Carol Marin: State GOP may need Strange Alliances

Good column by Marin on how Giuliani and Robertson will show the way for Illinois Republicans.

In Illinois it will be a social conservative who reaches out, and since the last primary I've felt the best guy for the job is Bill Brady. He convinced me during the primaries in a interview on WBBM's At Issue program last year.

It's going to take a little more than a bridge within the GOP though,

Paul Caprio, executive director of Family-PAC, a conservative political action committee, is torn yet surprisingly open to the discussion. Citing a "fraying of the [party's] coalition . . . the country club Republican never sees the Baptist fundamentalist who goes to church," Caprio says, social conservatives do worry someone like Giuliani will take the Republican platform from pro-life to pro-choice.

And yet in Illinois, he acknowledges, there is another fundamental problem for his party to grapple with. "During the past week, the only thing I've seen is Jim Thompson escorting George Ryan to a car . . . two previous Republican governors, one going to prison, the other defending him. What kind of image is that for the Republican Party?"

A corruption-busting, fiscally conservative candidate, Caprio believes, is something the party desperately needs, preferably one rich enough to fund his or her own campaign. "I don't think pro-life, pro-choice," he told me, "is the determinant. . . . There's some wiggle room with me, speaking for myself. Maybe some would be more doctrinaire."

But if other social conservatives agree, it would represent a seismic shift in Illinois Republican politics. One tent instead of two. Loaves and fishes to go with the wine.

Corruption busting is a big key and there are plenty of places to start.

Or City of Chicago allowing a chunk of the CPD go out-of-control for years another.

As for needing a millionaire to do it, Indianapolis didn't need one to bring that seismic shift. Just a candidate who knew people's key concerns and a resume showing competence to lead the City,

Ballard, a 52-year-old retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, capitalized on public discontent over property tax increases, a hike this year in the Marion County income tax and the city’s crime rate.

“I’ve got more experience than most mayors going in based on my Marine Corps experience, my corporate experience and small business experience,” Ballard said today. “I study leadership all the time, and so I have no problems at all leading this city.”

It can be done.