all I needed to see at our State GOP Convention two months ago in Decatur. It's clear that our Illinois GOP is going nowhere until we clean house of the likes of State Party Chairman Andy McKenna, Jr. and Chairman of the County Chairmen's Association Randy Pollard.

 

You simply can't run a rigged-up mess like that Decatur disaster in June and then honestly ever expect decent Republicans to follow you in the future. That's just not how it works. We need new leaders, competent leaders who understand even the simplest basics of Management 101.

 

Let's face it, if any Republican really felt the need to get sodomized (politically speaking) once again, they might just as well join that other McKenna backed organization on a Chicago gay-bar-hopping tour.

 

But fortunately some good Republicans bit the bullet and still made the trip. Hope springs eternal with some of my friends, and that's good. It's always important to have some honest Republicans on the scene, as witnesses if nothing else. I talked to a couple of the attendees, and they confirmed my impressions of the day from the newspaper reports I read.

 

Basically if you weren't there, you didn't miss anything. Take the newspaper reports from this year, or from Republican Day in 2002, or 2004, or 2006 - they are pretty much interchangeable. It's the same failed players spouting the same happy talk and empty promises - less than three months before the next disaster at the polls.

 

Oh, and they're still blaming their old pal George Ryan for the Illinois GOP being lifeless in 2008. Apparently George is such an evil genius - HE'S the one that's made certain we don't have competent professionals running our State Party today. That's a pretty impressive feat given that Ryan has been out of office for nearly six years now, and has been behind bars for over nine months.

 

Actually this year saw one caveat. This time the old faces aren't even making any promises about THIS year's election in Illinois. They're already cowardly waiving the white flag of surrender because of Barack Obama. But just wait until 2010!

 

None of these jokers of course ever explains how all the buffoonery and double-dealing which hasn't worked the past eight years is suddenly going to work in 2010 when the Democrats will almost surely nominate a much tougher opponent from their side for the Governor's race.

 

Unity was the buzzword on Thursday, as it is every Republican Day. It should have been easy this week, with a crowd smaller than the average family reunion.

 

The problem is that when McKenna, Tom Cross and others talk about unity these days - they mean unity with Democrat Rod Blagojevich. On the one hand they constantly bash the Democrats, but their only agenda seems to revolve around cutting a massive gambling and pork-laden spending deal with Blagojevich, over the opposition of Mike Madigan and his House Democrats. It's pretty absurd.

 

Somehow McKenna and Cross have actually managed to make Blagojevich the Republican Party's baggage. Mike Madigan must get tired of not even having a challenging opponent in the Illinois GOP.

 

But perhaps the height of absurdity is that Bob Kjellander remains very much on the scene. Don't forget, Big Bob, a/k/a Individual K, is still our Republican National Committeeman until the close of the National GOP Convention next month in St. Paul. The Illinois GOP's big contribution to that convention will be bringing Kjellander's Tony Rezko baggage to load on John McCain.

 

Kjellander was still speaking on behalf of our party on Thursday. He was quoted by at least two newspapers.

 

Here's one particularly silly observation that's demonstrative of the kind of brain power that went into Republicans losing nearly every office worth losing in Illinois since Kjellander became National Committeeman in 1995. Kjellander is responding to a question about why Republican attendance was one-tenth the size of the Democrats' turnout the day before. From the Chicago Sun-Times:

 

"This is not busing people in for this," Kjellander said, referring to buses full of union members who came to the fair to cheer for and against Blagojevich Wednesday. "This is very different. . . You're comparing apples and oranges, and it's not fair."

 

Kjellander completely misses the point of course. Buses could have been rented and sent to all corners of the state this week, offering Republicans a ride for free. It wouldn't have made a difference.

 

Transportation isn't the problem. Arrogant, self-dealing management that has lost the respect and trust of the average Republican voter is the reason the Illinois GOP was officially declared dead this week.

 

 

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).