Well, that happened. In an outcome that shocked no one, except perhaps the man himself, Darren Bailey was roundly beaten in the general election, returning Pritzker to Springfield for another term.
It’s almost like JB picked the opponent he thought he had the best chance of beating in the general election. Oh, wait.
He did.
And in every contest nationwide where the Democratic Party interfered in GOP primaries, their chosen lost. This is so pathetic even the Keystone Kops would be embarrassed. Our pundit and gadfly types love to point out the Democratic Party’s ludicrous straight ticket voting, leading to electing dead people (even in Chicago, they only vote), misogynists, and Fetterman. That really is a mote in their eye moment. The beam in our own is voting for their hand-picked candidates.
I commented on this with Bailey’s primary election ads being phrased in terms designed to attract conservatives while on the surface saying he was a bad choice. And look at that, I called it. JB Pritzker looked over the field, and decided Bailey was the easiest target, so he promoted him, and Illinois Republicans lapped it up. It was, in a word, pathetic.
Look, I do get it. Trump is a factor, and despite the fact that he needs to be sat on, for far too many Republicans, he is some kind of conservative messiah. Let me be clear…Trump needs to be the past. In fact, it would be great to, as a party, stop this messianic thing completely. Trump is not some sort of savior, neither is DeSantis, Crenshaw, Rubio, or any other Republican that manages to gain a following.
It is that simple. DeSantis is great for Florida, but would be trounced in an Illinois election . Crenshaw wouldn’t fly in California. And on and on and on. This obsession with copying a rising star is costing conservatives elections. As we saw with Bailey, being yoked to that star (in his case, Trump) is a election day liability.
It is time for the Illinois GOP to reset. You need to stop waiting for someone to look like a potential winner, or win a primary, before backing them. Some suggestions:
- Focus on what is good for Illinois, not what is good for the Trumps of the world.
- Endorse the best candidate, and stick with them.
- If the opposition is in favor of a candidate, it disqualifies them for endorsement (the Bailey Rule).
- Make endorsements public and obvious.
- Get the party working together, and support each other
- Run a fucking candidate for every office – Cook County had 43 Democrats running unopposed. Why?
- Run the party the way it needs to be run, to win, and damn the opinions of the opposition.
- Stop campaigning on social issues that are proven losers. Campaign on issues that matter today, can maybe be fixed, and let them scream about it. Or, less abortion more reducing crime.
- Remember the GOP of old, who was in favor of reform. We had the better Roosevelt, let’s be inspired by him to do better.
- Stop running idiots who don’t understand how the American system works! The Governor CAN NOT revoke signed legislation, impose term limits, or pass laws by fiat. Gods that is annoying. Let THEM do that (and what is ‘criminalize women’ there, Kwame?). Let them not know how their own offices work, and hit them on it!
This isn’t a quick fix. Illinois has been broken for decades, and it won’t be fixed overnight. But if the conservatives can get their head out of their asses, focus on winning (or even competing) in every election, we can make progress.
In a related note, can we start hammering election grifters like Jesus Garcia? Two days after being reelected to Congress, he announces a run for Mayor of Chicago. Hammer that. He flat out lied to his constituents about wanting to represent them. Make that a central point in two years, assuming he loses the mayoral race again. Maybe introduce a law that requires resigning your elected post if you are running for a different office. JB is totally running in 2024, force him to resign to do so. Punish the grifters lying to their constituents. Frame it as a way to make sure the people’s chosen officials keep their promises to serve.