R.I.P. Gov. 'Big' Jim Thompson (R-Ill)

[VIDEO] It's not really often that I follow Illinois politics on this blog, however, today is will be a change of pace. James R. Thompson also referred to as Big Jim Thompson passed away on Friday. He was the longest serving Governor of Illinois to date from 1977 to 1991 - a Republican - some of you may know him from serving on the 9/11 Commission.

I had a post on this blog from a while back where I shared a photo of the remains of a long gone Black soul food restaurant. The owner of that restaurant was honored in a resolution from the Illinois General Assembly which noted the many luminaries who went to eat there. One of those individuals was Big Jim Thompson.

One would be surprised what so-called luminary you might be able to find at your local eateries. This for whatever reason stuck out at me, a Republican governor coming into a Black neighborhood to eat. I have to say I've heard this man had some great retail political skills and knew how to work a crowd.

My 1981 story of How Big Jim, booed at first, turned a massive labor rally at the Statehouse his way, and invited all to the Mansion for a beer...He could work a crowd pic.twitter.com/uJE7ONz2oa

— Bernie Schoenburg (@bschoenburg) August 16, 2020

Here's a post I shared in 2013, and something I found over at CapFax. It showed that maybe if Thompson wanted to run for governor again, perhaps he could win. Perhaps he should've, however, little did we know how times have changed. They definitely had in 2020....

And just going through that 3 minute video from our local CBS affiliate, former Governor Thompson was really something else. I could hardly imagine a Republican let alone quite a few Democrats giving a rousing speech at a Black church like he had. Even I had to say oh my goodness.

Either way I was too young to really appreciate his contributions to this state, but if I may go to Rich Miller's comments from his blog in 2013:

Yeah, he made his share of mistakes, kicked his share of cans down the road. I could give you a very long list of all of that. But, man, the dude was a giant, and he loved every square inch of this state and had the skills to make his visions a reality.

This used to be a great state. We still are in many respects, but we’ve slipped partly because we’ve completely lost our confidence - and for good reason. Too many clueless governors and voters. Too much inertia, partisan and otherwise. Not enough vision.

I don’t know about you, but, personally, I’d vote for Big Jim if he ran again. This is exactly the sort of leader we so desperately need in Illinois right now.

Another thing I saw in his post, which is necessary today as we have two years before deciding who'll be Governor of Illinois:

If you want to see what a successful Illinois Republican is - not some ideologically embittered hyperpartisan - then you have to go no further than Big Jim Thompson.

Elected four times as governor, Thompson embodied Illinois Republicanism. Tough, accomplished, governing-focused and pro-business but with a decidedly humane and moderate face.

That causes me to wonder what is an Illinois Democrat. As far as clueless governors, yeah more than a few of those in this century. We need someone with a vision and someone who can help restore this state''s confidence. Illinois is a great state, and it can be again.

Perhaps in this time of uncertainty perhaps Illinois will regain it. Perhaps we need another version of Jim Thompson. Who will that person be? When will he emerge?