GOP Head Steele Withdrawing Kirk Support?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Tom Roeser recently wrote that National GOP Party Chairman Michael Steele is stepping back from his Kirk-only support now that Patrick Hughes’ campaign for U.S. Senate has started to make inroads into Kirk’s Illinois support base.

This is interesting news, if it turns out to be true. One of the things that has riled me, for one, is that the national party has swooped in to pick our candidate for us here in Illinois. I am all for the national party supporting our Illinois candidate for Senate but it would be a tad better if the party waited until we the actual voters of Illinois had the opportunity to chose our own candidate first.
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GOP Head Steele Withdrawing Kirk Support?”


Ill. Blogger Running for State Legislature, 41st District

-By Warner Todd Huston

Matt Burden of the blog BlackFive.net has announced that he is running as a Republican for the the State Legislature. Burden has announced his plans to run for the 41st District. The 41st covers parts of Oak Brook, Westchester, Villa Park, La Grange Park and Oak Brook Terrace.

The seat is currently held by Bob Biggins (R, Elmhurst) but Biggins recently announced he is not running for reelection. This seems to have opened up the floodgates for candidates. Burden joins a very crowded field including attorney Peter Breen, Rafael Rivadeneira, DuPage Co Board member Brien Sheahan and Chris Nybo from Elmhurst.

On his campaign website, Burden does have one disturbing thing as far as I am concerned:

While there is no campaign contribution limit in Illinois (something I will change)…

Something he “will change”? Is Matt Burden suggesting tromping on the Constitutional right of free political speech by using the force of law to stop people from donating to political candidates in amounts he deems gauche? That is not a good sign for Burden’s understanding of the Constitution, I have to say.
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Ill. Blogger Running for State Legislature, 41st District”


Dave Winters Drops Out of Lt. Governor Race

-By Warner Todd Huston

Rockford TV reports the abrupt drop out of Republican Dave Winters in the race for Lt. Gov. This is the second drop out of the state wide race as Matt Murphy dropped his bid for Gov and will likely take up the race for Lt. Gov. instead as Andy McKenna’s running mate.

Dave Winters Drops Out of Lt. Governor Race

-By Whitney Martin

It’s a career move that has some local opponents not so happy tonight. Representative Dave winters withdrew his name from the race for lieutenant governor.

After spending three months campaigning for Lt.Governor of Illinois.. State Representative, Dave winters is dropping out of the race and instead will run for re –election

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Dave Winters Drops Out of Lt. Governor Race”


New Ill. GOP Head Speaks at Local Meeting

-By Warner Todd Huston

TAPROOT, a local Downer’s Grove/Lombard area Republican association, received a visit by the new Illinois GOP Chairman, Pat Brady, at its Saturday, Sept. 18th breakfast meeting. TAPROOT Board Chairman Dave Dierson published this report on his GOPIllinois.com site:

Pat Brady and Pat Hughes speak at TAPROOT breakfast meeting

Spirited questions for Brady focus on SB600 and Rule 11

Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Chairman and National Committeeman Pat Brady and U.S. Senate candidate Pat Hughes spoke at an outstanding TAPOOT breakfast meeting Saturday, September 19, at the Old Country Buffet in Lombard.

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New Ill. GOP Head Speaks at Local Meeting”


8th District Debate Dawson vs. Rodrigues

-By Warner Todd Huston

**UPDATE**– Event to be rescheduled!! No New Date Announced**

Two of the three announced candidates running for the GOP nomination for the 8th District Congressional seat now held by Democrat Melissa Bean will face off in a debate on Friday, October 2.

Starting at 6PM John Dawson and Maria Rodrigues will debate the issues at the Elk Grove Village VFW Hall at 400 E. Devon Ave.

Prior to the debate, GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Andrezjewski is scheduled to address the crowd.

Three GOP candidates have announced for this seat.

School Board member John Dawson’s campaign website

Greg Jacobs’ FaceBook Page

Long Grove Mayor Maria Rodriguez’ Website.

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8th District Debate Dawson vs. Rodrigues”


Proft on McKenna: He Represents Those That ‘Ran Illinois Into the Ground’

-By Warner Todd Huston

GOP hopeful Dan Proft, for one, isn’t taking the entry of Andy McKenna into the race for governor lying down, anyway.

He says that McKenna represents the monied interests that helped drive this state into the ground. Proft isn’t the only one in assuming that “the money” is the one pushing McKenna on the Illinois GOP, either.

One thing is sure, McKenna’s entry into the race is a slap in the face to Party man Bill Brady who most certainly probably expected the party establishment to give him the nod. After all he’s done for the party, one would think that party insiders would have bent over backwards to convince McKenna to sit this one out.
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Proft on McKenna: He Represents Those That ‘Ran Illinois Into the Ground’”


Ill. GOP Minority Leader in Bed With Criminal ACORN?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Shockingly, it looks like Tom Cross (R- Oswego), the Republican Minority leader at the State Capitol in Springfield, has taken several large campaign donations from the criminal organization ACORN. Even worse, it looks like Cross indulged a quid pro quo to help the troubled community organization out on some of their favored legislative efforts.

Over at ChampionNews.net, Doug Ibendahl has uncovered some uncomfortable information about our Republican minority leader’s campaign coffers. Ibendahl has found that Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 880 donated $17,750 to Cross in 2003 and another $10,000 from SEIU Healthcare Illinois/Indiana PAC.

The SEIU is a public employees union that is closely linked with the troubled ACORN organization and SEIU Local 880 is close to ACORN, indeed. In fact, on the Local’s webpage you can see an email address it lists for contact info that settles the question. That email happens to be seiu880@acorn.org.
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Ill. GOP Minority Leader in Bed With Criminal ACORN?”


Ill. GOP Central Committee Meeting Report

-By Warner Todd Huston

Featuring: Laughs, Congrats and Some Disapproving Stares (See end of report for the controversy)

This morning I attended the first Illinois Republican Central Committee meeting chaired by new party chief Pat Brady held at the Double Tree Hotel, Oakbrook, Illinois (Cook County, West of Chicago). Over all, the public portion of the meeting was brisk and convivial as chaired by Brady. The new GOP head seemed comfortable in the role and appeared to be well liked and respected by the committee members in attendance. Whatever behind the scenes deals that may or may not have been struck at the State Fair such a short time ago when Andy McKenna abruptly stepped down with Brady hurriedly appointed to replace him, Brady seems to have settled into the position of GOP Chairman well.

Surveying the room it appeared that about 10 members of the committee was not in attendance — so near a third of the members did not answer the roll call — and I was one of the few folks that came out to witness the public portion of the meeting. As Dave Dierson so amusingly put it, we sat in the “peanut gallery.” Dierson is best known for his daily Illinois news update email so many of us get each day in our email in-box.

The meeting began a tad later than the 11AM start date advertised and after Pat Brady called the meeting to order and introduced himself, and a few standard business items were taken care of (like approval of the minutes from the last meeting), Brady introduced the National GOP Committeewoman Demtra DeMonte to the room.
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Ill. GOP Central Committee Meeting Report”


Kirk Lambastes Obama Over Missile Shield Policy Change

-By Warner Todd Huston

Mark Kirk may not be on the right side of economics, abortion, the homosexual lobby, and a host of other issues, but he is 100% right on his position that President Obama is wrong with his decision to reverse course on the European missile shield.

On Thursday morning, after Obama’s announcement of the missile shield policy change Kirk came out swinging against the president saying that “History is not kind to leaders who sacrifice our Polish allies.” Kirk went on:

Illinois Republican Representative Mark Kirk called the president’s decision a blow to Poland and an encouragement to Iran.

“Iran, a state sponsor of terrorists, now makes the longest-range missile of the terrorist world,” said Mark Kirk. “The administration’s decision is particularly ironic because Poland just announced it would be sending more troops to serve alongside Americans in Afghanistan. America is going to let Poland down, sending a message of weakness to our Polish allies and the people building Iran’s new missile arsenal.”

Kirk is right on with this. Obama has bent over backwards to appease our enemies in Russia and has opened the door for the proto-Soviet Putin to begin to bully surrounding democratic states without fear of a weak Obama crossing him. Obama has abandoned our Eastern European allies with this horrible decision.

Sadly, it appears that every time a Democrat becomes president, no ally can be sure of American support afterward. Democrats simply can be trusted with neither our foreign policy nor our security.
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Kirk Lambastes Obama Over Missile Shield Policy Change”


Kirk Suddenly a “No” on Cap and Tax?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Rep. Mark Kirk (R, IL) has been getting hammered by conservatives and moderate Republicans alike for his “yes” vote on the Cap and Trade bill. But at a recent appearance Kirk suddenly said he now intends to vote against the disastrous bill.

The Obama administration admits that the Cap and Trade legislation will cost every American family and additional $1,761 a year and likely that is on the low side. Conservatives have slammed Kirk for supporting this economy killing carbon emissions capping legislation.

On the 5th at a suburban rally, Kirk announced his switcheroo amidst many loud boos and catcalls. “About cap and trade: I voted for it because it was in the narrow interests of my congressional district. But as your representative, representing the entire state of Illinois, I will vote ‘No’ on that bill coming up.”

Well, this sure seems like an opportunistic flip flop, doesn’t it? Now that he’s running for Senate he’s found that his cap and tax “yes” vote is proving to be an impediment to his campaign and suddenly he finds his principles again?

I guess Kirk should be congratulated for finally coming to his senses and actually representing his constituents’ desires, but the fact that he thought he could make a dash for the cash (he voted cap and tax because of donations by enviro-nazi groups) without bothering with principle or representing his constituents in the first place marks him as an opportunist of the worst sort.

Kirk’s reversal is at the three minute, ten second mark in the video:


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Kirk Suddenly a “No” on Cap and Tax?”


Illinois GOP Central Committee Meeting Scheduled

-By Warner Todd Huston

Looks like the Illinois Republican Central Committee Meeting is scheduled for September 19th.

It will beheld at the Double Tree Hotel, 1909 Spring Rd., Oak Brook, IL 60523 and will start at 11AM.

For further info email: info@ilgop.org.
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Illinois GOP Central Committee Meeting Scheduled”


Biggert, Shimkus Endorse State Legislator in Race to Succeed Kirk

-By Warner Todd Huston

RollCall is reporting that there has been some endorsements in the race to replace Mark Kirk in the House…

Illinois GOP Reps. Judy Biggert and John Shimkus announced this week that they are supporting state Rep. Beth Coulson in the competitive GOP primary and race to succeed Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). Kirk is vacating his Democratic-leaning suburban Chicago seat to run for Senate in 2010.

Here is the list of those running for Kirk’s Seat:

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Biggert, Shimkus Endorse State Legislator in Race to Succeed Kirk”


Mark Kirk Aiding Pro-Homosexual Lobby?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Laurie Higgins recently found another disturbing vote cast by Representative and Senate Candidate Mark Kirk (R, IL) revealing again his penchant of voting left of center all too often. This time he’s co-sponsoring a bill that will aid the homosexual lobby gain more influence in our schools.

Higgins reveals that Kirk is looking to vote “yes” on H.R. 2262, The Safe Schools Improvement Act — a so-called anti-bullying act. What could be wrong with being anti-bullying?
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Mark Kirk Aiding Pro-Homosexual Lobby?”


Another One For 14th District? Come on, guys, This is Getting Ridiculous

-By Warner Todd Huston

The GenevaSun is reporting that longtime state pol Randy Hultgren is going to run for Denny Hastert’s old 14th District Congressional seat.

Hultgren is currently the State Rep for the 48th District and also served as the state rep for the 95th District.

If Hultgren makes it official he will join four other Republican candidates for the office. I sure hope that the party can get this field winnowed down because we risk spreading ourselves too thin leaving the Democrats able to overpower the GOP if we have more than one candidate all the way to the election.

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Another One For 14th District? Come on, guys, This is Getting Ridiculous”


Illinois 5th District Candidate David Ratowitz Announces

-By Warner Todd Huston

A first time Republican candidate has announced for the Illinois 5th District seat. David Ratowitz is a lawyer and businessman originally from Hazel Crest. Ratowitz was a ROTC member and was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army as a Captain of Field Artillery in 1997.

Ratowitz was a resident of New Orleans during the trials of Hurricane Katrina and after his business and home were wiped out by that event built a successful construction company.

In 2007 he relocated back to the Chicago land area and started a law firm in Chicago.

David’s Campaign Website
David’s FaceBook page

David has been politically active in the Chicago area for a number of years, advancing the principles of limited government and individual liberty at every opportunity. He is a member and serves on committees of the Chicago GOP, Chicago Young Republicans and the Republican Jewish Coalition. David is also a leader in the Campaign for Liberty, formerly serving as the organization’s Region 5 Coordinator.

It looks like the FaceBook and Twitter buttons on the website are not yet set up, so check back if you’d like to follow this candidate on those social media services.

Currently the recently elected Mike Quigley (D- Chicago) is the incumbent in this seat. This was Rahm Emanuel’s old seat covering parts of the North Side and west into Schiller Park, Franklin Park, Melrose Park and Northlake.
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Illinois 5th District Candidate David Ratowitz Announces”


Responsible Taxation: Jeff Danklefsen Seeks Haster’s Old 14th Dist. Seat

-By Warner Todd Huston

Political newcomer Jeff Danklefsen has announced his intention to seek the GOP nomination for the 14th District Congressional seat, the one once held by Speaker of the House Denny Hastert.

Mr. Danklefsen is a twelve-year resident of Geneva and seems to have been driven to run for Congress by his involvement in the Kane County Tea Party movement. He has no “political resume,” but says he’s ready to lead.

I do not have a political resume, but I understand the challenges families face with increasing tax burdens and the uncertainty of the job market. I am asking for the opportunity to represent the 14th District taxpayers in Washington D.C. I will stand up for responsible taxation, a balanced budget, and job growth.

The central message on Danklefsen’s website is that of the fiscal irresponsibility of Speaker Pelosi and her Democrat comrades including current 14th District Congressman Bill Foster.

Danklefsen joins several other GOP hopefuls seeking the nomination.

  • Ethan Hastert, son of former Speaker Dennis Hastert (FaceBook page)
  • Iraq Reconstruction Worker Mark Vargas of Elgin (FaceBook page)
  • Former Aurora councilman and businessman Bill Cross — not yet announced

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Responsible Taxation: Jeff Danklefsen Seeks Haster’s Old 14th Dist. Seat”


One More For Kirk’s House Seat

-By Warner Todd Huston

Robert Dold (Dold’s campaign website) has announced his entrant into the race for the 10th District House seat that Mark Kirk is abandoning for his run for the U.S. Senate.

Dold told CQPolicts.com that he’s running for Congress because…

“we’re seeing a tremendous amount of spending that I believe is going in the wrong direction. I think that the government is kind of overreaching at this stage of the game.”

“Unless we make some changes in Washington very quickly, we are going to bankrupt future generations,” Dold said. Dold said that Congress should be run more like small businesses, which he said are the nation’s “economic backbone” and create two-thirds of all jobs. He supports a “moratorium or cutting back on the payroll tax” as the “quickest way to infuse dollars into the system.”

Dold calls himself a fiscal conservative but says he’s a social moderate. Looking over his website and other information, it seems that fiscal issues are to be the focal point of his campaign.

Dold joins three others seeking the GOP nomination for Kirk’s old House seat:

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One More For Kirk’s House Seat”


Anti-Mark Kirk Efforts Begin

-By Warner Todd Huston

Republicans United Against Mark Kirk for US Senate, a blog to chronicle Representative Mark Kirk’s record by folks not very happy with his record has been set up to argue against his candidacy.

According to the opening main statement, the blog is set up to reveal Kirk’s “departure from the GOP’s state and national platforms.”

This blog is a response to US Rep. Mark Kirk’s bid for the US Senate seat from Illinois. It will reveal Mark Kirk’s voting record as a member of the US House of Reps. and address Kirk’s departure from the GOP’s state and national platforms. This site will provide a venue for Illinois voters to express their opinions on not only Kirk, but others who will be on the GOP’s primary ballot in 2010. Read letters to the editor, articles and commentaries regarding Kirk’s position on the issues.

Kirk’s Cap and Trade vote really set off a firestorm of anti-Kirk sentiment out there, it seems.
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Anti-Mark Kirk Efforts Begin”


Illinois Conservative Summit, Full Report

-By Warner Todd Huston

As mentioned in the earlier post, I was invited to cover the Illinois Conservative Summit sponsored by the United Republican Fund of Illinois.

The URF is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and is Illinois’ oldest, independent, conservative GOP organization. The URF’s charge is to advance conservative policies and principles by supporting candidates that will advance limited government, individual rights, free enterprise, and traditional values.

Today’s forum is a Q and A session with six Republican candidates for governor where a set of four fixed questions and one candidate specific question was asked each candidate. Each candidate got 20 minutes for the whole session and were warned that they’d be cut off if they tried to filibuster. At the end a 9-question “lightening round” where the candidates were to offer short answers was given each candidate. I have to say that only one candidate came close to going over and even he had basically answered all the questions etc. so all the candidates were kind enough to stay within the 20 minutes time span (Only Kirk Dillard went on long enough during his opening statements that he wasn’t able to answer all the “lightening round” questions). The candidates were presented in alphabetical order.

**Straw Poll Results at the end of this report**

Among those in the Audience were several GOP notables some of whom were:
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Illinois Conservative Summit, Full Report”


Protest Representative Melissa Bean

-By Warner Todd Huston

(Illinois Representative Melissa Bean scheduled an appearance at the Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce breakfast on Sept. 2. Unfortunately for her constituents this townhall meeting is not open to the public unless a $25 fee is paid for a ticket. The Tea Party Patriots in her district have scheduled a protest to impress upon this elected official that she should meet with her constituents without charging admission!)

Come out and join the protest of Melissa Bean this Wednesday. Rep. Bean is again selectively ducking her constituents. This healthcare event is by paid fee only in front of the Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce.

She did finally schedule a tele-townhall but that also was a failure. It appeared she again selectively chose who she called and who got to ask a question. Why is Melissa Bean continuing to not talk to all the citizens of the 8th district.

Wednesday, September 2nd  
Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce Breakfast  
Outside Concorde Banquets  
20922 Rand Road  
Kildeer, IL  
7:00 AM – 9:30 AM
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Protest Representative Melissa Bean”


John McCain in Town to Stump for Kirk — Are We Grateful?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Former GOP candidate for president and highest profile Republican Senator, John McCain (R, AZ), appeared in town this weekend to stump for Mark Kirk’s Senatorial campaign.

McCain appeared side-by-side with Representative Kirk in Glenview on Sunday.

Now, I suppose that if you want to make a wild guess, you can feel sanguine that the national party has decided who it is going to endorse in this upcoming GOP primary here in the Land of Lincoln. This, of course, is a boon for Mark Kirk, but not very good for the Illinois GOP that should have been given more space to feel out its own candidates for its own representation in the fight to fill Senator Roland Burris’ ill-gotten seat.

There is a plethora of candidates coming forward to face the Democrats in 2010. Kirk is not the only one. But, if the bigwigs in Washington have their way, it seems that the others aren’t even going to be given a chance to make a dent before the national folks stampede for Kirk.
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John McCain in Town to Stump for Kirk — Are We Grateful?”


King Daley Apologizes for his Meter Mess

-By Warner Todd Huston

Tuesday, Mayor “King” Daley apologized for the mess he and his buddies made of the sale of Chicago’s parking meters to a private company.

As the Chicago Sun-Times reports:

“I’ll be the first to admit that we totally screwed up the way it was implemented. I want us to do better — and we will,” Daley plans to tell the crowd at the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. Shore Dr., according to a copy of his speech obtained by the Sun-Times.

No issue in recent memory — not even the Hired Truck scandal or Daley’s notorious midnight destruction of Meigs Field — has resonated more with voters than the 75-year, $1.15 billion parking meter lease tied to a steep schedule of rate hikes.

An apology is pretty meaningless when Daley is already walking around with the cash merrily jingling in his pocket and no real changes are being offered. After all, even as he was to “apologize” Daley planned to go on to say that the whole episode was still the best of ideas.

So, it’s really just more empty words from Mayor Daley.
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King Daley Apologizes for his Meter Mess”


Warner Todd Huston Named Editor of Red County’s Cook County, Illinois News Blog

-By Warner Todd Huston

After attending the first Cook County meeting of the American Liberty Alliance a nice bit of kismet occurred that offered me an opportunity to do just what we all discussed at the meeting, namely get the word out.

I have been contacted by Red County, a website that has recently gone national, to become the editor of its Cook County, Illinois pages. With this opportunity, I will be able to get the word out about all of our efforts on a nation wide basis.

So, if any of you have a press release you want spread far and wide, be sure and get it to me right away and I will post it on the Cook County pages of RedCounty.com.

Further, if you want to register and have the ability to post your own notices, please feel free to do so. But, I will be happy to post anything you send along.

Yours,

Warner Todd Huston
PubliusForum.com
Editor, Cook County Pages of Red County.com
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Warner Todd Huston Named Editor of Red County’s Cook County, Illinois News Blog”