State Senator Chris Lauzen (R-Aurora) is working hard to gain several co-sponsors on another effort to push the Illinois GOP into electing its state central committeemen. Senate GOP big-hitters such as Minority Leader Chris Radogno, Kirk Dillard, Dale Righter and Matt Murphy are listed as co-sponsors and SB 600 could be heard in the Senate Elections Committee next Tuesday afternoon. All of the Republican members of the committee have signed on as co-sponsors except State Senator Dan Rutherford (R-Pontiac).
SB 600 returns at a very apropos time -- when chances are increasing daily that the GOP's State Central Committee could re-enter center stage. If the Democrats decide they need to acquiese to a special election in order to fill a possible U.S. Senator Roland Burris' vacancy, the IL GOP SCC is likely to play a part in picking the GOP candidate as they did in 2004. And we'll remember how important those 19 state central committeemen are.
If Burris were to resign, the special election process would include a party primary and then a general election. Although there's been no official endorsement yet, it's pretty evident that IL GOP Chairman Andy McKenna is promoting socially-liberal Congressman Mark Kirk (R-10 CD) to fill the Obama/Burris vacancy. McKenna has served as Kirk's campaign treasurer for several years, and a mid-term bid for U.S. Senate would be a step up for Kirk.
We've heard rumblings of a non-competitive GOP primary for the U.S. Senate race in order to save sparse funds. That would likely point back to a disappointing insider deal made among Republican leaders and decided with the State Central Committee. Just the thought of an unelected group of 19 Republicans replaying the 2004 Alan Keyes' selection scenario should make us all shudder. The GOP, who've been so forthright in their call for the people's choice for U.S. Senate, cannot put in the behind-the-scenes fix so soon after the 2004 debacle.
So, what about electing state central committeemen? The Democrats already do it, and it's a party option in Illinois law. For several years, we'd hoped Republicans would realize the desperate need for change within a perceived corrupt (if not indeed corrupt) system of selecting party leaders, and opt to choose Alternative A instead of Alternative B on their own. They haven't.
But apparently Senator Lauzen is one-by-one successfully convincing his Senate colleagues to join the effort to allow the people's voice in choosing their party leaders. That means Republicans are headed for State Central Committee elections sooner or later. Indeed, the crack in the faulty and weak political control dike is expanding, and its only a matter of time before the whole thing crashes down.
Senator Lauzen should be congratulated for his efforts and determination to clean and revive the Republican Party from within. In order to stop this ongoing Blagojevich-Quinn- Obama-Burris-Madigan-Jones-Cullerton nightmare in Illinois politics, we need to begin again with an open and transparent political system within the political parties first.
A warning to current GOP leadership: If the SCC decides our next GOP nominee for U.S. Senate, the remaining loyal GOP troops will have no choice but to bolt. Don't assume there's no place for us to go. We'll simply start over again.
Instead of that doomsday scenario, let's clean up Illinois by cleaning up ourselves first. Pass SB 600 and let the people choose.
