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Will the Illinois GOP go the way of the T-Rex? Ralf Seiffe examines...

Monday, February 14, 2005

By Ralf Seiffe

OPINION - One of life’s enduring questions is what happened to the dinosaurs?

It is one of those permanent mysteries because no one was there to determine whether some crashing meteorite, a cataclysmic seismic event or even aliens changed environmental conditions enough to extinguish life, as it then existed. If the fate of the dinosaurs interests you, pay attention---you may be seeing a replay in the Illinois Republican Party.

Life forms become extinct when they are no longer able to dominate other species for food and habitat. Regardless of how you believe life began, the vast diversity of plants and animals is how nature manifests new ideas and, depending in their ability to adapt to the environment in which they find themselves, species succeed or fail. Some are very good ideas, alligators, insects and humans, for example, and others, like the dodo bird, are eventually outclassed by competitors.

Dinosaurs fascinate us because it is hard to understand how a creature so dominating could loose in the natural selection process. My theory is that some earth-shattering event was only partly responsible; the problem and did not end the dinosaur’s domination in just one day or year. Instead, they failed gradually in human terms but quickly in evolutionary terms.

The situation in Illinois is analogous but unlike dinosaurs, Illinois Republicans can overcome catastrophic events if they adapt to a new environment.

The catastrophe is the revealed corruption that has plagued the party. It is the signal event that changed the political scene as significantly as a meteor or alien invasion might have changed the dinosaur’s environment.

In its most dramatic form, corruption means felonious behavior, lurid headlines and film crew stake-outs at the Dirksen Building.

These courthouse stories, like those prehistoric disasters, make it impossible for the traditional party to survive in its recent form because it drives away thoughtful independents. To their credit, however, Republicans nominated and installed a US Attorney who indicts Republicans and Democrats equally.

Rooting out those embarrassing officials is cathartic and will eventually benefit Illinois Republicans but real criminality is sort of like the three-eyed snake or the chicken with two heads. It is rare in nature and aberrant in Republican politics.

Much more dangerous than cops and robber sleaze is the conceit that crowds out the party’s ideals.

Voters who used to support Republicans of all temperaments have retired--or switched sides--because the party does not appear to stand for much. Permanent incumbency at the expense of leadership is the bacterium that has brought the great beast down. It has infected the party and last November’s results manifest much-diminished vital signs.

Nature’s typical response when one species is having difficulty is to create a new species that exploits the situation. While the traditional party is gasping, new political life forms beginning to materialize and experience mitosis.

Often unsupported or unable to find a place in the traditional party, these groups exhibit a great variety of defining characteristics. They range from hard-working, action-oriented folks with few resources to new Republican ward organizations in darkest Chicago to sophisticated executives and seasoned activists meeting in the city’s most exclusive clubs.

Visiting these neo-Republicans reveals a vitality based on principle and an astonishing, unselfish desire to improve life for the body politic. These are people that seem to be uninterested in the practical exercise of power; rather, they seem more interested in restricting the powers of government.

Battles between species usually lead to winners and losers but let’s consider a third way. The traditional Republican Party’s scale allows it to undertake the tasks that only well-organized, statewide organizations are capable. What the party lacks, however, are credible, well-developed, top-of- the- mind positions voters can identify and identify with.

On the other hand, the new organizations are small but lively. Experience shows that they are unlikely to mount successful challenges to the status quo regardless of the energy level they exhibit. Nevertheless, they have some very attractive ideas and new ways to regard the problems our state faces.

Rather than see these nascent, conservative organizations as an irrelevant, bacterial life forms as they have in the past, traditional Republicans should inoculate the party with the best of their ideas. An injection of fresh thought could be the penicillin the wounded party needs to avoid functional extinction in an increasingly hostile, Democrat environment.

Traditional Republicans who believe neo-Republicans’ policies too conservative and their practices too extreme should reacquaint themselves with the party’s situation and take this prescription seriously.

Remember some dinosaurs became extinct but others morphed into eagles.

And, one more bit of ancient history: the last too-conservative and too-extreme paleo-conservative traditional Republicans endorsed nationally was Ronald Reagan. Illinois should be so lucky.

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Ralf Seiffe advises business start-ups and product launches from Chicago, Illinois and is a political analyst and columnist for the Illinois Leader.