Governor's Race Heats Up

It's been a tempestuous week for the Illinois Republican Party. Gubernatorial hopeful Ron Gidwitz ran an ad that was mildly critical of rival Judy Baar Topinka. This gave many in the media and some of the establishment a bad case of the vapors.

Thus far Topinka has run a very shrewd campaign. She entered the field late, hoping to have a very condensed election cycle in which there could be little debate over the issues. Except for a single debate, she has refused to appear in any public forum in which she cannot tightly control the agenda. Judging from her performance in that debate, that has been a wise choice. Thus far her strategy has been to capitalize on her superior name recognition after 12 years as treasurer and avoid discussing issues. That is a reasonable approach given that she is far to the left of her competitors and does not match up well with Republican voters. Up to this point the only announcement of substance I have heard from her is that she, alone among the Republican candidates, will confirm Rod Blagojevich's order revoking the license of any pharmacist who, out of conscience, does not stock the 'morning after' pill if elected. Her best hope is to keep Republican voters from knowing where she stands until after the primary is over. Topinka and her supporters in the party are busy invoking Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment and calling for nothing that would create disunity. That is a tad disingenuous from a woman who has supported Democrats when she didn't like the Republican nominee, routinely calls conservatives nutjobs and crazies both publicly and privately, and didn't bother to attempt to conceal her contempt for people in Illinois who share the same ideology as George Bush even when she was party chairman.

I think Andy McKenna has done a pretty good job as party chairman. When he took over both the finances and the programs of the party were in utter shambles. Many county chairmen, when contacted by the state party, would listen politely and then ignore it. Some were not so polite, overtly telling operatives not to call them again. Under McKenna's leadership, the party has returned to a sound financial condition and relations with county chairmen have been dramatically improved. Exec. Dir. John Tsarpalis has real-world political experience, a welcome change from young operatives who had lots of attitude, but little experience and no judgment. He actually consults with county chairmen to vet the party's programs so they have some chance of actually working. While not without some misteps, McKenna has a good case to make for a second term as chairman. That being said, I think he is mistaken to suggest that any candidate who does not cooperate with Topinka's effort to avoid the issues and run out the clock is in violation of a code of ethics. The 11th Comandment and party unity have been a notably one-way street where Topinka is concerned.

Now I know that many in the media who normally wax enthusiastic about Democrats consider Topinka to be the sole hope for the Republican Party. But most of these are disaffected with the severe ethically-challenged nature of the Blagojevich administration. For them, Topinka is certainly the best hope for obtaining a Democrat approach to the issues without actually voting Democrat.

Unless something significant happens Topinka will likely be the nominee. Once she wins, neither Blagojevich nor fellow Democrats will refrain from letting Republican voters know how deeply at odds she is with them on most of the issues they care about. Blagojevich's hope is that, once he suppresses the Republican vote, it will be a matter of whether the majority of Democrats prefer someone with a D by their name or an R.

Don't misread this. I believe in party unity and I have worked for it. I don't believe in sitting out a general election just because my preferred candidate doesn't win. And in fact, if Bill Brady, Ron Gidwitz or Jim Oberweis win the nomination I will work hard on their behalf (the names are in alphabetical order, if you're looking for some significance). I would like to be able to do the same with Topinka. I actually did for a while. As some readers know, former state party co-chairman Stephen McGlynn is one of my closest friends. I know intimately how loyally he worked with her to foster party unity without compromising his ideological integrity. So imagine my surprise, while driving through Chicago a little over a year ago, to hear her describe him on the radio as just another one of the "crazies." I felt like a cheap, naieve tramp for having tried to foster unity under her leadership.

No doubt some commenters will tell me I should not criticize Topinka, as she is the likely nominee and I work in party politics. I've already been there, defending Topinka for the good of the party - only to be dismissed as one of the nutjobs when unity would have benefitted someone other than Topinka. If I believed there was a chance Topinka would not use a nomination and a governorship to try to destroy half the Republican Party, I would be the loyal soldier to her I will be if Gidwitz wins the nomination. He, too, disagrees with me on many social issues, but he treats unity as a two-way street.