Why Andy? Why?
According the Andy Andzejewski campaign and as reported on Illinois Review, he supports SB 600 which would transfer selection of the Republican State Central Committeemen/women from the precinct committeemen/women to the Republican voters in the primary. Sounds democratic enough right?
Not really in my humble opinion. With the political environment right now, tea party conservatives that choose to align themselves with the Republican party should get involved and become precinct committeemen and women. The tea parties are a truly grassroots effort and if we want to change the parties, we have to do so from the ground up. Since the precinct committeemen and women currently choose the State Central Committee, and if enough tea party conservatives hold those precious precinct committeeman or women spots, then we are have a unique opportunity to change the make up of the Republican Party on a state level!
The problem with GOP primary selection of the State Central Committee is simple numbers. Democrats already choose their State Committee through the primary and we see the domination of liberal Chicago politics active in the state Democratic Party. Likewise, the GOP would run the same risk of liberals or like-minded individuals to control the GOP because a majority of GOP voters live within the Northeast part of the state. According to Paul Green, Director of the Institute of Politics at Roosevelt University in Chicago, analysis of the 2008 primary election, 52.3% of the 910,540 Illinois GOP 2008 primary voters voted within Chicago's 50 wards (4.8%), Suburban Cook (15.0%), and the Five Collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will (32.5%) for a total of 476,409 ballots cast. That leaves 47.7% or 434,131 ballots cast in the 96 downstate counties.
Under SB 600, even if some votes from up north were split, a Chicago candidate for the Central Committee could still carry the day. The split in voters up north would have to be greater than 4.6% of the total northeast vote or roughly 22,000 votes of the Chicago area 476,409 voters while the 96 downstate counties would all have to vote in unison with no dissenting votes in order to overcome a Chicago heavyweight favorite. At least at the precinct committee level, there is a better chance to fend off a Chicago led takeover of the Republican Party and a likewise moderation or liberalization of the party.
Andzejewski should retract his statement as soon as possible. Otherwise, he runs the risk of helping to turn the Republican Party over to the Chicago insiders - permanently furthering the downstate distrust and alienation towards our northeast section of the state. The current system at least allows downstate and some within Chicago and the Collar Counties a chance to get conservatives elected to the State Central Committee or at the very least keep Chicago liberals from controlling the Republican State Central Committee.
Not really in my humble opinion. With the political environment right now, tea party conservatives that choose to align themselves with the Republican party should get involved and become precinct committeemen and women. The tea parties are a truly grassroots effort and if we want to change the parties, we have to do so from the ground up. Since the precinct committeemen and women currently choose the State Central Committee, and if enough tea party conservatives hold those precious precinct committeeman or women spots, then we are have a unique opportunity to change the make up of the Republican Party on a state level!
The problem with GOP primary selection of the State Central Committee is simple numbers. Democrats already choose their State Committee through the primary and we see the domination of liberal Chicago politics active in the state Democratic Party. Likewise, the GOP would run the same risk of liberals or like-minded individuals to control the GOP because a majority of GOP voters live within the Northeast part of the state. According to Paul Green, Director of the Institute of Politics at Roosevelt University in Chicago, analysis of the 2008 primary election, 52.3% of the 910,540 Illinois GOP 2008 primary voters voted within Chicago's 50 wards (4.8%), Suburban Cook (15.0%), and the Five Collar counties of DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will (32.5%) for a total of 476,409 ballots cast. That leaves 47.7% or 434,131 ballots cast in the 96 downstate counties.
Under SB 600, even if some votes from up north were split, a Chicago candidate for the Central Committee could still carry the day. The split in voters up north would have to be greater than 4.6% of the total northeast vote or roughly 22,000 votes of the Chicago area 476,409 voters while the 96 downstate counties would all have to vote in unison with no dissenting votes in order to overcome a Chicago heavyweight favorite. At least at the precinct committee level, there is a better chance to fend off a Chicago led takeover of the Republican Party and a likewise moderation or liberalization of the party.
Andzejewski should retract his statement as soon as possible. Otherwise, he runs the risk of helping to turn the Republican Party over to the Chicago insiders - permanently furthering the downstate distrust and alienation towards our northeast section of the state. The current system at least allows downstate and some within Chicago and the Collar Counties a chance to get conservatives elected to the State Central Committee or at the very least keep Chicago liberals from controlling the Republican State Central Committee.
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