GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - June 14, 2008

PUBLIC AFFAIRS
-- Were Kjellander and McKenna plumping for Brady to be the Republican National Committeeman? If so, why? - Jeff Berkowitz
http://jeffberkowitz.blogspot.com/2008/06/bob-kjellander-berkowitz-friday-night.html
(FROM THE POSTING: Below is a partial transcript of an interview Jeff Berkowitz did late in the day on Friday with Bob Kjellander, Illinois’ controversial Republican National Committeeman who is a long time friend of Karl Rove and is involved in planning the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. Kjellander contacted Berkowitz to complain about statements included here that Kjellander claims are inaccurate. That discussion was the first part of the interview and will be reported in a later post on this blog. Also to be reported in a subsequent post will be the Berkowitz-Kjellander discussion about the assertion that Kjellander has emerged as a key figure in the on-going probe of Illinois public corruption.)

ILLINOIS REVIEW
-- Illinois GOP Responds . . . Part 5 - Fran Eaton
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2008/06/il-gop-respon-5.html
(THE RESPONSE: The controversy about convention security was blown out of proportion, Heffley said. It wasn't to keep control of the platform vote or the national committeeman/committeewoman votes. It was concern that Ron Paul delegates would cause the same problems they had in two other state conventions. “I did want to talk about the security that was on the premises at the convention," Heffley said. "We had two hired cops and the guards in white shirts were volunteers. It’s almost arrogant for people to think we expected a security threat because of them." With Ron Paul's announcement today he is dropping out of the presidential race, the point is moot, but over the weekend, Paul supporters posed a threat to convention security. For the most part, the security was there because the IL GOP had been told by the national committee that under no circumstances were they to allow Ron Paul delegates to take over the convention and embarrass the state party as they had done in other states. "We were told not to let it get away from us,” Heffley said. "You’ll note that the guards didn’t talk to anyone, except for a young Paul supporter at the beginning of the floor meeting. The guards were told not to touch him, and we were absolutely ordered to make sure they were kept under control. The guards were volunteers. Heffley said the Republican Party understands and upholds the rule of law as a basic premise. "We are a party that upholds rules, and you have to have rules or there’s chaos," he said. In Nevada, Ron Paul’s delegates took over the convention by getting over one-third of the convention delegates appointed. A rauch was initiated at the beginning of the convention, when a young man stood, calling "Point of Order," to which McKenna said "You're out of order." "They trained those guys well," Heffley said. Is there room for improvement in the convention system? No doubt, Heffley admitted. "The convention process is very complicated, and we will work on changing things in the state party. People need to understand the process better, how to introduce platform planks, make suggestions to committees, all these things," he said. "There's room for improvement there." "I don’t know the answer to the delegate privacy debate. We did the best we could to keep an open process. Just learning what a standing vote is and knowing they would have access to the platform for over an hour before the convention vote was taken – all those things need to be better communicated," Heffley sighed. "We think we made great strides, and we can do better." What would be three things you’d like to see happen in the IL GOP? One of the biggest things is we need to get over this after-primary “I’m taking my toys and going home.” Senator Lauzen killed Jim Oberweis. The same thing happened with Judy Baar-Topinka in 2006. It just tears our party apart. We need to pull together. The parties are shrinking and there’s more in the middle. The middle won’t come to us. "We need to stand for something as a party," Heffley said. "We had the reform tour, and were successful in boiling the message down to less government, lower taxes, more transparency in government. The last thing we need is to spend thousands of dollars spreading this message around the state and have three senators in DuPage undercut it with one vote for higher taxes." "We need to find new fresh faces. The [State Senator] Matt Murphys of this world are what we need more of, not the same people The State Senate's done some good recruiting this election, candidates that reflect the Republican principles and give us hope in the fall. Candidates like Brendan Appel, Mike Sweeney, Dan Duffy, and Terri Wintermute are all great and fresh new faces. We're optimistic about 11th CD candidate Marty Ozinga, who will bring people to the polls that have never voted before. Aaron Schock's race is looking good, Peter Roskam should be okay and Mark Kirk,too. Jim Oberweis? "That one I'm not so sure about," Heffley said. Despite Illinois' own Barack Obama being at the top of the ticket, Heffley says his numbers are dropping as is his popularity. "McCain may not turn people on, but he doesn’t turn people off," Heffley said. "We may be okay after all." What will Heffley be doing in four years? "Hopefully not this," he said, "but there’s so much that I’d like to make sure I can leave for the next person who has this job. I love politics, I love what I do." Heffley's more interested in getting back to legislative work as he did while in Florida, working with then state lawmaker Tom Feeney, who is now a congressman. "Looking towards November, look for the party to focus more on grassroots, county chairmen, local races and putting a farm team together," he said. "Things are the best as they’ve been since I’ve been here.)
-- Illinois GOP Responds . . . Part 4 - Fran Eaton
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2008/06/il-gop-respon-4.html
(THE RESPONSE: The IL GOP's Executive Director Jason Heffley responded in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and now Part 4 . . . Despite the criticism and rancor concerning how the IL GOP’s convention floor activity itself was handled, Heffley pointed out that the 2008 convention was open in a way it has not been for the last 22 years. “There has not been a convention floor vote since 1986,” Heffley said. “And most people don’t realize that the chairman's standing vote gave each individual delegates' votes more influence than if he had gone by unit rule.” Unit rule, Heffley explained, gives each county or township chairman the right to vote for his delegation, a procedure McKenna avoided and chose rather to ask the delegates themselves to stand and be counted. The party chairman can call for an audible voice vote, and rule as he chooses, he can conduct a standing vote, a roll call vote of the delegates or the unit vote. Three different standing votes were conducted on the convention floor –on the direct election platform plank, the national committeeman race and the national committeewoman contest. “Choosing to do the standing vote was Andy’s way to insure that every single person that was a delegate had the opportunity to stand up and be counted. Under the unit rule, only the county chairman or township committeeman would have had a vote,” he said. Heffley makes the case that under McKenna’s leadership, the IL GOP is doing its best to break through the party’s decades old insider-run image. They are doing their best to encourage the rank-and-file to get involved in a more transparent structure that will take time to fully emerge. "I’ve served with three different states’ party organizations," Heffley said, "and Illinois is unique. When I started working for the IL GOP and talking to party chairmen, some told me they wouldn’t do a damn thing until we got the jobs back they lost when Ryan was voted out as governor. I couldn’t believe it." "In Florida, we had volunteers from all kinds of groups. Illinois is unique in how things were done," Heffley said. "Thankfully, under Randy Pollard’s leadership, county chairmen are doing their jobs for the right reasons again – because they believe in Republican causes, not just patronage. We’re convinced this will make a big difference throughout the state party." Heffley was upbeat about reform in the party, saying there’s new energy, new blood with the new leadership in the IL GOP, "and it's good conservative blood, they're honest people." "We’ve been handed an incredible opportunity with the big mess the Democrats have caused in Illinois, but until they see reform, voters will still be asking, why they should trust Republicans," Heffley said. If that's all true, then why would the IL GOP be threatened by Republicans like Dan Proft, who’s been spelling out a clear reform message that lines up with what you’re saying? “We've never made a phone call to discourage anyone from having Dan speak at their event,” Heffley said. “No one on our staff made those calls to intimidate chairmen from having Dan speak at their Lincoln Day dinners. We have heard of it happening, but it was local leaders discouraging it, not us.” Heffley did confirm to those who called that Proft does not speak for the Republican Party. "We don’t have a problem with what Dan says, but he doesn’t speak for us," Heffley said. "As a matter of fact, we joked that we should have Dan emcee the state convention.")
-- Is this The View or a conservative blog? - Dan Proft
http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2008/06/il-gop-respon-4.html#comment-118757022
(THE POSTING: I speak not of the ILGOP or of Fran and her good work with IR. But rather some of these silly posters as highlighted above. Honestly, the level of petty jealously and rumor-mongering in this party and in this conservative "movement" within this party is downright embarrassing--for those who subsist on it. I "contribute" to Daily Kos? The hysterical lengths to which some will sink to attack...Here's a political tip, allegations only have currency when their is a shred of logic or evidence to support them. Yes, my philosophy is different than some others. I am not interested in solely preaching to the choir. I rather take my ideas into battle (e.g. at the Daily Kos). You'll note 99% of the comments on my commentaries posted there are less than charitable/agreeable. I'm challenging their orthodoxy not agreeing with the left-wing mindset. Those who are unable to understand this difference are part of the burden our party unfortunately has to shoulder in this state. Oh, and btw, I was received quite well at the NW Suburban GOP. I am appreciative of the invitation that was extended to me, my relationships with many of those committeemen (and precinct captains), and, frankly, even the courtesy that was extended to me by some I know who do not like me/do not agree with me on this or that. They put together a nice event and I was happy to be a part. Further, the other county chairmen and GOP organizations who have invited me to speak have been an absolute breath of fresh air by practicing this new concept that is all the rage, it's called "independent, critical thinking". Some others should look into it . . . A final point: the opportunity to speak around the state over the last several months had left me immensely encouraged by the GOP's POTENTIAL for electoral success. We do have new people entering the party, running for office--we've got a great crop of young State Senate candidates in north and NW Cook County and into Lake that I've had the opportunity to meet. We also have party leaders stepping up and fighting the good--if sometimes lonely--fight. One example, Mike Bertelsen, the Mercer County GOP Chairman running for State Senate against Mike Jacobs . . . Another, Bill Zychlewicz, the St. Clair GOP Chairman, running for county board . . . Another, David Holder, a thoughtful CPA, running for county board in Randolph County . . . the list is a long and growing. These guys are not on people's radar screen like our congressional candidates and tier one legislative seats, understandably so. But, they are laying the foundation of what can be built (and re-built) in Illinois if we can get more persons who take the time to follow politics and opine on blogs to focus on them and follow their example. Regards, Dan Proft)

ILLINOIS GOP NETWORK
-- VIDEO CLIP: Joe Birkett addresses the Illinois GOP State Convention
http://www.ilgopnet.com/node/881?s=210cdacfeadd4b8012719651d72d3685

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
-- Illinois Republican Convention's Views on Public Safety - Cal Skinner
http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/ (Scroll down)
-- Part 6 - Notables at the Decatur Republican State Convention
http://www.mchenrycountyblog.com/ (Scroll down)

DAILY HERALD
-- Oberweis, Foster clash on oil exploration - Jim Fuller
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=207336&src=5
(DIERSEN: Oberweis press conference attendees included Mike Fortner and Mike Kwasman.)
-- Governor warns of deep cuts - John Patterson
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=207522&src=109
-- State budget process not entirely flawed - Springfield State Journal Register
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=207247&src=
-- 96th House District: Senger v. McGuire: Naperville Dem got impeachment memo - John Patterson
http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/178

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
-- Scrambling for seats at the seat of power - Carol Marin
http://www.suntimes.com/news/marin/1005832,CST-EDT-carol15.article

ABC7
-- Mike Huckabee joins Fox News team - AP
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=6203561
-- Hard week, soft landing for Obama's wife - AP
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=6204412

NBC5
-- BEYOND OUTRAGEOUS: Chicago Alderman Proposes City Honor Out-Of-State Gay Marriages
http://www.nbc5.com/politics/16597272/detail.html?dl=headlineclick

CBS2
-- BEYOND OUTRAGEOUS: Plan Would Help Gay City Employees Who Marry Proposal Would Let Gay And Lesbian City Workers Who Marry Out Of State Keep Domestic Partner Benefits
http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/gay.couples.chicago.2.747550.html

HERALD NEWS
-- Will County Center for Economic Development official: Ozinga 'flat out wrong' - Patrick Ferrell
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/1005516,4_1_JO14_OZINGA_S1.article

KANKAKEE DAILY JOURNAL
-- Halvorson, Jackson spar over airport - Edward Felker
http://www.daily-journal.com/archives/dj/display.php?id=422282

WEEK TV
-- Rutherford Expects Budget Debate To Bring About Special Session - Eric Shangraw
http://www.week.com/news/local/19919894.html

ILLINOIS CHANNEL
-- GOP Senate Candidate Mike Sweeney Raises Impeachment As Issue
http://illinoischannel.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!B0DB128F5CD96151!3451.entry

ILLINOIS FAMILY INSTITUTE
-- AFTAH Condemns WTTW, PBS for Airing Anti-Christian Programming Celebrating Homosexuality During 'Gay Pride Month' - Peter LaBarbera
http://www.illinoisfamily.org/news/contentview.asp?c=33927

REPUBLICANS FOR FAIR MEDIA
-- Democrats Perfectly Happy When Gas Prices Soar: High Fuel Costs Mean Better Chance For Donkey Party In November - Daniel T. Zanoza
http://rffm.typepad.com/republicans_for_fair_medi/2008/06/dems-perfectly-happy-when-gas-prices-soar.html

ONE NEWS NOW
-- VERY VERY VERY SAD: Homosexuality takes Congress by storm - Jeff Johnson
http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=134506

ACCURACY IN MEDIA
-- Kincaid exposes Obama’s Communist mentor on the Mark Carbonaro show
http://www.aim.org/on-the-air/kincaid-exposes-obamas-communist-mentor-on-the-mark-carbonaro-show/ (Includes video clip)

ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION
-- Reed urges McCain to reach out to Christian base- AP
http://www.ajc.com/services/content/news/stories/2008/06/12/ralph_reed_john_mccain.html

CONGRESSMAN PETER ROSKAM
-- Roskam Delivers House Republican's National Radio Address
http://roskam.house.gov/Multimedia/ (Includes audio clip)
(THE POSTING: Congressman Peter Roskam calls on Congress to immediately move forward with solutions to ease the pain at the pump and address the U.S.'s long-term energy crisis. In just the past few weeks, Representative Roskam has offered two amendments to promote cheaper, cleaner alternative fuel, but these common sense solutions have been shut out from even being debated by the Democratic Majority.)

WASHINGTON TIMES
-- Obama spurns McCain on 10 forums Arizonan rips counteroffer of July 4 talk - Joseph Curl
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jun/14/obama-spurns-mccains-call-for-10-forums/

WALL STREET JOURNAL
-- Barack Obama's Rise Has Americans Debating Whether Affirmative Action Has Run Its Course - Jonathan Kaufman
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121340482731674019.html?mod=home_we_banner_left
(DIERSEN: During the entire 29 years that I worked for the federal government (USPS 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997), because my Democrat superiors were under tremendous pressure to give preferential treatment to minorities, to females, to those younger than me, and to veterans, and because I complained about the resultant reverse discrimination, they wasted my career and ultimately forced me to take early retirement. They constantly downplayed my strengths and trumpeted my weaknesses. They constantly ascribed bad judgment and evil motive to everything I did. It made no difference to them that I was the first of my ancestors to graduate from college (BS in management from NIU in 1970) and that I paid for my undergraduate tuition and room and board with money I saved working full and part-time jobs. It made no difference to them that in 1979 I passed the CPA exam on my first attempt, that in 1981 I passed the Certified Internal Auditor exam on my first attempt, and that in 1982 I became a licensed CPA. It made no difference to them that I earned three job related masters degrees -- MBA from Loyola in 1976, MS in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and MS in finance from IIT in 1997. Outrageously, one of the most important performance expectations that my Democrat superiors had was to get older white male non-veterans to leave to make way for younger minorities and for younger females. Outrageously, since I retired, some of my most vicious critics have argued that the federal government did not waste my career or force me to take early retirement. They parrot arguments that my Democrat government superiors made that I never got beyond GS-13 because I lack ability, because I lack judgment, and because I have evil motives.)

BLOOMINGTON GOLD CORVETTES
-- June 26-29, Pheasant Run Resort, St. Charles
http://www.bloomingtongold.com/