Politics: A GOP response to ‘Officegate’
NOTE: Matt Jones, a frequent commenter and Peoria Pundit critic, dropped the following missive into a comment at this post. Because of its length and the detail he provided, I thought it only fair to to make it a separate post:
As a member of the Central Committee for more than a decade or so, I was shocked (no pun intended) to hear for the first time about the rift on your blog. Unfortunately, no Republican had talked to me about their concerns before articulating them to you and your readers.
I am asking the County Chair to have a meeting of the entire central committee, meaning all of the precinct committeeman, and any other GOP in good standing (which pretty much means everybody except an obvious Dem.) to come to a special meeting to discuss things relative to your posts.
When we moved out of the LaHood offices several years ago on Knoxville, the primary reason I recall was a lack of space. We (the county party) had a small cramped room with a pseudo-separate entrance from Ray’s office. In order to conduct meetings, we had to borrow the key fro Ray’s staff to have access to an open space big enough to accommodate the 15 or so members of the central committee executive space. If we needed to do a mailing, again we had to borrow the key from Ray. Appropriately so, they began to balk at the number of people coming into and out of their no-longer-secure campaign space.
When we moved out to the new space, it was agreed that the two incumbent legislators we provide assistance to the county party through the rental of the space. [State Sen.] Dale [Risinger] has been incredibly supportive of the county party in this way and local candidates have enjoyed the benefits of having a place to do mailings, phone calls, print labels and walk lists etc. [State Rep.] Dave [Leitch] has likewise been supportive, although admittedly he maintains his primary campaign efforts elsewhere as he has done since being elected I think.
When Aaron decided to run, it was one of the primary benefits we could provide to him as a party, a conducive place to do campaign work. He has picked up his share of the legislative load financially and has made some wonderful improvements, specifically a color TV which is widely used both for keeping track of information but also as a way to wile away the tedious hours of folding, licking, stamping, stuffing etc.
Even when we’ve had primaries, which has been rare, each side has been free to use the common space, copy machine and computer, even the bulk mail permit. I think specifically of Johnna Ingersoll four years ago, (which occurred without complaint or incident) and I know that at least some of the city council candidates have used the site occasionally.
Let me say for the record, that after a decade-plus trying to build a stronger party, trying to get the legislators to work in concert to the benefit of local candidates, I find this all very disheartening. I hope we do not return to the bad old days where every elected official had their own thing going and no one came together for the common good. e.g. if someone were to challenge Dale Risinger in a primary, would we say that he had to move out (or the county party would have to) to avoid a conflict appearance? One of the folks who has supported local candidates through support of this facility for more than 4 years gets treated the same as someone who potentially had never walked a precinct for another Republican? Well if thats the test of conflict of interest purity, I guess I would fail.
Next, if Aaron has done something illegal per the FEC [Federal Election Commission], then file the charge, otherwise, the accusation is scurrilous. I will ask the Chair to look into this issue as well (as least as far as the collocation issue is concerned, if he used state resources for his federal campaign e.g. balloons and candy bars, I’m sure that will come out). I hope that you will provide equal treatment if and when it comes out that Aaron did buy his stuff with “federal†money. That would be the responsible thing to do.
Finally, who are these GOP power brokers lining up to propel Aaron against the will of the many? I’ve heard from no one urging me to back Aaron, save Aaron himself (just like I’ve heard from John and Jim). Has our most powerful politician Ray LaHood put out the bite for Aaron? No, he was willing to fight for his son’s nomination. Has Mary Alice Erickson, the state central committeeman made efforts for Aaron? When Ray contemplated a run for Governor two years ago, she was privately if not publicly supporting Jim McConoughey. Has Leitch or Risinger or Ardis or any high ranking GOP elected official launched a crusade for Aaron. No, all are letting the primary process work its way through. Sadly perhaps, the endorsement of the county chairman from Menard County (apologies if he/she is not one of them) do not amount to a lot of votes. So who are these mysterious GOP power brokers of which you speak and when can I get them to come to the central committee meeting so that we can get some republicans elected. I’ve got a yard sign location and precinct walk list with their name on it.
Finally, no one, not even the House Republican Caucus contributed “millions†to Aaron. Per the state web site, Tom Cross’ organization transferred roughly a third of the 3/4 of a million raised by Aaron in the run up to his last campaign to “hold onto†the seat. Ray LaHood contributed $15,000 and Leitch contributed $11,000. Add in 4 or 5 contributions over a $1,000 in total, the number of miffed Republicans over their squandered investment seems pretty small. So unless you’ve talked to Tom, Ray or Dave, I’m finding your assertion that “Republicans are miffed†to be less than credible. If you are correct, then I’d expect his fund raising numbers (and votes) to be miserable as Republicans express their disappoint with him. Time will tell.
Again sorry for the long post and when/if (since I don’t get to decide these things unilaterally) we have a central committeeman I’ll let you know for the sake of your GOP sources to be able to attend.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
Hey Matt… just wanted to give you a shout out. Don’t really have any comment other than keep up the good work!
Billy, I’m sorry you view me as primarily a critic. I guess I need to make sure I’m sharing the praise as well as the constructive criticism a little better.
Thanks for sharing the post with your readers. Hello Diane!
Billy thinks anyone who disagrees with him or corrects him is a critic.
Matt, Talk to Schock about the parade in Morton. He handed out full size candy bars and t-shirts…I guess Schock respect the little rules about the same as he does the big ones.
Interesting about the candy and t-shirts, because nearly every candidate (state and federal) does that at nearly every festival parade they go to, Lt. Ritter. I know for a fact that LaHood for example has always had candy at the parade (it goes primarily to kids along the street) and t-shirts for anyone willing to volunteer. Look around at the Morton parade, the Pekin parade, even Peoria’s Labor Day parade. Conspiracy? No. Flagrant violation of the laws? No. Not even a quid pro quo to win the votes of 8-year-olds everywhere.
I saw nothing wrong with what Schock handed out in Morton. I ate his candy bar which is why I couldn’t fit into his t-shirts. I still won’t vote for him (in the 18th race) unless the Dems put Slappy the Clown up agaisnt him….
Antipundit,
How can you make such a statement without fully understanding Slappy’s position on the issues. I think its absolutely ridiculous to vote solely on party. I knew Slappy the Clown, I served with Slappy the Clown, and let me tell you Antipundit Aaron Schock is no Slappy the Clown…
Slappy is one of my sources within the Democratic Party, and he assures me he is NOT running. Maybe in two years.
Hmmmmm… I figured that Slappy the Clown was Dick Versace. I must’ve been mixed up again.
C’mon Bill. Aaron doesn’t have to resort to financial chicanery. The NRCC is going to provide all sorts of financial support to hold their seat. Check out http://tpmelectioncentral.com/2007/09/report_gop_broke_expecting_to_lose_more_house_seats.php You gotta love the LaHood quote.
Ummm … Did you read it? The post says that the NRCC is broke. I would think would would increase the pressure on candidates like Schock to try to save cash and tap every dime he can.
Prego Man: Perhaps you are right:
He has the hair for it.
Sorry you missed my sarcasm. I hope that someone does investigate and either exonerates or finds evidence of wrongdoing. I believe that our legislators should be beyond reproach such as Caesar’s wife. Perhaps Schock’s financial relationship with Alexis Khazaam should be investigated.
[...] Not long after one Matt left, another stopped by: Matt Jones, a frequent commenter. We chatted about news, politics and the law. Matt’s a staunch GOPer and a supporter of Aaron Schock. We chatted a bit about the complexities of campaign finance regulations, a topic that he touched on his one and only post on Peoria Pundit. [...]