IL GOP Responds . . . Part 5

IL GOP Responds in Part 1, 2, 3, 4 and lastly here in Part 5 . . .

The controversy about convention security was blown out of proportion, Heffley said.  It wasn't to keep control of the platform vote or the national committeeman/committeewoman votes.  It was concern that Ron Paul delegates would cause the same problems they had in two other state conventions.

“I did want to talk about the security that was on the premises at the convention," Heffley said.  "We had two cops and the guards in white shirts were volunteers.  It’s almost arrogant for people to think we expected a security threat because of them." 

With Ron Paul' s announcement today he is dropping out of the presidential race, the point is moot, but over the weekend, Paul supporters posed a threat to convention security.  For the most part, the security was there because the IL GOP had been told by the national committee that under no circumstances were they to allow Ron Paul delegates to take over the convention and embarrass the state party as they had done in other states.

"We were told not to let it get away from us,” Heffley said.  "You’ll note that the guards didn’t talk to anyone, except for a young Paul supporter at the beginning of the floor meeting.  The guards were told not to touch him, and we were absolutely ordered to make sure they were kept under control.  The guards were volunteers.

Heffley said the Republican Party understands and upholds the rule of law as a basic premise.  "We are a party that upholds rules, and you have to have rules or there’s chaos," he said. 

In Nevada, Ron Paul’s delegates took over the convention by getting over one-third of the convention delegates appointed.  A rauch was initiated at the beginning of the convention, when a young man stood, calling "Point of Order," to which McKenna said "You're out of order." 

"They trained those guys well," Heffley said.

Is there room for improvement in the convention system?  No doubt, Heffley admitted. 

"The convention process is very complicated, and we will work on changing things in the state party.  People need to understand the process better, how to introduce platform planks, make suggestions to committees, all these things," he said.  "There's room for improvement there."

"I don’t know the answer to the delegate privacy debate.  We did the best we could to keep an open process.  Just learning what a standing vote is and knowing they would have access to the platform for over an hour before the convention vote was taken – all those things need to be better communicated," Heffley sighed.   "We think we made great strides, and we can do better."

What would be three things you’d like to see happen in the IL GOP?

"One of the biggest things is we need to get over this after-primary 'I’m-taking-my-toys-and-going-home' idea.  Senator Lauzen killed Jim Oberweis," Heffley said.  "The same thing happened with Judy Baar-Topinka in 2006.  It just tears our party apart.  We need to pull together.  The parties are shrinking and there’s more in the middle.  The middle won’t come to us."

"We need to stand for something as a party," Heffley said.  "The IL GOP had the reform tour, and were successful in boiling the message down to less government, lower taxes, more transparency in government.  The last thing we need is to spend thousands of dollars spreading this message around the state and have three senators in DuPage undercut it with one vote for higher taxes."

"We need to find new fresh faces. The [State Senator] Matt Murphys of this world are what we need more of, not the same people we've seen for years.  The State Senate's done some good recruiting this election, candidates that reflect the Republican principles and give us hope in the fall. Candidates like Brendan Appel, Mike Sweeney, Dan Duffy, and Terri Ann Wintermute are all great and fresh new faces. 

"We're optimistic about 11th CD candidate Marty Ozinga, who will bring people to the polls that have never voted before.  Aaron Schock's race is looking good, Peter Roskam should be okay and Mark Kirk,too.  Jim Oberweis?  "That one I'm not so sure about," Heffley said.

Despite Illinois' own Barack Obama being at the top of the ticket, Heffley says Obama's numbers are dropping as is his popularity.  "John McCain may not turn people on, but he doesn’t turn people off," Heffley said.  "We may be okay after all."

What will Heffley be doing in four years? 

"Hopefully not this," he said, "but there’s so much that I’d like to make sure I can leave for the next person who has this job.  I love politics, I love what I do."  Heffley's more interested in getting back to legislative work as he did while in Florida, working with then state lawmaker Tom Feeney, who is now a U.S. congressman.

"Looking towards November, look for the party to focus more on grassroots, county chairmen, local races and putting a farm team together," he said.  "Things are the best as they’ve been since I’ve been here."