How weak is the so-called “Party of Lincoln” in the “Land of Lincoln?”

What's the point of Party of Rauner?

It really shouldn’t be a wonder that Gov. Bruce Rauner isn’t willing to publicly denounce Republican congressional candidate Art Jones – a white supremacist who literally used to run around wearing Swastika armbands and pledging “Heil!” to Adolf Hitler.

Jones, who managed to win the Republican primary to run for Congress from the 3^rd Illinois district (Chicago's Southwest Side and surrounding suburbs) because no one else tried seeking the GOP nomination, is a political embarrassment.

What would Lincoln think of GOP?

NOT ONLY TO Chicago’s Southwest Side (he’s a reminder of those days of about four decades ago when the area around the city’s Marquette Park was home to many willing to see a role model in Hitler to try to scare off black people from moving anywhere near their neighborhood) or to Illinois.

But to the Republican Party themselves. Which is why Ted Cruz, the senator from Texas who made his own presidential bid two years ago and whom some consider somewhat of an embarrassment himself, came out recently with his cry denouncing Jones’ presence on his political party’s ballot.

If Rauner was competent, neither Jones ...

He came out and called Jones’ presence “horrific,” and said people should vote come Nov. 6 either to re-elect Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., or no one. Zero votes for Jones, is his goal.

Rauner’s response this week was something along the lines of telling Cruz to mind his own business. Personally, I have no problem with telling a Texan to, “Butt out!”

BUT I DON’T think it’s because Rauner really thinks people will pay that much attention to Cruz. Most likely, it’s because Cruz is scoring political points for himself by drawing direct attention to just how weak the Republican Party is in Illinois.

… nor McCann would be on ballot

It’s a party that literally couldn’t find a token candidate to bear the GOP banner back in March, and also couldn’t get itself organized enough to challenge the ballot status of Jones – who based on his past attempts at running for government office has a fringe campaign that isn’t capable of running a serious effort to win office.

But no matter how incompetent Team Jones IS this time around, it would seem that Team Rauner is even worse off.

Yes, I think it accurate to call the Illinois Republicans Team Rauner, largely because the only reason there is a Republican Party in our state is because of all his own money the governor has thrown in to prop up GOP candidates.

MOSTLY BECAUSE HE wants to have political allies to support his ideals for government. Yet what he has is a state Legislature solidly in opposition to him – one where as little as we think of Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, we think even less of “Governor Bruce.”

Which is why many of the would-be Republican partisans are thinking of shifting over to a third-party political candidate for governor – that of the newly-created Conservative Party that plans to run state Sen. Sam McCann, R-Plainview, for governor.

CRUZ: For once, Texas has a point

Considering how difficult it is for an outside entity to get itself on the ballot (there are too many political tricks that can kick political dreamers away), it ought to be considered further evidence of Illinois Republican ineptitude that McCann WILL challenge Rauner, along with Democrat J.B. Pritzker and Libertarian Kash Jackson.

It actually is sad that in Illinois, a place that likes to think it was influential (because of Lincoln) in creating the Republican Party, the GOP has become so inconsequential. To the point where outspoken Chicago Republican William Kelly, it could be said, wouldn't be any more inept if he ever were elected to office.

BUT THAT IS the status of our political scene, where it seems we have a Democratic Party that represents the two-thirds of the state population that views itself as urban, and another third that is rural and, in its isolation, seems quite confused.

KELLY: Would he be any worse than Rauner?

The “Party of Rauner” is one that doesn’t seem capable of accomplishing the tasks that, quite honestly, are a political party’s only reason for existing.

It makes me wonder what Rauner really thinks he has accomplished during his three years in office, and why he thinks anything would be significantly different for Illinois if he were to somehow miraculously be elected to a second term in office.

Unless, that is, if he can somehow write off all the money he put into Republican political candidates as a financial loss. Which would be exactly the kind of action I would expect from our federal government during this Age of Trump we’re now in.

  -30-