Trusting Faceless Republican Insiders Will Ensure Defeat in 2010

As the saga of Governor Rod Blagojevich seems to be behind us with his removal from office, it seems Republicans are salivating at the prospects of a sure win of the Governor’s mansion in 2010. However, the path to victory is not nearly as certain as many believe it to be and certainly not on the present path the Illinois Republican Party is taking. The path they are trying to take will guarantee yet another cycle of brutal election losses.



As usual, the same people responsible for the Illinois Republican Party’s precipitous decline are once again returning to their “traditional” role in selecting the nominee. It seems incongruous to protest the backroom dealing of the Blagojevich Administration by engaging in that same kind of backroom dealing. The last time the Illinois Republican Party selected the nominee for the rest of us they brought in Alan Keyes. We all know how well that turned out. Maybe they learned their lesson, so let’s take a look at which horse they are backing.

Currently, it appears that this has resulted in coalescing support for Bruce Rauner as the salvation of the Illinois Republican Party. At this moment, perhaps he does have the policies that will bring the Republicans out of the wilderness. We don’t know mostly because he was selected in a star chambers audition in front of the party’s finance committee (basically a Cook County millionaires club).

While he has done impressively with his investment firm, he is a political unknown. What is know is that he has given far more to Democrats than he’s ever given to Republicans. With the exception of the 2008 cycle, most of his donations are to Democrats. If the secret Republican committee can’t do basic vetting of candidates, they are profoundly ill-suited to pick nominees.

For instance, he has given $200,000 to Democrat Mayor Daley, $150,000 to Democrat Forrest Claypool and can even boast of having given money to Democrat Rahm Emanuel (who’s signature accomplishment was the 2006 Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives). Skipping past the absurdity of the aristocracy of the party telling all of us that they know better than the voters, what, if anything, has Rauner gotten for those donations?

While I do agree that the “self-funding” candidate model of the Republican Party has been abysmal at producing solid candidates, it does not follow that having a secret tribunal of insiders who take no input from anyone (much less anyone south of I-80) is somehow the only other option. The only difference is that Bruce Rauner greased all the right palms before he formally announces his run.

There is a better way to finding good candidates and that is finding people with a solid record of political accomplishment and supporting them. Bruce Rauner’s sole accomplishment seems to be his investment company. Good for him but that doesn’t make him a good politician.

Candidates like Senator Bill Brady have years of political leadership under his belt. He’s run for office, he supports the party platform and has 16 years of political experience. He may not be well-liked among the ivory tower limousine Republicans from the North Shore, but he’s at least trying to win support of the voters not demanding their support from regal perches.

If the Republicans are to recover from the drubbing they have received in the last few election cycles, royal proclamations from on high are not the way to go. Self-funders are no either. What is needed are politicians with a record of accomplishment and a set of principles to take their message to the voters and engage them.

After 6 years of Blagojevich and Democratic corruption, the answer is a candidate who can convincingly stand up to corruption and who is willing to be transparent and open. We need candidates who will serve the people, not be beholden to nameless committeeman. Perhaps its time to trust the voters instead of letting unaccountable insiders pick our nominees.