Who Will Be The Next Illinois Republican SCC Chairman?

Political Positioning Through The Years

(Courtesy of Elon Musk)

The lurid details of the past few weeks which began at the IL GOP State Convention, on the incomprehensible date of Memorial Day weekend at the almost out of state location in Collinsville, Illinois - and culminated in the resignation of Vince Kolber (Finance Committee Chairman of the SCC), the removal of the SCC Vice Chair Mark Shaw, and the resignation of SCC Chairman Don Tracy - can be read elsewhere. Our statement on this matter reflects our unique position both politically and geographically in relation to recent developments.

Vernon Township has the most precincts out of any of the 18 townships in Lake County. Filling these precincts with elected Precinct Committeepersons is our number one priority. When we have a healthy base of active and informed PCs working their precincts to engage voters, we have won half the battle of turning our township red. We expect everyone we elect within our Township and County to also make gaining more elected PCs a top priority. Keith Brin is our current Chairman, re-elected during our own convention earlier this year. We have three representatives to the SCC - and each has played major roles in this story: Aaron Del Mar (5th Congressional District), Joan Lasonde (9th Congressional District) and Mark Shaw (10th Congressional District). As our current representatives to the Illinois State Central Committee, we hope that all three will take note of these recommendations we set forth.

We would like the future Chairman of the Illinois GOP State Central Committee to proactively and correctly define us at every opportunity. There is no “Far Right”. A person who cannot see, appreciate and capitalize on this fact does not belong in this critical leadership role. Only “squishy” Republicans who are afraid of offending the fringe minorities of left-wing woke activists cannot grasp this simple truth. The fringe has taken over the Democrat party. The Republican party’s base of common sense, small government and adherence to the United States Constitution remains as it always has. There are no “MAGA Extremists”. Trump is not the problem - he is the solution. He has brought more people to the Republican tent since Reagan - and continues to do so. We are the party of family, faith and our forefathers. If the GOP here and elsewhere insists on blaming Trump for their losses, we are guaranteed a future in communism. It really is that simple. The Chairman of our party here in Illinois needs to hammer that message home until every voter in the city of Chicago not only hears it but gets it.

We would like someone youthful in this role. We understand that age is just a number (see Trump), but a Gen Xer as leader of our state party would be the best choice in our opinion. Someone who has been impacted by several momentous events both historically and culturally in the course of their lives is built for this moment. The Dot Com boom and bust. September 11th. The Housing Collapse. Covid. At every turn, Gen X was hitting milestones (graduate college, begin adulthood, buy a home, have kids, raise a family) during some of the worst possible times to be hitting those milestones. We are built to survive dumpster fires. Adversity is our land of opportunity. Send someone from our grizzled ranks to lead the Illinois Republican State Central Committee and perhaps for the first time in a long time, we will all see some positive results.

A Gen-Xer has also had to adapt to technology in cruel and unusual ways. Not all of us grew up with personal computers. We went to college lugging word processors. We had to compile our research in a library using the Dewy Decimal System. We know what microfiche is. We took photos on prom night using disposable film cameras. We used to buy music on compact discs ordered through the USPS. And every day we have to figure out phones that link to calendars that link to watches that link to our appliances that can run themselves and give us the definition of microfiche when asked. Our children never bring home paper from their school - if we want to figure out what is going on and sign up to volunteer or set up a lunch account, we better know what Google Doc and Link Tree are and have a shortcut to the campus “portal” on our desktop. Could there be any other generation with such adaptational skills when it comes to modern technology? You can bet that if one of us were in charge we would know how to make bar coded name badges for conventions and value the concept of digital check-ins. We bridge the gap between Boomers and Gen Z because we are literally sandwiched in between the two within our own families. Only a Gen X Chairman who is fluent in technology and understands the many dialects of different generations of Republicans in this great state will be able to bring this party together and make sure everyone is on point, on message, and moving in the same direction.

How about the occasional livestream? Perhaps a podcast? The Dems may be light years ahead of us when it comes to ballot harvesting and fundraising - but we are smarter, better looking, and more fun to hang out with. Get with the program and find the face (or faces) of the Illinois Republican Party and get them in front of the voters asap. The internet is cheap and easy and when used correctly can make a message go viral. Get out of the country club and onto the streets because this is the party of the working man. Republicans work. (Feel free to use that slogan. We think it’s catchy.)

Someone in the Chairman’s role should also have kids who are currently enrolled in public school or in the first years of college because unless you live it every day you have no clue how awful things have gotten in our education system. This may also help to give some consideration when the IL GOP is scheduling conventions and claiming to be the party of “families”. We need the IL GOP to be the party of young and growing families and to empathize with the struggles of we who have minors living at home or young adults just out of the nest. We are living - in real time - Reagan’s quip that freedom is only one generation away from extinction. That extinction is at the gates.

And who has been defending those gates this whole time - with scarce help from the GOP, Illinois or otherwise? The Mama (and Papa) Bears. The people who have been forced to raise their families in the hell that has become this state. Those who have seen up close and personal how far off the cliff we’ve already fallen, as our freedoms have vanished, the definition of reality itself has turned upside down, as our children are left unprotected and vulnerable to state sanctioned indoctrination and physical maiming. It is beyond time to let these warriors in for a consultation and build coalitions.

The IL GOP Chair should make growing the local Republican organizations across this state a priority. Instead of telling we on the ground how to give them money (and lamely attempt to shame us for not doing so) - the state should figure out how to help fund us. For we are the ones who are charged with constructing the runway our candidates are meant to take off from. It is well past time for the state party to pitch in and help with that construction.

Finally, fundraising skills are essential, but so is wise management of those funds. It is going to take innovation, transparency and trust to get the right people in to build this machine to the grassroots’ satisfaction. Like anything worth doing in the first place, it’s going to be difficult. But in the end, it will be worth it. We believe that this is not a time of a despair or defeat - but a time of great opportunity. We are standing by ready to work.