I read the Nov. 6 editorial “Stick a fork in the Illinois GOP” and got a good giggle out of it.
It makes some very valid points on getting fresh faces into the GOP in Illinois. And I, as a registered Republican who voted for six Libertarians Nov. 5, would welcome it.
The last paragraph of the editorial is right on the money: “Maybe that lineup will produce superb legislation, balanced budgets, low taxes and a Republican Party eating even more humble pie than it did Tuesday. Failing that, there’s always 2004.”
There is always another election, and it seems it always has someone eating humble pie.
While the GOP in Illinois needs to learn a few things from the last four years and from Nov. 5, the Democrats should also be paying attention. The Downstate vote helped Rod Blagojevich win office, but it’s a traditionally Republican vote. If he, with full control in Springfield, doesn’t deliver on his promises in the first two years, he may find a lot of GOP folks back in the capital in two years, which could make him a one-term wonder.
I honestly believe that he will be a one-term wonder because there is no way to hold his promise not to raise taxes, fix the screwed-up educational funding issues, balance the budget and pay back all of the folks he owes after this election. Once the Downstate folks and, to a lesser extent, the people in the collar counties, realize they elected a mayor for the State of Chicago, instead of a governor for Illinois, it’ll be ugly. We’ll see who eats that humble pie.
