RALF SEIFFE

Chicago Columnist Illinois Leader Political Analyst Entrepreneur Business Advisor Chicago Illinois Review

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

SEIFFE:  "I Have Faith In What's Right"

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

By Ralf Seiffe

Last evening, Illinois Republican Party Executive Director John Tsarpalas, political operative Dan Proft and communications specialist Glenn Hodas appeared at the Chicago Town Hall Meeting to offer an autopsy on last month’s election and some thoughts on the future of the Republican Party in Illinois .  

The largely conservative crowd included many newcomers and was the largest showing in the three years the group has held its monthly meetings. 

All three guests were very generous with their time and offered remarkably candid views of November’s disappointing outcomes.  More interesting were their thoughts which showed that despite these losses—or perhaps because of them---some prescriptions for resurrecting the Illinois Republican Party are beginning to take form.  If successful, it’s possible to see how the party could restore its vitality and become an organization that will appeal to conservatives. 

But first, the bad news.  Glenn Hodas began with a quantitative analysis that showed low turnout and substantial deterioration in the margins usually produced by dependably Republican precincts.  This doomed the top of the ticket and among the interesting facts Hodas mentioned was that the Governor won Will and Lake Counties outright and actually took the rural vote.  Tsarpalas also noted that the voters saw the Democrats as the party best positioned on public integrity by a 25% to 17% margin despite widespread news that the federal government is investigating many aspects of the current administration. 

Tsarpalas also spent time explaining how the state party operates and the effect Illinois ’ election statutes have on it.  The purpose was to illustrate how the party has organized its internal organizations and to show how outside interest groups relate.  From the presentation, one could conclude that the party structure is so complicated that is designed to frustrate non-professional party members interested in making changes.  To that end, he advised those who would prefer direct election of state central committeemen to contact their legislators to support Senate Bill 600 which would restore grass roots elections of committeemen.  With regard to the Kjellander situation, he noted that because state representatives to the party’s national committee are elected, there is no way to remove an individual who wants to continue in office.  He likened the situation to a congressman who has lost the confidence of his district; not much can be done until the next election.  

Tsarpalas entertained questions from the floor during his presentation as he frankly agreed with many that the Illinois party has no message that resonates with the state’s voters.  Without one, it’s impossible to create the organization or raise the money necessary to effectively contest the Democrats.  He reported that it’s hard to recruit candidates and or even precinct captains in this environment.  

In spite of these inconvenient facts, the party’s executive director did offer some positive news and from this vantage, it’s news we’ve been waiting to hear.  First, he recognizes the party should be focused on serving its activists rather than deferring to the governor.  For too long, the Republican governors have been the primary focus of Republican activity and that has left the state party weak and message-less. Second, with the losses in November, the party is in a position to make the changes that have the potential to restore it.  Finally, Republican resurrection should start by convincing voters that we are the party of low taxes, smaller government and ethics.  If the party succeeds at these three objectives--and it’s not evident that it can given the philosophies and voting records of our Republican officeholders--one can see the beginning of recovery.  

Dan Proft supported the notion that message development is a party’s primary obligation but felt the odds in Illinois were long.  He began by comparing Tsarpalas’s assignment with that of marketing an Edsel.  Nevertheless, his main message was that electoral success depends on individuals coming together to win elections rather than fighting ancient, internecine battles or testing each other for intellectual purity.  He observed that elections are normally a choice between only two candidates and that one candidate is usually much better than the other.  Conservatives err when they fail to support the better candidate because they are not the perfect candidate.  Proft’s advise was for the party is to strip the message to basics, jettison platitudes and develop comprehensible bullet  points and remember that until that’s done, money and organization won’t develop.

After their prepared remarks, the three guests stood for questions.  One from radio personality Bruno Behrend asked whether conservatives could trust the party to develop the message as well as the behavior that will restore the party.  Tsarpalas was best when he spoke of developing a cogent message, saying “I have faith in what’s right.”  Let’s hope that’s the test of everything the party does from now on. If so, we are at a turning point in the party’s fortunes.

© 2006 Ralf Seiffe

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

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