We Need More Republicans in Springfield

I think this says it all.

We need more Republicans in Springfield

July 11, 2008Recommend

STEVE HUNTLEY shuntley.cst@gmail.com
They're at it again. This time, a special session of the General Assembly is providing the spectacle of the battling, bickering Democrats slugging it out in the family feud that passes for government in Illinois these days.

Why anyone would cast a Democratic ballot in a legislative race is beyond me. Gov. Blagojevich, not on the ballot this year, is the prime culprit in the Springfield meltdown, but House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President Emil Jones are far from blameless. Still, a Barack Obama avalanche in the fall in a state already becoming ever more blue could pad the Democratic majorities.

I've written that voting Republican in legislative contests, no matter how worthy the Democratic candidate, is the only way you can protest the failure of one-party rule in Illinois. I also have suggested that the GOP needed to come up with its version of a Contract with America to give voters a reason to believe in Republicans again. It turns out that House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Kendall) was already working on that. He will unveil a House GOP "Agenda for Action" Tuesday. The seven-point agenda advocates:

• • A capital program to fix roads and bridges, build schools and hospitals, and create 700,000 jobs.

• • A balanced budget, ending carryover of unpaid bills into the next year, and a minimum "sunshine" period for everyone to examine budget bills.

• • Property tax relief.

• • Ethics legislation to end the state's "pay-to-play" scandals.

• • Reversing Blagojevich's years of cutting higher ed funding.

• • Electronic monitoring of abusive men to protect victims of domestic violence.

• • Cyber-safety laws to protect children from online sex offenders.

"There are no quick fixes or gimmicks here, just proposals reflecting the concerns the voters have about fiscal responsibility, job creation, lower taxes and ethics," Cross said. These are issues stuck in legislative limbo or passed but not acted on by Blagojevich.

The agenda's political goal is to "localize" the election and remind voters -- independents, Obamacans (Republicans in favor of the Democratic presidential contender) and Democrats disaffected by the Springfield antics -- that there's a reason to cast split-ticket ballots. That's not to say Republicans are abandoning John McCain. The agenda only recognizes that the enthusiasm for McCain is, in Cross' words, "tempered a little bit by the assumption" Obama will carry Illinois.

Polling in six battleground legislative districts in the northwest suburbs commissioned by Cross found the Democratic-led General Assembly earning only a 24 percent approval rating, with 62 percent of voters disapproving.

Blagojevich fared even worse at 20 percent approval vs. 76 percent disapproving. "Suburban voters are very aware of the lack of state government, that the Democratic leadership can't do anything of substance," Cross said.

In these six districts, the GOP is defending four seats (one open because of a retirement) and trying to retake the other two, the 44th District lost to Rep. Fred Crespo of Streamwood in 2006 and the 56th District lost last year when Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg switched to the Democratic side of the aisle. Cross said Republicans are "playing offense" to win those back with two strong candidates. Peggy Brothman, former Schaumburg District 54 Board of Education president is running against Crespo, and Anita Forte-Scott, owner of an early childhood education school, is trying to unseat Froehlich.

In the once solidly Republican suburbs, the poll found only a 1-percentage-point advantage for Republicans on the generic ballot.

"It's going to be a very tough year with Obama, the hometown guy with lots of appeal, at the head of their ticket," Cross acknowledged. "But I don't know why the voters would reward the Democrats [in Springfield] with more members." Amen.