Illinois Right of Way Daily Says Candidate Dodge is Specter of Illinois
The Illinois Tea Party movement – from Joliet to Rockford to Springfield has some choices to make- but will they make them? Or will, as the Star Wars saying goes, choose the quicker, easier path? The Republican candidates tea party groups have to choose from are distinguished or undistinguished by their records:
It is obvious to everyone that Andy McKenna is an insider and that Jim Ryan is just typical establishment Republican party. McKenna’s outsider credentials begin and end with the word “outsider.” Most tea party supporters seems to be congregating around a few of the long-line of candidates: Adam Andrzejewski came out of the blue as a conservative to run for governor. Proft had a part-time gig on WLS and worked for convicted Cicero mob boss Betty Loren Maltese as a consultant but he says all the right things. Kirk Dillard is getting support of establishment Republicans but his record as a conservative isn’t quite there. Despite Bill Brady’s record, tea party groups seems to be opting for Adam Andrzejewski or Proft. Will it be enough to overtake McKenna’s bucks? We shall see.
The Illinois comptroller’s race is the nastiest race Illinois Right of Way Daily has seen. Longtime conservative activist and former executive director of the National Taxpayers United of Illinois, William J. Kelly, is opposing Jim Dodge and Judy Baar Topinka. Conservatives can’t stand Topinka so the street fighting has been between Dodge and Kelly. Illinois Right of Way Daily has taken a position on this race and finds the rumor campaign against Kelly by Dodge and his emmissaries at Champion News despicable. The latest rumor floating by Dodge-sponsored blogs is calling for an investigation of Kelly’s deceased father, a teacher who - scandal – saved his money. (Socialists beware, Kelly comes from a family of penny pinchers!) Mr. Dodge’s reputation in Orland is not a conservative and his record of financial support to Judy Baar Topinka and countless checks to Democrats show that he is not Tea Party material. His record of political hack jobs are exactly what the tea party movement says it is against.
Dodge says that the head of the PR firm that represents Kelly and U.S. Senate candidate Patrick Hughes donated to Topinka in 2006. But isn’t Dodge the candidate who gave money to Topinka? As for conservative credentials, the firm that represents Kelly is one of the few conserative PR firms in Illinois. (The firm has worked for presidential administrations going back to Nixon, President Reagn and has strong ties to national figures like former Governor Mitt Romney and Senator John Thune.) Tea Party groups need to call Dodge out on this hypocrisy. If some individual tea party groups are supporting Mr. Dodge, then they have not learned anything about politcs in the year the movement began. Kelly’s record as a tax activist is impressive and his criticisms of Mr. Dodge are based on the public record, rather than personal mud-slinging. If Kelly isn’t Tea Party, then no one could stand that high litmus test. Voting for Dodge over Kelly is like voting for McCain over Sarah Palin or for George Bush over Ronald Reagan or for Arlen Specter period. The choice for Tea Party supporters could not be more clear in this race.
As the U.S. Senate race in Illinois is concerned, the Illinois Tea party movement is divided in choosing to support one candidate in the race. However, some groups are behind conservative Patrick Hughes. Hughes’ principles and his financial support and organization make him a solid Tea Party choice to go up against the Democratic candidate in November. Mark Kirk has tried to muddy the waters with his switch on cap-and-trade but he got more than he bargained for when he messed with “tea.” The Illinois media has tried to prop Kirk up and will see if grassroots can make sure that Hughes comes out victorious. With the media’s slant on polls, the reliability of that information is anybody’s guess.
My final word to Tea Party groups and their supporters : You do yourselves a grave disservice by supporting candidates that engage in personal slurs and attacks instead of issues. Do not make the same mistake as the Republican party has been making for years and years and years and years and… years. Scott Brown’s win in Massachusetts was as much a win for the fight against socialism as it was against the politics of the past.
