“Everywhere I go in this country, all I see is untapped potential waiting to be set free. But we will never realize that potential if we continue putting our faith in a broken political system that has let us down time and again.”
– Donald J. Trump (2016)
Nowhere in this great country of ours is there greater untapped potential than in Illinois. And the fault doesn’t lie with just the Democrats either.
A few weeks ago, Tim Schneider, the purported chair of the Illinois Republican Party had a letter to the editor published by the Chicago Tribune which kinda sorta stood up for President Trump.
That’s newsworthy because, to my knowledge, that’s the first time Mr. Schneider has ever stood up for our President in Chicago media, where needless to say Trump is unfairly attacked every single day.
In Schneider’s defense, I should point out one caveat. A year-and-half ago I wrote that a local newspaper recorded Schneider voicing a few kind words for the President at a sparsely attended meeting of the state party in Springfield.
If I’ve missed some other public support for our President and his winning agenda, I’ll stand corrected. But I don’t think I’m wrong. I’m also not counting email blasts to a self-selected choir of hard Rs or preaching to the same choir at some GOP function.
That’s really not advancing the ball. Anyone can preach to the choir.
Donald Trump lost Illinois to Hillary Clinton by 17 points in 2016. If we expect to improve on that performance next year, top state party officials need to be doing more than just talking up the President only on occasions when 200 miles away from Chicago, or penning one letter to the editor every 3 years.
That’s simply not serious. That’s just going through the motions, if that.
It truly boggles the mind. In President Trump we finally have an elected official who is getting positive things done for our country, big things. Trump has completely destroyed that old saw about “moderates vs. conservatives” that Republicans used to constantly sit around fretting over.
In the age of Trump, it’s now all about doers vs. do-nothings.
Citizens of Illinois certainly know what do-nothings look like. Both parties in Illinois are bursting at the seams with their useless carcasses.
Meanwhile, America under this President, in the words of Trump himself, just keeps “winning, winning, winning.”
The rising tide of the Trump economy is lifting all boats, even Illinois. For example, earlier this year it was widely reported that the state collected $1.5 billion more than expected in tax revenue, largely thanks to a stronger economy.
Has a single Illinois politician, Democrat or Republican, thanked the President for giving them more Illinois taxpayer dollars to squander? No, of course not.
But it’s not just the economy and jobs. The Trump agenda includes many action items that would not only be life-changing in their positive impact for Illinois families—they are action items that would be good politics for a failing Illinois Republican Party as well.
School choice is just one example. We as a party could actually do more than just talk about someday maybe reaching-out to the black community in places like Chicago and Cairo. We could actually accomplish it for once.
Standing up for our President and his Administration’s winning agenda of course guarantees getting blow-back from a mostly Trump-hating Illinois media. And that’s something guys like Tim Schneider obviously lack the courage and skill to take on more than once a year or so.
Few GOP officials in Illinois were ever Trump supporters to begin with. The whole “doer” thing is alien to them.
It’s a real shame because an actual functioning party in Illinois could be built around this President and his pro-America agenda. In Donald Trump we finally have a fighter who constantly goes to bat for us. Too few in the party here are willing to do the same for him.
This all brings me back to you, the Trump supporters who do get it. The doers.
The close-of-business this Monday, December 2, is the deadline for filing candidate petitions. That’s obviously not a lot of time, but it is plenty of time to file and get on the ballot for Republican Precinct Committeeperson.
You only need 10 valid signatures for that volunteer party office, and one of them can be the candidate’s own signature.
Outside of Cook County, there are around 7,000 total precincts in Illinois. Every single one of those should have a real supporter of our President running for Republican Precinct Committeeperson.
Unfortunately, in the typical cycle, NO Republican even bothers to run in over half of those precincts.
It’s a real disgrace. But not surprising. The Illinois Republican Party’s website doesn’t have a peep about how to run for this important volunteer office (there’s also not a peep about our President). Not enough county GOP organizations lift a finger to recruit either.
For all the talk you hear about “a big tent” – in truth that’s the last thing the old bosses actually want.
I’ve said it before, the Illinois Republican Party really isn’t organized to win elections. That’s why it repeatedly fails to beat the elderly Mike Madigan and his corrupt machine–and that’s not going to change no matter how many “Fire Madigan” t-shirts they try to sell you.
To paraphrase our President when he famously spoke about illegal immigration, the status-quo in Illinois “isn’t sending its best.”
Nothing in Illinois is going to change for the better until better people take the field – Trump-like doers to be exact.
Becoming a Republican Precinct Committeeperson is the perfect place to start.
We founded the Republican Precinct Project 8 years ago because no one else was really educating Republicans about this opportunity on a statewide basis.
The instructions and the forms you need can all be found here: http://republicannewswatch.com/wp/?p=14851
In every Illinois county outside of Cook, you can likely get the required petition signatures and complete all the paperwork in 2 or 3 hours. Again, the filing deadline is the end of the day, this Monday, December 2.
You have to get your own petition signatures, but I will help answer any questions you might have. All I ask is that you first read the simple instructions. I practice a fair amount of election law and I’m happy of course to answer your questions for free. My contact information can be found in the resource linked above.
Ibendahl On Politics 