February 11, 2010

It is a very exciting time to be a Republican! There have been a lot of good things going on this year for Republicans all over the nation. Scott Brown’s victory in Massachusetts, an overwhelmingly Democrat state whose people were fed up with the way the Democrats were running things, is a bell-weather for what can happen here in Illinois.

As you are probably aware, the RNC held its winter meeting last week and it was a great meeting with lots of enthusiasm. Many good things were accomplished. Several important resolutions were passed. As you may be aware, these resolutions articulate our Republican Platform.

Our first resolution speaks to the accountability of our candidates and elected officials. It states that “the Republican National Committee urges its leadership and the leadership of all Republican organizations to carefully screen the record and statements of all candidates who profess to be Republicans and who desire the support of Republican leaders and Republican organizations and determine that they wholeheartedly support the core principles and positions of the Republican party as expressed in the Platform.” We believe it is important for our party leaders to ensure candidates and elected officials follow the Republican Platform. The tea party movement has brought to the surface the anger and frustration of the people - people who are tired of elected officials who say “they believe in this – but then vote for that.”

The second resolution is about Israel – our most important ally in the Middle East. Israel is a country surrounded by enemies who want to destroy her. This resolution states that we support the people and State of Israel and believe she has the absolute right to defend herself and to live as a sovereign and secure country with her neighbors and in the world.

The third resolution addresses the threat from China. It calls on President Obama to restore strict limits on the transfer of missile and space technology to China and calls on Congress to exercise its oversight authority to ensure that the Obama administration does not undermine the United States security and sovereignty by selling valuable missile and space technology to China. The rational for this resolution is that the US is now financially indebted to the Chinese to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars. Obama may feel obligated to sell and/or transfer technology so China continues to buy our treasuries and not call in our debt.  

The fourth resolution addresses healthcare. Most Americans are in agreement that they are generally satisfied with their healthcare. They would like some small improvements – but not the wholesale earthquake of change Obama and the Democrats are proposing. This resolution states we need a free market healthcare reform bill that allows the quality of care to remain high and for government spending on it to stay low. The resolution also calls for every single Republican in Congress to follow this resolution and to come up with a solution.

The fifth resolution focuses on our belief in the absolute right to keep and bear arms as defined in the Bill of Rights and Congress’ duty to protect all those rights. It is crucial that we Americans are aware there are real threats from the United Nations. “The RNC urges all Members of Congress to oppose any and all efforts to restrict every American’s Second Amendment rights by means of international treaties or compacts.” Since some U.S. Supreme Court Justices have cited international law in their decision-making, it is imperative that we not let that “backdoor” – the United Nations and international law – undermine and strip us of our Second Amendment Rights.

The last resolution that was passed at the RNC winter meeting was one that focuses on the Obama healthcare which forces taxpayers to pay for abortions and adds a monthly abortion premium to every person who enrolls in the government-run plan. No person should be forced to fund the destruction of life. For this reason the resolution commends all representatives for their “unified principled defense of life” and we adamantly oppose actions of the Senate that will force us to fund abortions. In addition this resolution calls for every single Republican in the House and in the Senate to follow this resolution.

Yes, I believe we can begin winning again.

We here in Illinois believe that Mark Kirk has an outstanding shot at winning Obama’s old Senate seat. We also believe we can pick up at least two to three congressional seats as well as the governor’s mansion and numerous other state offices.

I was asked by Chairman Michael Steele to suggest a location where the RNC summer meeting should be held. I had no hesitation in recommending Illinois - specifically Chicago – the hometown of you know who. This would send a powerful message to Obama and his Chicago Democratic cohorts only weeks before the election that we Republicans are unafraid and are ready to challenge them on their own turf! The final decision on this is expected in late spring.

We need to go back to our roots – grassroots.

Elections are won on the ground!

There have been a multitude ofcoalitions that have and will contribute to the success and future success of the Republican Party. Many of these coalitions share common beliefs and interests that the Republican Party also holds dear – “bread and butter” issues – such as healthcare, the economy, education, energy, and government reform.

These “ISSUES THAT UNITE US” will be the driving force behind these coalitions and campaigns across Illinois. Chairman Pat Brady asked me to lead the coalition effort here in Illinois. As such I have put together the Illinois Coalition Leadership Team. This has been created to build a robust volunteer base by creating a structure around established coalitions to maximize their effectiveness, equip them with skills, provide networking opportunities, and to establish an effective conduit to the Republican Party.

I am getting considerable support from the RNC, including resources, for this Illinois effort and because of this I am making this my major priority for the near term. I have contacted over twenty existing coalitions and these groups are VERY EXCITED about linking up with the Republican Party. My plan is to focus on helping candidates get elected working alongside these coalitions. The RNC hopes to use this initiative as a Pilot for the rest of the Country. I will be sending out a newsletter, in the future, detailing this initiative. Meanwhile, don’t hesitate to call me if you have any questions.

This is a great time to be a Republican. Scott Brown is proof that we have the talent – the qualified candidates - who are ready, willing, and able to take on and defeat the Democrats. However, having good candidates is not enough. To win they will need an effective strategy and part of that strategy must include reaching out via grassroots initiatives and focusing on the ISSUES THAT UNITE US.

Make no mistake about it – what we are doing in Illinois is preparing for battle – and our goal is to amass armies of effective, volunteers to help us secure our victories. With the help of our Illinois Coalition Leadership Team that is exactly what we intend to do. And, maybe, just maybe, we will turn the once proud land of Lincoln and the birthplace of Ronald Reagan, Republican Red once again!

It is a privilege and pleasure serving you as your National Committeewoman.

Demetra

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Anatomy of a Failing Presidency

From An article in The AmericanThinker by Geoffrey P. Hunt

Barack Obama is on track to have the most spectacularly failed presidency since Woodrow Wilson.  In the modern era, we've seen several failed presidencies--led by Jimmy Carter and LBJ.  Failed presidents have one strong common trait-- they are repudiated, in the vernacular, spat out. Of course, LBJ wisely took the exit ramp early, avoiding a shove into oncoming traffic by his own party.  Richard Nixon indeed resigned in disgrace, yet his reputation as a statesman has been partially restored by his triumphant overture to China 20.

But, Barack Obama is failing.  Failing big.  Failing fast. And failing everywhere: foreign policy, domestic initiatives, and most importantly, in forging connections with the American people. The incomparable Dorothy Rabinowitz in the Wall Street Journal put her finger on it: He is failing because he has no understanding of the American people, and may indeed loathe them. Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard says he is failing because he has lost control of his message, and is overexposed.  Clarice Feldman of American Thinker produced a dispositive commentary showing that Obama is failing because fundamentally he is neither smart nor articulate; his intellectual dishonesty is conspicuous by its audacity and lack of shame.

But, there is something more seriously wrong: How could a new president riding in on a wave of unprecedented promise and goodwill have forfeited his tenure and become a lame duck in six months?  His poll ratings are in free fall.  In generic balloting, the Republicans have now seized a five point advantage.  This truly is unbelievable.  What's going on?

No narrative. Obama doesn't have a narrative.  No, not a narrative about himself.  He has a self-narrative, much of it fabricated, cleverly disguised or written by someone else.  But this self-narrative is isolated and doesn't connect with us.  He doesn't have an American narrative that draws upon the rest of us.  All successful presidents have a narrative about the American character that intersects with their own where they display a command of history and reveal an authenticity at the core of their personality that resonates in a positive endearing way with the majority of Americans.

We admire those presidents whose narratives not only touch our own, but who seem stronger, wiser, and smarter than we are.. Presidents we admire are aspirational peers, even those whose politics don't align exactly with our own: Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Ike, and Reagan. But not this president. It's not so much that he's a phony, knows nothing about economics, and is historically illiterate and woefully small minded for the size of the task--all contributory of course.

It's that he's not one of us.  And whatever he is, his profile is fuzzy and devoid of content, like a cardboard cutout made from delaminated corrugated paper.  Moreover, he doesn't command our respect and is unable to appeal to our own common sense. His notions of right and wrong are repugnant and how things work just don't add up. They are not existential. His descriptions of the world we live in don't make sense and don't correspond with our experience.

In the meantime, while we've been struggling to take a measurement of this man, he's dissed just about every one of us--financiers, energy producers, banks, insurance executives, police officers, doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, post office workers, and anybody else who has a non-green job.  Expect Obama to lament at his last press conference in 2012: "For those of you I offended, I apologize.  For those of you who were not offended, you just didn't give me enough time; if only I'd had a second term, I could have offended you too."

Mercifully, the Founders at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 devised a useful remedy for such a desperate state--staggered terms for both houses of the legislature and the executive.  An equally abominable Congress can get voted out next year.  With a new Congress, there's always hope of legislative gridlock until we vote for president again two short years after that.  Yes, small presidents do fail, Barack Obama among them.  The coyotes howl but the wagon train keeps rolling along.

Margaret Thatcher: "The trouble with Socialism is, sooner or later you run out of other people's money."

"When you subsidize poverty and failure, you get more of both." - James Dale Davidson, National Taxpayers Union

"The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates." – Tacitus

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything he doesn't own.." -

Unknown

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From Cook County Republican Party

Dear Fellow Republicans:

I am very excited about the strength of our County ticket from top to bottom, and especially the resounding primary victory by Roger Keats for County Board President. Senator Keats has demonstrated that he is a proven vote-getter and will be a formidable opponent to the tax-and-spend liberal Toni Preckwinkle. The other contested race was also won by our endorsed candidate for Cook County Board of Review, Dan Patlak.

At the statewide level, Congressman Mark Kirk is the early favorite against in the race to fill Barack Obama's old Senate seat. Kirk's experience in Congress and his strong record of opposing the Obama Administration on spending and socialized medicine have in positioned him well for victory.

The Governor's race remains at a razor-thin margin with Senator Bill Brady holding a 406 vote lead. We'd be proud to have either of these two fine candidates represent the Republican Party through the General Election. The running mate to the gubernatorial candidate is downstater Jason Plummer who ran an excellent campaign and will also carry the Republican message with honor and a clear focus to victory in November.

Lee Roupas, Chairman

Illinois Republican Links:

Illinois Republicans cranked up: Battle Cry, "Illinois isNext"
Illinois Republicans, giddy about their 2010 prospects to grab the Senate and governor seats from Democrats are holding a unity breakfast here underscored by the slogan "Illinois Is Next," a reference to GOP wins in Massachusetts, Virginia and New Jersey...read more...

Quinn says running mate should consider stepping down

Gov. Pat Quinn today said his new running mate, a Chicago pawnbroker with a 2005 domestic battery arrest, should consider withdrawing from the race because his background could hurt the Democratic ticket in the November general election...read more...

GOP Gubernatorial Race neck-and-neck 

The wild GOP race for governor remained too close to call Wednesday, as top contenders Bill Brady and Kirk Dillard were separated by only a few hundred votes...read more...

Roger Keats decisively wins Primary for County Board President

Looking to retake control of Cook County's $3 billion budget -- and the 25,000 jobs on the county payroll -- Roger Keats won the Republican nomination for County Board President on Tuesday, defeating John Garrido...read more...

Click here or below to view the Illinois Republican Party Unity Party video "Illinois is Next:"