Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Republicans Rev Up For November Mid-Term Elections With Unity Breakfast

This morning, many of us Illinois Republicans will attend the Unity Breakfast in downtown Chicago, which was a fabulous idea, I think. I believe it's being sponsored by the State GOP.

We will all need to pull together to defeat the Democrats in the November mid-term elections, especially in key races like Governor and U.S. Senate. While the winner in the Senate race was clear, with Congressman Mark winning almost 60% of the vote in a crowded field (who will face banker Alexi Giannoulias in the fall), the Governor race is still hanging in the balance on both sides. Given that we seem to expect a lot of rancor on the Dem side, with Comptroller Dan Hynes vowing to fight to the fullest to ensure that every last vote is counted (twice? after all, this is Chicago) to see if he can somehow eke out a win from Governor Quinn, I am hopeful we will be able to avoid a cantankerous battle between state senators Kirk Dillard and Bill Brady, who are also quite close in the vote totals. It would have been great if the GOP had a clear winner to rally behind while the Dems continue to snipe at each other, primary style, but again, we need to keep in mind who are we united against, and the importance of getting back the governor's mansion (especially considering the prospect of redistricting looming on the horizon).

With Dan Seals being the Dem winner in IL-10 (by a very slim margin over Julie Hamos), we're going to have to pull out all the stops to get Bob Dold elected to the House so the GOP doesn't lose this seat, but I'm sure we, and he, are up to the task.

I hope to see many of you at the breakfast, and we'll try to snap some pictures.

8 comments:

Blue Wind said...

I think IL10 will be finally democratic. Dold can not win in the general. He is completely unelectable. Dan Seals will take Kirk's seat. Personally, I am happy Coulson lost because she was the only republican who could have won in our district.

As for the senate, you will be surprised. I think Giannoulias will pull a huge upset and beat Kirk relatively easily. Giannoulias is the underdog and Kirk will be the Washington-establishment candidate. This is not MA, it is IL and Alexi will be our next senator.

Anonymous said...

Blue Wind, love the spin!

Now Dold is unelectable but two time loser with the tired old message that voters across the nation are rejecting is? Keep on underestimating this guy and you will be watching him being sworn into office next January.

Giannoulias is now the underdog and not a sure thing? My how things have changed in six months!

A sitting accidental governor who strayed from his lifelong reformer message to be one of the guys in the Democratic party hanging on by his fingertips hoping that he will win?

Todd Stroger not only losing, but being humiliated with a distant fourth place finish in the process?

I'd rather be a Republican this election cycle!

Louis G. Atsaves

Blue Wind said...

Atsaves,
In case you missed it, IL10 is not a Tea district. It has more sophistication than that. Coulson is a Kirk-like republican and would have been acceptable in IL10, but tea-partiers like Dold are not. Dold is unelectable here.

The republicans will win the governor's race. But that's about it. Alexi will beat Kirk and will be the next senator. Remember me on that.

Anonymous said...

Blue Wind: Dick Green was the candidate that did outreach with the Tea Party folks.

I hope your predictions are as strong as your facts.

Anonymous said...

Hey Blue Wind....does it get confusing for you on which end you speak and which end you wipe?

Anonymous said...

Blue Wind,

For the first time, I agree with you. The 10th is too sophisticated to select Dold and Kirk's team can't compete with Sexi Lexi.

Anonymous said...

blue wind,

you are going to have a lot of explaining to do after the blago trial. what you don't know is that its very very hard to get your candidates out from under a major news story that is going to suck up all the news and political oxygen in the state for 4-5 months and that's before blago blows up the state democrat party.

Dol with a d, is not my favorite guy, I will not be attacking him anymore unless his people get rough again with team america, but there is room for him if he frames his campaign right to tag seals as just another pathetic insider trying to make sure its about what government can do for him not about what he can do for government.

I look less at my own personal feelings and more pragmatically here and I don't really see alexi as a candidate the 10th is going to love. Hoffman way overperformed here, blago said in his book how much he hated the north shore.

Your one saving grace is that bill brady is not well loved up here-he got 5 percent of the vote in lake county which is really really bad. He's not a smart man, and his social conservatism and love for cutting things like spending on the arts won't go so well.

I don't know what the white house is going to do. This is a field mine for them, they have already shown they dont like seals and in virginia they showed they aren't afraid to leave their people out to die if things don't go right.

I see us picking up gov mansion-good for redistricitng, senate seat, and keeping this house seat.

FOKLAEAPS

Anonymous said...

If you want to see how the current White House treats fellow democrats whom they view disfavorably, just look at how they turned on Martha Coakley in MA. Yes they did show up for a last minute campaign appearance, but it did Coakley no good. It did Creigh Deeds no good in VA. It did Corzine no good in New Jersey.

With the Blago trial starting this summer during campaign season, AND Alexi's Broadway Bank under the microscope with its insider loans to Tony Rezko (Rezko the friend of Blago and Rezko the guy who helped Obama buy his mansion in Hyde Park)
the White House won't see much upside in strongly backing Alexi. If the White House doesn't see any benefit to them, they might even decide letting Alexi lose would free the White House of that albatross once and for all.

Ask Jeremiah Wright how crowded it is under that bus, where all former friends of Obama get kicked when they are no longer useful.