McHenry Co GOP Seeks Help

Thursday night I was opening Christmas cards and letters that I usually don’t see until well after Christmas.

One was from a McHenry County Republican precinct committeeman.

Inside was a December 1st letter from McHenry County Republican Chairman Bill LeFew, who is also McHenry County Treasurer.

The letter is addressed to all GOP committeemen.

I’ll type in again, so it will be internet friendly.

I’ll cut up the 5 paragraphs to make it easier to read:

Join the McHenry County Republican Party!

In view of the election results it is obvious that we need to do some serious rebuilding of our Party.

We need new, active members who have the enthusiasm to help us prepare for future attacks by the County Democrats.

With this in mind the McHenry County Republican Party is embarking on a membership drive and contest. We are enclosing three flyers, complete with application forms.

Please try to recruit at least three active members for the Republican Party.

When you mail the completed forms to Headquarters with checks attacked, please include your name. When you have recruited three members we will send you additional forms for future use. The initial term of membership will end on 12/31.07.

The top three Committeemen in memberships submitted will receive cash prizes.

The amount will depend, of course, on the total number of memberships received.

Prizes will be awarded at the 2007 Lincoln Day Dinner Dance to be held on Saturday, February 10, 2007. Details on that event will be posted to the website soon. www.mcgog.org.

In addition the top three committeemen in memberships submitted will receive complimentary tickets to the dinner dance.

We encourage you to contact area businesses and professionals to participate on the sponsorship level.

The flyer is self-explanatory, there are many benefits to being an enrolled member of the Republican Party.

· Members will receive reduced price invitations to Republican events and will be able to participate more fully in the activities of our Party.

· Members will also receive a monthly newsletter.

This program provides an opportunity for you as a committeeman to recruit helpers in your precinct who can assist you in your precinct work.

If you have any questions regarding this program, please feel free to contact either Geri or me at Republican Headquarters (815) 344-4559 or via email at landon@me.net.

So, the Republican Party is admitting its efforts this last election were deficient.

I guess that’s a start.

Certainly, the Republican precinct committeemen in the district where the Democrats elected Jim Kennedy to the county board did not blitz it three times for Perry Moy and Tina Hill, as Democratic Party Chairman Patrick Ouimet claims his Democratic Party precinct committee did. (I have since talked to one citizen in that county board district who did not receive any literature from Kennedy's campaign at the door, so, perhaps, Ouimet was exaggerating slightly.)

And the party chairman wants committeemen to recruit helpers at a minimum membership fee of $15.

Knowing how the party leadership likes to purge those who are not lock-step with their program, I wonder if the members signed up by precinct committeemen not “with the program” will end up being precinct committeemen opponents in future primary elections.

But, “They wouldn’t do that to me,” to put it in the words of one township assessor whose township was overassessed by county officials a long time ago.

Right.

Now you can read the surprising mark-up by one precinct committeeman of the inside of the enclosed pamphlet. (Since it was given to me and I don’t think it was a recruiting effort, I guess that means one precinct committeeman won’t be getting more pamphlets.)

Posted first on McHenry County Blog, where you can read of a second Bill Cellini connection to Crystal Lake today.