Our state party chairman, his staff, and the people in charge of the State Central Committee all fall into one or more of the following categories:
- The “I’m not really serious about party building” camp.
- The “I wouldn’t know how to party build if my life depended upon it” camp.
- The “I am actively preventing the building of the party” camp.
The first camp is made up of many good people who are tired or lazy. The second camp is dominated by incompetents who aren’t motivated to learn and adapt. The third camp mostly consists of elected officials, lobbyists, and government employees who dread the thought of the participation of anyone who truly wants to see the party’s platform principles advanced because that would complicate their life in any number of ways.
Obama won the state by 25 points. Durbin was reelected by a huge percentage. The state house lost 3 more seats and this year Republicans lost 2 more congressional seats. The state senate didn’t lose any more seats but did elect as its caucus leader a woman who is in the wrong caucus – she should have been challenging Democrat state Sen. Cullerton for the presidency of the state senate.
A couple of questions and answers. Are you involved in your local GOP organization? If you’re not, please consider getting involved. Do you even know if a local GOP organization exists in your area? If you’ve never been contacted by your local party that might say something about its effectiveness.
A couple of observations. If there isn’t a local organization, you might want to form one. If there is one, but the reception you get isn’t exactly welcoming, consider gathering some like minded people in your area and joining as a group with the aim of bringing “change you can believe in.”
A few things to think about. The township or county organization has a real role to play. It should be recruiting candidates, volunteers, and registering voters. It should be raising money. It should be providing the kind of basic resources you’d expect such as precinct lists. It should be serious about having a presence in the community – if people don’t know of its existence, I’m not sure what the point of a local organization is. Obviously there should be regular meetings held.
There are many additional roles an enlightened and energized local party can play – such as having the kind of website that provides news and information about local government and policy matters, as well as links to trustworthy state and national resources.
