Another endangered Republican…
Capitol Fax is highlighting the plight of Rosemary Mulligan, as well as pointing out that the IL Rep. Party has decided to sit out yet another year in Illinois.
Suburban House Dem challenger receives press boost
This “plight” (if one can call it that) of IL Republicans is more proof that the “wait til next year” strategy of the Republicans is doomed to failure. Why they cower from a Constitutional Convention vote is beyond the grasp of rational thought. No ideas, no platform, no candidates, and zero leadership, and they biff the opportunity to run on a broad set of ideas in a year when the electorate in Illinois is crying out for good people and good ideas.
Too cowardly to run on anything, and too venal to allow for a “farm team” independent of their pension-seeking pork & payroll patronage piggery, these idiots are presiding over the destruction of an entire political party, with the national party not far behind.
With a convention, they have an opportunity for a resurgence of sorts. Absent a convention, they have nothing but continued decline. Mulligan’s plight is proof that I’m right, and Dan Proft, the craven business community, and Republicans of every stripe that oppose a “Yes” vote are wrong.
These folks don’t seem to realize that you CAN fall so low that you can’t come back.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:10 am
It’s a Prisoner’s Dilemma. For each individual GOP who is in office, this approach is more profitable / less risky than the one you advocate, even if the latter is better for the party (and the citizenry) as a whole. The purpose of a party, of course, is to provide the solidarity necessary to cross over this gap but once that’s gone, I agree that it’s difficult to see how to get it back.
July 1st, 2008 at 11:50 am
AOG,
I realize that there are exceptions, but in business, war, & political campaigns, the “Less Risky” strategy is nearly always more risky in terms of goals.
I’ve ceased to care about “party” in Illinois. It is a fools game.
Further, I believe the fatal flaw in the thinking of the “right” is that conservatives/republicans will return to power eventually.
These people (optimists like our friend OJ) don’t seem to see that the right here in the US ! CAN ! devolve into what it is in Europe, which is pretty much nothingness.
Read up on Boyd & “maneuver warfare.”
July 1st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
You’re not getting my point. I completely agree that for the party the “go with the flow, collect graft” is a bad strategy. But for any particular elected official it’s a good strategy for staying in office.
That you mention “the fatal flaw in the thinking of the “right” is that conservatives/republicans will return to power eventually” shows this. My claim is that for ILGOP elected officials, a “return to power” by the ILGOP doesn’t even enter in to their political calculations. The only consideration is whether they, personally, will get re-elected or (more likely) continue to enjoy a perk-filled lifestyle.
Your point is that this strategy is sending the ILGOP down the drain. My response is, “why do you think any elected ILGOP person would care, as long as he keeps getting elected or collecting graft?”. I think they’ve accepted the basic principle of Cthulhu worship.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:09 pm
AOG,
Put that way, we are in complete agreement.
So why are Illinois voters even giving these idiots the time of day.
If you are indeed correct, the only way Illinois improves is for the Republican Party to die a quick (and hopefully painful) death.
The sooner they die, the sooner something better replaces them. As things stand, they are occupying the worst of all positions, retaining just enough power to stay “alive”.
So how do we kill them off?(figuratively, of course)
July 1st, 2008 at 6:04 pm
I don’t know. It’s something I think about, but that ends up making me sympathetic for those Romans who watched the decline of their civilization.
While we can blame the spineless ILGOP politicians, ultimately it’s the voters who continue to elect these people. I don’t see the demise of the ILGOP making much of a difference, as one can see from other de facto one party states. The only lesson I see is that collapse has to happen first (c.f. Louisiana). The only silver lining is that collapse is relative, and our standards for that have risen along with everything else.
The only thing I can see is to continue to speak out and act, even if it seems you’re Canute II.