It's safe to say that in Illinois...

The Republican Party is in awful shape in general. Cook County could be a more potent party even in spite of the fact that Cook is generally a heavily Democratic county. If a Republican could win statewide such a candidate needs to run well in the Chicagoland area, and if they fail that forget it the election will not roll in their favor even if the rest of the state comes through.

Chicago may be heavily Democratic but then what about the suburbs. Historically many probably could be counted on for Republican votes. Especially in areas to the north and possibly the west and southwest. Of course even then you definitely have to cater to the sensibilities of suburbanities. Some might put the emphasis on suburban women meaning don't talk about guns and don't talk about abortion. To name a few issues that could be sticking points to many.

Yesterday on the Capitol Fax we see the federal Republican party wants to offer some financial aid to not only Illinois' beleaguered GOP but other "orphan" state parties as well:

National Republicans have begun to intervene in a handful of key Senate and House battlegrounds where state parties are in disarray, seeking to head off the possibility that local mismanagement could cost the party control of Congress.

The GOP presidential nominee will be impacted by the state party woes, but what especially worries Republican operatives are those states where there is no competition on top of the ticket but which feature a number of pivotal Senate and House contests.

These “orphan states,” most notably behemoths with traditionally weak parties like California, Illinois and New York, are increasingly the focus of top GOP officials in the nation’s capital this spring.

The Republican National Committee is going to set aside at least $10 to $15 million to aid states where there are competitive House and Senate races but minimal presidential action, a party official tells POLITICO. That’s enough to blunt the GOP’s financial disadvantage in several states, though not to erase the disparity or put the orphan-state groups on par with their swing-state counterparts.

Half of the money will go to the states with hard-fought House contests, including the blue mega-states, and the other half will be directed to states like Montana and North Dakota, where there are crucial Senate battles.

Of course this is mostly about helping campaigns for Congress and US Senate in those states. In fact it was very much emphatic the level of help US House Speaker John Boenner wants to offer in those "orphan" states.

House Speaker John Boehner and the National Republican Congressional Committee are also stepping in to bolster the state GOP in a handful of the orphan states. By month’s end, Republicans aim to have six “Victory Centers” set up to help with turnout efforts in the six targeted House races in Illinois, according to a GOP aide. California and New York will also get special attention from the speaker, the NRCC and the RNC. There are at least 20 House races in those states that could help determine control of the lower chamber. In California and Illinois, the state parties have more debt than cash on hand for federal races, while the New York Republican Party had just $54,000 in federal funds in the bank at the end of February.

“Helping our House members in states like New York, California and Illinois — where we expect big union bosses and liberal Super PAC’s to invest heavily — is a top priority for the Speaker’s political team,” said Corey Fritz, a Boehner aide. “Each of these states presents a number of offensive and defensive races, and the Speaker is committed to ensuring our Republican members and challengers have the resources needed to win.”

You know I wish I knew what The Politico was referring to when they talk about open warfare amongst Republicans in Ohio.

It seems that way in some respects with Republicans in Illinois. The reason why I don't believe in "RINOs" is because of the dynamics of Illinois politics. Perhaps a conservative can win in this state but you have to be able to dial down your ideology for the political realities of Illinois' voters. You have to attract voters to your ideas but unfortunately here it's not advantageous to talk social issues. The right issues to discuss in Illinois is taxation & jobs for example. Of course the other side can always decide to inject the social issues into the race as a distraction but hey there's a way to stay on message surely.


BTW, another interesting story of Republicans out of the Illinois. Well in fact Cook County as written on Eric Zorn's blog:

The Cook County GOP currently doesn’t have a date to bring to the contest against incumbent State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Not even one candidate bothered to enter the March 20 primary, in which Alvarez ran unopposed on the Democratic ballot.

She looked unbeatable then. But no longer.

Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge Michael P. Toomin delivered a stinging rebuke to Alvarez and others who had been opposing the appointment of a special prosecutor to reinvestigate the murky, disquieting circumstances behind the death of David Koschman.

Koschman, 21, died in 2004 from a head injury he suffered during a drunken, wee-hours confrontation with a group that included then-Mayor Richard M. Daley’s nephew, Richard “R.J.” Vanecko.

No charges were filed in the case, which has been under renewed public scrutiny since a February, 2011, Sun-Times investigative series that challenged the conduct of police and prosecutors and implied that authorities had protected Vanecko because of his political connections.

It is, as I said, murky and disquieting.

And that gives me an opportunity to show this [VIDEO] which was shot four years ago. Our state's attorney who was running for that position in 2008 states her position on strict gun control. Sadly you could attempt to use this in a campaign ad, but not sure if it would resonate in Cook County.

BTW, reading the comments for Zorn's post it seems there aren't many who are happy with Alvarez. Not sure what this is about although to be honest I haven't exactly paid a whole lot of attention to the unforunate case involving former Mayor Daley's nephew.

All the same the fact that Alvarez doesn't have even a General Election opponent this year should DAMN the county GOP. Alas it probably is still difficult for a Republican to win that office even this year if at all. In the past however Jack O'Malley was a Republican who held the State's Attorney office until his defeat by Richard Devine back in the 1990s.

All the same what will it take to get the Republicans back on track in this state?