Illinois Issues: Old, but still Grand?

Sometimes I peruse the articles of Illinois Issues especially the archives starting in about 1975. It's a great window into the political climate of roughly the last 40 years here in this state. Then I find this article from this month's issue asking a question about how Republicans are faring in the current political climate.

The issue we see here is about how social issues fit. Republicans can't seem to adjust on this issue as much as the Democrats have even in this state. Some Illinois Republicans would dare say it's even difficult nationally. I must disagree with this however:

“If it turns out to be such a popular thing with exactly the constituency they need to appeal to — young people, Libertarians — the problem is that it violates the [Republicans’] whole family-values thing. The Democrats have this problem, too, but they’ve hung their hats less on social issues than the Republicans have. So it’s tough.\

Someone explain abortion to me! I consider myself pro-life, however, I do understand that people support Democratic candidates depending on the issue of abortion. Just as easily as people would support Republicans depending upon their stance on abortion. Is it that Democrats find this issue more tolerable than most. It's really the same way with gay marriage one party may support it more than others. This statement is quite agreeable however:

One significant difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans have a point of view and have always stood for something — limited government, lower taxes and the like. The Democratic Party is more of a composite of interests. That’s why the electorate’s evolving view on social issues has been so difficult for Republicans, Mooney says.

Some people may have a problem with the Democratic Party for that reason. If you ask me, I would blame the fact that the Democrats constituency is urban and urban areas have so-called political machines. In order to secure votes they really did have to cater to different groups of people if you want to see an example look no further than the book American Pharaoh which is the biography of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.

BTW, this gives me an opportunity to knock the idea of a "RINO". I like to often say if you live in a state like Alabama, Utah, Texas, or I would even dare say Pennsylvania or Ohio that's something that would hold water. However in a state like Illinois or others that have weak Republican organizations the last term that should be thrown about is RINO if you're already having trouble winning elections. Of course that's not to say they should accept anyone into their fold.

Anyway, the focus is on the next gubernatorial election next year. Who knows if the GOP can win that race and it certainly boils down to the right candidate. And it's often been stated that Democratic governance of this state has been abysmal starting with Ousted governor Rod Blagojevich and up through Gov. Pat Quinn. Somehow in both 2006 and 2010, Blago and Quinn were able to retain the Governor's office in their respective elections. Many people are still trying to figure out what the deal was.