A reoccurring theme of ours is that if the political debate isn’t going to be about something – it’s going to be about nothing.
Question: What do you call a lawyer at the bottom of the lake?
Answer: A good start.
We’re happy to see that even the slowest of learners now realize Bob Kjellander is a liability for Illinois Republicans. But you can hardly blame Kjellander alone for the loss of seven legislative seats, among other recent disasters. We get the impression that some would like people to believe as if only Kjellander is the problem.
If the Republican State Central Committee acts as it should this Saturday to oust big Bob, they should then oust Andy McKenna – and then themselves. Since the soonest we’d see new Republican leadership in the General Assembly is January 2009, getting new leadership at the state party is that much more important.
State House Speaker Mike Madigan has suggested that state House Minority Leader Tom Cross call Karl Rove if he wants Bob Kjellander to resign. We’ve been saying that legislation to remove Kjellander wasn’t necessary since the beginning. Evidently Speaker Madigan agrees.
We also note this from yesterday’s Crain’s Chicago Business:
This week, a member of the committee, state Rep. Angelo “Skip” Saviano of Rosemont, indicated that he, too, wants Mr. Kjellander to leave.
“I think, for the state of the party, he probably should go,” said Mr. Saviano, the committeeman for the 5th Congressional District.
Things are really bad for an establishment Republican when Saviano takes aim at them. We’re hoping to read sometime soon that Kjellander will say the same about Skip.
Kjellander does say in his own defense:
“I’m prepared to talk with the members of the committee, but I’ve done nothing wrong and I have absolutely no intention of resigning,” Mr. Kjellander said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “We have these things called elections. I was elected.”
You get ‘em Bob! Unfortunately he doesn’t stop there.
Mr. Kjellander also argued that even if Mr. Cross’ bill is approved, it will change nothing because the power to dismiss him lies not with the state party but the Republican National Committee. Such action by the national committee may be unlikely, given Mr. Kjellander’s close relationship with White House political counselor Karl Rove.
Kjellander has been wrong about a lot of things and the list just got longer.
