Leadership/Communications

There is no magic fairy dust that can be spread around the country to make voters aware of why they should support solutions based on GOP principles. The political battle for the public mind has to be fought on every issue. It’s going to require a lot of people doing real political work. Not fake activism, but the kind which results in new voters being reached and won over.

A headline in last Sunday’s Washington Times read: “Jeb Bush, GOP: Time to leave Reagan behind.”

Uh, Jeb, what do you think your father and brother did while they occupied the Oval Office?

I have regard for Jeb Bush’s accomplishments as governor of Florida, but the country would be a lot better off if the Bush family retired from politics until they studied and learned why Ronald Reagan succeeded as president while the two Bushes didn’t.

Don’t let the title of this piece confuse you – my subject is not state Senator Dan Rutherford, Congressman Mark Kirk, or political pay roller John McGovern (Republicans all). Rather, my topic is basic political communications.

The conservative message is how we would solve policy problems, and why we oppose those offered by the political left. That message is not reaching enough people. Until more conservatives realize this, the movement – and the Republican Party – is going nowhere.

According to a Chicago Tribune report the other day Republican state Sen. Matt Murphy of Palatine said that –

– “the GOP’s Senate minority should consider coming up with its own alternative to Democratic Gov.Pat Quinn’s spending plan if it wants to be able to legitimately argue that state government doesn’t need a tax increase.”

Yesterday I wrote about the continuing frustration of conservative activists with those elected conservatives that fail to genuinely lead. There are so many issues still waiting to be addressed at both the state and national level. So why aren’t these issues being addressed by our leaders?

A new book came out last year by Mark Bauerlein with this title: “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)”

The Republican Party doesn’t exist to elect people who call themselves Republicans – it exists to elect Republicans who are seriously committed to advancing policies based upon the GOP’s Platform

Those of us at Champion News happily subscribe to the goal that the Republican Party should indeed be a “big tent.” Of course we define the term properly, whereas others completely misunderstand the meaning of the phrase as well as the purpose of a political party.

The goal for the Grand Old Party should be to attract conservatives of all stripes, plus moderates, and even wavering liberals who will support as many of the party’s planks as possible. If the goal is reached, so many people would join that a large tent would be required.

Last week I offered suggested resolutions for conservative activists in Illinois so today I have a question for our Illinois Republican state legislators: What will you be doing differently in the new year? As a citizen, a member of the Republican Party, an elected Precinct Committeeman, and a taxpayer, I have a few suggestions.