« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

EDITOR OF REDSTATE

Illinois Republicans are Obligated to Vote Against Kirk Dillard

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  January 26th, 2010 at 11:45 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Triple P polling shows the GOP race for Illinois Governori si tight. Eight points seperate 5 candidates.

Surprisingly, the leader is Kirk Dillard. We must oppose him.

Dillard endorsed Barack Obama. He even shot a commercial for Obama. When McCain became the nominee for the GOP, Dillard shut up, but the record is still there.

We must oppose this guy.

I know folks in the McKenna camp. He’s a rather establishment fella, but not bad and would be much more acceptable than Dillard.

Then there is the intriguing choice of Adam Andrzejewski. He just got endorsed by Lech Walesa who said, “I applaud Mr. Andrzejewski’s commendable effort to bring real reform to politics. His insistence on transparency in public life is badly needed not only in the great state of Illinois, but in any democracy.”

Walesa also seems to feel Andrzejewski talks like Reagan. That’s a heck of a compliment.

Tags: , , ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • http://online.logcabin.org/about/ suzieQ

    At a time when the tea parties are gaining traction. At a time when the American people are turning against Maobama’s leftist agenda. At a time when dem congressmen are running scared. Why is it that the Obama supporter is in the lead? That alone should have vanquished him already.

  • IJB

    This is also how McCain was able to squeak through the 2008 Primary.

    In general, Primaries are best when there are just 2 or 3 high-profile candidates. But bad things can happen any time a primary is crowded with 5 or more legitimate candidates – the least desirable entrant can sneak through under these scenarios.

    Conservatives better coalesce around one of these candidates, and fast, or someone like Dillard could get through just on inertia…

  • http://rgeorgedunn.blogspot.com R. George Dunn

    Adam A. is known as the transparency advocate within the Illinois Legislature. There is not a better tool to reign in corruption then to make accounting public and to remove the second book accounting practice.

    Anyone who has that type of backbone will be the best thing to happen to Illinois, a land that produced Abe Lincoln, and whom has fallen to the likes of the Obama Alinsky crowd. Illinois can go a long way in saving this Nation by putting the breaks on the Chicago Mafia.

    Elect Adam as your next Governor, the common sense man for this tyrannical hour.

  • http://www.incredibleco.ning.com Incredible

    it’s pronounced Ann-gee-eff-ski (or Ann-G-F-Ski). Those of us that know that Chicago has the biggest Polish population outside of Warsaw maybe could’ve guessed the pronunciation. The rest of you, probably not so much.

    Now that that is out of the way, I will say that Adam comes from a very solid northern Illinois family. There will be no skeletons in his closet. If he is your candidate, Illinoisans, I would support that 100%.

    This is not an endorsement (not that anybody cares) and, since I’ve left, I don’t have a dog in this fight. Anything is better than Ryan/Blago/Quinn et al.

  • http://www.oboillinois.com/ gabehartwig

    McKenna is NOT an acceptable candidate. He was the GOP chair for the last 4 years and is partially responsible for the mess the IL GOP is currently in. On top of that, he’s moderate and has pending ethics investigations. Andrzejewski is the ideal candidate though Proft and Brady would also be acceptable. Unfortunately, the vote is split amongst them.

  • jmlinn16

    The guy is the best candidate. Give him some front page time, Erick.

  • proudgop

    is a mess

    I don’t have dog in fight

    Whats going on with the Dems Gov Race? The PPP poll shows Hynes ahead of Quinn by 1 %? I thought Quinn was far ahead?

    which one is easier for Republicans to face?

  • http://www.oboillinois.com/ gabehartwig

    I haven’t followed the Democrat race that closely but from what little I know, Quinn is ahead. Republican candidates’ internal polls are all over the place on who would be better to face in the general from what I’ve heard. If I had to take a guess I’d say Hynes would be better to face simply because of the name recognition that Quinn has. I could be completely wrong though.

  • http://www.oboillinois.com/ gabehartwig

    http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2010/01/sjr-reports-on-mckenna-ethics-investigation.html

  • allacrossamerica

    I have met both of these candidates several times so far. Herad all the competition complain how neither can win….I’m the guy…… I have the backing……I have the endorsements…..WELL, let me say

    I have worked as hard as I ever have in the last 9 plus months and I’ll be darned if I’m not going to vote for two of the people that represent EXACTLY what TEA s all about.

    Adam & Lowery are my two guys – NO DOUBT about it!!!!!!

  • Kyle-MI

    It would also help if one of the conservative candidates would take one for the team, i.e. quit and endorse one of the others.

  • jb13

    Thanks for writing about this, Erick. I hadn’t realized PPP had done a poll on this race. So I took a look at the numbers, and saw that Adam Andrzejewski has jumped up from the low single digits to 11 percent. That’s an incredible jump in just a few days/couple weeks! But I fear he’s being weighed down by the presence of Dan Proft, who is also contending for the Tea Party vote. If Proft were to drop out now, I suspect a large chunk of his support would naturally go to Andrzejewski, as I can’t see anyone who would vote for Proft migrating to establishment guys like Dillard, McKenna or Jim Ryan. It could be enough to put young Adam over the top in this divided field. Would it be too much to ask for you to lean on Mr. Proft a bit to see if maybe you could persuade him to read the tea leaves, as it were, and lend his support to Adam A.? If we want a real conservative in Illinois, who is untainted by the Combine (if you know Illinois politics, you know of what I speak), then Adam A. is really the only choice. I’d appreciate your help in bringing the state a real choice for governor in November. As a lifelong resident of what has become the Banana Republic of Illinois, I can tell you it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been able to actually vote for someone, not merely against his/her opponent.

  • Dr. Botkin

    is a strange state politically. Only rarely has anyone come to my door hawking a candidate. Republicans usually are virtually invisible. If the word about Dillard got out to the base he would be at the bottom of the polls, but with the combination of a progressive media and a dreadful Republican establishment, liberal hacks like Kirk Dillard make it under the radar. Illinois really suck$.

  • redneck_hippie

    suggestion. The 2 of them really should consider whether it might not make sense for one or the other of them to drop out after the next 2 debates and become each other’s running mate.

    WLSAM talk radio has a debate tomorrow at 4. pm you could hear live on the net.

    Another debate is also scheduled on tv (dates/times are listed on proft’s website.

  • joayn
  • joayn

    Donated – check out his internal polling results. Feedback?

  • joayn

    http://secure.yourpatriot.com/ServicesBeta/BulkMailPreview.aspx?b49mgLObDZrSc-rpuz7OeRePLO2_CdWV42N_1etCE-hVTY

  • Illinicon

    he has been a joke since becoming Governor and there is so much to beat him on the head with not even the IL GOP could blow it:

    - Supporting a special election to fill Obama’s seat before he didnt as Lieutant Governor.
    - The paroling of a few hundred prisoners, a good deal of whom nobody knows where they are.
    - Bringing GITMO North to Thomson.
    - His lack of any ideas on the budget crisis so far (why that Harold Washington ad as been so devastating)

    Quinn has in 2 weeks has lost a double-digit lead and all the momentum seems to be with Hynes, so I think we will get Hynes.

  • Illinicon

    you have to declare what primary you are voting in and it is public record for which ballot you choose, so it cuts down on crossover/independent voting compared to other “open” primary states.

  • http://www.unclebenstoys.com corbenrice

    Brady is the real Reagan conservative in this race. He is both socially and fiscally conservative. I will be voting for him.

    However, this is turning into a Judy B Topinka Primary again. Where the conservatives lose because they split the vote between 3 different conservatives. If just one real conservative dropped out and endorsed another I would vote for the person endorsed just to keep another moderate from losing us an election.

  • IL_Glock21

    …I could certainly see how Dillard’s support of Obama in the Democratic Primary could rankle the party’s base, among all sectors. It certainly wasn’t one of Romney’s pluses to have gone off the deep end with selling his liberal ties, associations, and policy positions when he tried to do a 180 on all of them for a national campaign in the GOP primaries. Within that context Dillard’s Obama ad pales in comparison, imo. Sucking up to the Blue State environment is no where near as bad as openly and proudly joining it as Romney had in many ways.

    Dillard certainly has some moderate stances here and there, but so too did Scott Brown who got heavy backing by independents in his blue state. Just doesn’t seem to be enough to rest an ‘abandon ship’ argument on.

    The alternatives listed just seemed painfully out of touch with Illinois Republicans. McKenna, fairly or not, is seen as mostly responsible for the woes of the party as of late… and his current ethics scandal does little to inspire confidence in all of the other voters he’ll have to win over in the general who have been burned by both GOP and Dem governors in and on their way to prison.

    Andrzejewski is more of a wild card. He says a lot of things people want to hear, but he makes Obama look over-qualified to “clean up Washington” in how completely devoid of any qualities, experience, resume, education, etc that would lead an objective observe to believe he would even have the first clue as to what he was doing. One need only look at the empty promises he’s trying to sell vets on…. as governor… promising to change VA behavior that would require federal Congress to change laws and the White House to implement as he promises. Either he’s failed or forgotten any civics courses he took back in high school… or he’s being that blatantly dishonest. With veterans of all people. Shameful.

    Brady is a fine pick, especially for social conservatives and those who want a downstate player in a high role in Springfield.

    Dillard has some issues that might rankle the “purify and purge” folks, but he’s generally tolerable in a Blue State… compared to Romney’s run at Blue State politics, he’ll probably come off like a saint.

    Ryan isn’t a bad candidate, but sadly the name recognition is probably what hurts him most, even though there’s no relation to the Governor Ryan currently in prison here. Perhaps it won’t hurt him as bad as last time given the current political environment, but it sure as heck isn’t going to help.

    That’s my 2 cents anyways. I saw being quoted on a local political blog and was shocked at how quickly and completely Dillard was dismissed for far pettier sins than Romney who was embraced anyways… and alternatives suggested were the two worst on the ticket. Just didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

  • http://www.mysimplehomegarden.com tbaleno

    I don’t know that it will help, but I sent $50.00 from the Great state of Massachusetts for all you Hughes IL people that helped us out.

  • redneck_hippie

    Andy McKenna 20%
    Jim Ryan 16%
    Kirk Dillard 13%
    Bill Brady 11%
    Adam Andrzejewski 11%
    Dan Proft 8%
    Some other candidate 4%
    Not sure 17%

  • http://www.voteforteri2010.com teridavisnewman

    I’ve been to MANY campaign events with Adam and he is really a good guy. He has a background in business and he’s not connected to the Chicago scum-iticians which is big with me because even though I am running for federal office, I still live in Illinois and I’d rather not see Kirk Dilliard as governor–he’s a RINO all the way–as is Mark Kirk who has some other flaws that remind me of Barney Frank’s shortcomings. The are both way too liberal for my taste but this is a personal opinion. Adam’s last name is correctly pronounced like this: Ann-G-F-Ski and don’t ask me how.

  • corbenrice

    I agree mostly with your analysis. However, I think you are being harsh on Adam. He is my second pick and not my first for the reasons you listed but I am convinced he would Govern with conservative principles. I also believe he is smart enough to quickly learn with on the job training. He also has the advantage in my mind of being totally untouched by IL politics.

    Ryan is a good candidate but he also has some scandal in his past, which is perhaps one of the reasons we have Obama in the first place. If he hadn’t left us scrambling at the last minute Obama would have had a much harder race.

    McKenna would be a train wreck. I would take moderate Dillard any day over him.

    In the end though Brady has my vote unless either Proft or Adam drop out and endorse the other.

  • jb13

    Hey, Corbenrice, sorry, but you’ve got the wrong Ryan. I know that Illinois politics was swimming in guys named Ryan in the not-so-distant past, but Jim Ryan (the former Illinois Attorney General who is now running for governor) is not the same Ryan that dropped out against Obama. That was Patrick Ryan, an investment banker not related to Jim, who is also not related to George, who was indicted and sent to jail. Patrick Ryan was bushwhacked by the Chicago Tribune which decided that it was terribly scandalous that the then-GOP nominee for US Senate had wanted to take his soon to be ex-wife, Jeri Ryan (of Star Trek: Voyager fame) to kinky sex clubs. The Trib played the story up huge with a banner headline reading BOMBSHELL, leading the Illinois GOP to overreact to the story and force Ryan out of the race.

    But the Ryan running for governor was the GOP’s nominee for governor in 2002 and lost to Blagojevich, largely as a result of being confused with George Ryan, who had just been indicted. And I guess you just inadvertently demonstrated that the name recognition problems continue.

  • corbenrice

    I was thinking of Patrick Ryan. All these Ryans from Chicago can get confusing.

  • IL_Glock21

    His (Andrzejewski’s) promises to veterans really irked me. If he honestly believes that as a State governor he will have control over federal bureaucracies then he is far too oblivious on basic civics to be an effectual leader in Illinois which requires a pretty solid understanding of the game to fight it. If he’s this clueless on basic government then he’ll get steamrolled by those who know every dirty trick in the game.

    If he’s actually aware that he can make no such promises to veterans and making them anyways, well… at least he’s being obvious about not being worth any decent person’s vote.

  • redneck_hippie

    WLSam.com sponsoring debate live from
    Chase Bank Auditorium
    10 S. Dearborn St., Chicago
    Live Broadcast on WLS 890-AM

    Just in case you don’t have enough political input in your lives, you can follow on the internet:

    http://wlsam.com/article.asp?id=152352

    I’m listening live to Pat Huges there right now.

    Note: Andy McK will not be participating today, nor did he have time in his schedule for the debate on WTTW yesterday.

  • wardjh

    while the comments on the GOP candidates are excellent, and the positioning against whatever candidate the Dems come up with are no doubt good, do not forget this one thing:

    This is a Democrat State, run by the most corrupt political machines (yes there are more than one) and headquartered in a very Democrat city that contains more population and votes than anywhere else in the state.

    I see no hope for a GOP candidate to win, unless he is a Democrat Lite.

  • redneck_hippie

    Not too busy. Too Scared.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M7QBjdL-SQ

  • corbenrice

    I totally understand that veteran issues are one your most important issues and Adam does seem to not understand a Governor?s role.

    However, experience in politics is just what Illinois has had for so long and in my opinion, it wouldn?t hurt to get some brash new blood in the system. I am far from an apologist for Adam but I would not be sad if he was elected. We could use someone willing to fight the status quo and the long held assumptions made by politicians.

    As a side question since you know quite a bit about veteran issues, does the Governor have any control over national guard veteran issues?

  • IL_Glock21

    …that are additional benefits to the various applicable federal programs. The NG has various benefits through the VA depending on their status while serving, but those programs are still entirely under the control of the feds.

  • cringinghere

    McKenna is the worst of the candidates. He’s ethically challenged, connected to all the Democrat crooks, as Party Chair he presided over the loss to this party of EVERY major office, and he’s refused to enter any of the debates with the other candidates.

    The only good choices are Dan Proft or Adam Andrzejewski. I go with Proft because he has the back bone to smack Springfield around. I fear Adam is a bit too naive and will be eaten alive by Chicago.

    As to the other horrible candidates: Jim Ryan is against our Constitutional rights, Andy McKenna is a crook, Kirk Dillard is a squish, and Bill Brady is an empty suit.