"Calibration Issue" Causing Votes To Switch Parties In Early Voting?

From the Illinois Republican GOTV effort:

If this happens to you, or if you see anything suspicious at your polling place, report it ASAP to TIPS@ilgop.org.

Our take?

The Best *We* Can Do Is Ted Cruz?

Throughout the campaign, Pat Quinn and his team have big stars coming to town to raise money and try to save them:  VP Joe Biden, Flotus Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, President Obama...hell...even Bubba himself Bill Clinton is coming to town.

And who do we, as Republicans have?  We've been fortunate to have Chris Christie show up a few times and that's great.  But who else?  Jeb came once?

And...now there's news that Senator Ted Cruz is coming but not really here to support candidates running for office.  

Tea Party Senator Ted Cruz will be in Lincoln Park next week to ramp up the local Republican cause. 

Cruz is scheduled to attend a breakfast fundraiser held by the 43rd Ward Republicans Oct. 22 at DePaul University's Cortelyou Commons. 

"He’s a very, very hard-working guy, and he’s willing to do this kind of thing, which speaks well of him," said 43rd Ward Republicans Committeeman Christopher Cleveland. "Who would think that a national figure would come help a ward organization like this?"

Really?  Ted Cruz.  Really?

Well...here's our take:

Where are *our* stars?  Do they exist?  Would Dubya be a draw?  Have to think so.  What about Rudy?  Too busy making loads of money in private life?  (That hasn't slowed Bubba down?!?)

What Are You Doing This Weekend To Help Us Win In November?

Everywhere you turn in Illinois RIGHT NOW, there is a good candidate that is in a tough race that needs your help.

Here at the Truth Team think it is time to put our feet where our mouths have been all summer:  let's get out there this weekend and help these good candidates reach voters.

Don't know where to turn?  Sign up here: http://www.onerepublican.gop/ and the fine folks from the Illinois Republican Party field effort will be in touch with details.

Let's get after it this weekend, folks!  

These Are The Five Issues That Matter For Us As Republicans

As party members here at the Illinois Truth Team, we have to tell you that we're impressed with the job that Tim Schneider has done as the Illinois Republican Party Chairman.

He's organized the effort, stayed out of trouble, and importantly....he's outlined the issues that matter most and ones that - we as Republicans can win on.

The thing we like about Schneider's list is that it is simple.  It is easy to understand.  It is easy to remember.  This is what the ILGOP is all about.

That's the story we need to get across in these last 30-somdthing days.

The 5 priorities of the ILGOP and candidates:

• Lower Taxes
• Less Wasteful Spending
• A Booming Economy
• Term Limits
• A Quality Education For Your Kids

Check out the video below (courtesy of the Sun-Times) where Schneider lists the priorities:

40 Days Until Election Day - Get Involved!

There's just 40 days left until we elect a new Governor, new State Treasurer and a bunch of important races in Congress and the State House.




What are you doing to make a difference?

If you haven't already head over to http://www.onerepublican.gop/ where the Illinois Republican Party is collecting volunteer information to put together a GOTV program that will make a difference on November 4th.

ILGOP 'Hyperlapse's' The Weekend

Neat stuff out of the Illinois Republican Party's Facebook wall as they've started to use the new Hyperlapse feature out of Instagram to show a unique look at a series of rallies around the State of Illinois.

Glad to see the State Party using new tools to connect with voters.

Check these out:

Post by Illinois Republican Party.

Post by Illinois Republican Party.

Illinois Republican Women Kick Off Bus Tour Today

The Illinois Federation of Republican Women are getting out and meeting voters with the candidates in a series of six stops over the next two days.  Get out and try to meet the bus as it arrives if you are close to one of the stops listed.  The schedule is:

September 12:
10:00 a.m. – Kankakee at the Old Train Station, 197 S. East Avenue
2:00 p.m. – Moline, Browning Park, 2140 16th Street
5:00 p.m. – Peoria on the Riverfront, 601 Water Street

September 13:
9:00 a.m. – Murphysboro – Meet and Greet at GOP Headquarters & Handshaking along the Apple Festival Route
3:00 p.m. – Champaign – Annual GOP Fall Festival
6:30 p.m. – Naperville – Mullen’s at 3080 Warrenville Road for a Meet & Greet

And here's a few shots of the bus they'll be touring on:

Schneider: Callis and Frerichs Owe High School An Apology

As we covered last week, Democrat candidate for Congress Ann Callis and Democrat Candidate for Illinois State Treasurer Mike Frerichs have been pulled into a voter registration scandal down in Champaign.

ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider is now calling for both candidates - Callis and Frerichs - to publicly apologize for delivering this 'black eye' on what was supposed to be a wonderful, important event for high schoolers registering to vote for the first time.

“Callis and Frerichs owe Champaign Central High School an apology for injecting their own partisan politics into these students' first engagement with citizen democracy,” said Tim Schneider, Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.

We couldn't agree more.  This was a shameful move by desperate politicians.  We'll be joining Chairman Schneider and launching a petition to call on these two to step and set the record straight.

Stay tuned for that soon!

Imagine That: Illinois Republicans Say They're "Courting Voters"

Instead of say...turning voters off?

We think this is a grand idea.  Refreshing to hear that Chairman Tim Schneider of the Illinois Republican Party is on-board with 'courting voters'.  As a party, we need all the votes we can get!

The head of the Illinois Republican Party says they are actively courting voters they haven’t in the past. Tim Schneider says they’re making a more concerted effort to reach out to women voters in the Chicago suburbs – and statewide – along with minority voters. 

“In the past we haven’t gone into those communities and worked hard to engage them and into our policies and our practices and I think we’re doing a much better job in this election,” said Schneider.

Here's the full report we put in a YouTube clip:

Representative Ed Sullivan Secures Leadership Spot for ILHOUSEGOP

Hearty congrats to State Representative Ed Sullivan Jr on being named to the Leadership Team for the Illinois House Republican Caucus.  He replaces retiring Representative JoAnn Osmond.

From the Illinois Review:

House Republican Leader Jim Durkin on Monday selected Ed Sullivan Jr. (R-Mundelein) to the Illinois House Republican Leadership Team. Sullivan will take the spot left vacant by JoAnn Osmond who recently retired. 

“Ed Sullivan has done a great job as one of our floor leaders and is always eager to help members of our caucus,” said Durkin. “He has been willing to travel across the state to show support for other members and is often called upon for his advice.” 

The leadership team is responsible for developing an agenda for the caucus; working through controversial issues and guiding other members.

ILGOP Chair Sets Deadline for Mike Frerichs and John Cullerton To Come Clean

This #FOIAGate story just won't go away.  Shame for Mike Frerichs.  Good for us here at the Truth Team.  (as an aside...we can't really believe our good luck that Frerichs' campaign doesn't understand that the longer they keep this issue alive, the worse it gets for them...)

With this story going into it's second week, we have to wonder, what exactly is Mike Frerichs and his campaign hiding?  Must be some nasty stuff for him to stonewall voters from seeing what he's been up to in the Illinois State Senate.  

Now, Tim Schneider, the Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party has set a deadline for Mike and his crony John Cullerton to come clean:  he's given them 7 days to release the public information before they turn to the Attorney General.

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider today again called upon Democrat State Senator Mike Frerichs and Senate President John Cullerton to release records as required under the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA). To date, release of these records has been denied. 

Speaker Mike Madigan has already released nearly identical data on Representative Tom Cross, as requested by the Frerichs campaign. 

“The simple question everyone is asking right now is what is Mike Frerichs hiding?” said Schneider. “Taxpayers have every right to see how their tax dollars are spent, but Mike Frerichs and his powerful allies in state government continue to block public access to these records. Why?” 

If the records are not released in seven days - by Monday, July 7 - the party will work with the FOIA filer to submit an official Request for Review of the denial with Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office, as set in state law. 

The FOIA requests detail how Frerichs has spent hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in office – important information to know for a candidate running for state treasurer – and to disclose what role he may have had in the scandal-plagued Neighborhood Recovery Initiative and possible illegal hiring at the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Repeated requests have been denied by the FOIA officer representing Senate President John Cullerton. Cullerton donated $50,000 to Frerichs’ campaign in March, 2014.

Talk about great campaign 'optics', right?  A campaign is fighting to keep information out of the public's hands?  Fits into a pattern, doesn't it?   The voters love to hear about candidates who refuse to release info.

Pat Fee Picked For Board of National Federation of Republican Women

Pat Fee - who ran against Stephanie Kifowit for State Representative last cycle has been named to the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW) for the 2014-2015 term.

She's building quite the Republican resume and has become a strong voice for women inside both the Illinois Republican Party and women across the State of Illinois.  

From a press release:

NFRW President Kathy Brugger has appointed Patricia Fee of Naperville to the Women’s Leadership Development Committee, which is responsible for the training of the women of NFRW to enable them to become the strong leaders of tomorrow to accomplish these goals.

“The NFRW is focused on reclaiming the U.S. Senate and increasing Republican victories at the state and local levels in November,” Brugger said. “We are pleased that Pat is going to play a key role in this effort by sharing her talents and ideas with our members across the nation.”

Pat currently is the First Vice President, Illinois Federation of Republican Women.President of the Illinois Republican Woman’s PAC
Chairwoman of Women for Cross, Treasurer Candidate, Illinois
Former Candidate for the Illinois House of Representatives, 84th District/2012

Founded in 1938, the NFRW has thousands of active members in local clubs across the nation and in several U.S. territories, making it one of the largest women’s political organizations in the country. The grassroots organization works to promote the principles and objectives of the Republican Party, elect Republican candidates, inform the public through political education and activity, and increase the effectiveness of women in the cause of good government.

Illinois Democrats Unite: Let's Talk About More Taxes, Baby!

Over the course of the past seven days, one thing has become clear:  Illinois Democrats, lead by Governor Pat Quinn, Speaker Mike Madigan, and Senator Mike Frerichs are absolutely possessed by one uniting factor:  the unquenchable need for more taxes.

From the ILGOP where they're calling it the "Democrat Tax Obsession":

In the past week alone, Illinois Democrats announced three separate tax hike proposals to increase the burden on Illinois families. The one common theme: soak the taxpayers. 

“It’s clear that the Democrats have one goal in mind – more government spending ahead of November’s election,” said Jack Dorgan, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party. “For the sake of the people who actually have to pay these taxes, the need for Republican balance in Illinois has never been more clear.” 

“Illinois has two paths forward: a government controlled by Democrats that soaks the taxpayers as a first and only option, or electing Republican leaders who believe in truly reforming this broken system,” Dorgan said. “We need to create a business climate that creates good-paying jobs for working families, not simply raise taxes with no thought on the spending side or the impact on jobs.”

Sign Our Petition: Susanne Atanus Needs To Go

Thank you to those readers who have already committed to the cause of demanding Congressional Candidate Susanne Atanus to step down from the ballot.   The very future of the ILGOP demands action today.

If you haven't signed on, click here to put your name on the petition.

Sorry, Cokie. We Still Have One "Yahoo" On The Ballot in Illinois

And her name is Susanne Atanus.  Back in the primary, we called for her to 'go'.

The Sun-Times has a post up on Early & Often that includes video of ABC News Cokie Roberts - who says that the prospects for the Republican Party are much better because we've done a better job of finding better candidates.  Or...as she put it:

We're 'doing "a much better job" of not electing "yahoos" in congressional primaries.'

You can go check out the video at the Sun-Times here.

The problem?  We still have a yahoo.  In fact, a big one.  Her name is Susanne Atanus.  And she won the Illinois Republican Primary to take on Jan Schakowsky for Congress.  You can see our early coverage of Susanne Atanus here.

We add our voice to the list of folks who have asked her to step down.  Kudos to Jack Dorgan for saying this about Atanus:

The offensive statements by Susanne Atanus have no place in the modern political debate, and she has no place on the ballot as a Republican. Her candidacy is neither supported nor endorsed by the leaders of our party, and she should withdraw from the race immediately.

Now lets do one better.  Let's get active.

Do you agree that Susanne Atanus has to go?  For the good of the Illinois Republican Party and for all of our candidates up and down the ballot, we ask you to sign our petition.  Stand with the Truth Team!

Illinois *Can Be* Next. With the Right Candidates

With their last megaphone (The Sunday Editorial pages) here, the Chicago Tribune tried to - once again - alert Illinois Republicans to take action on Tuesday.  

There's nothing but the future of our our party at stake, guys.

From the Tribune:  

If you're a Republican, though, Tuesday's election is about nothing less than the future of your party — and of Illinois. Democrats dominate Illinois politics because they've shaped messages that attracted the most voters. Given the state of this state — its economy, its public finances — many of those Democrats should be vulnerable. But Republicans haven't consistently offered voters strong candidates pushing strong alternatives to the status quo.

We couldn't agree more.  We're reminding voters to cast their ballots for these three on Tuesday.

Ron Sandack for State Representative
Ed Sullivan Jr. for State Representative
Doug Truax for United States Senate

The Little Red Porsche in the Illinois Governor's Race

Has to be tough for a candidate when one of the top reporters covering the race can't even seem to manage to get his story straight.

In a question in last night's debate, the four candidates were asked what their biggest 'splurge purchase' has been.

From the Quad City Times:

The four Republican candidates running for Illinois governor are revealing their biggest personal purchases during a campaign that's focused largely on the state's fiscal problems. 

Businessman Bruce Rauner says he splurged during a trip to Italy and bought his wife a nice dress. State Treasurer Dan Rutherford says his home in Chenoa. State Sen. Bill Brady says he bought his wife a red Porsche convertible, while state Sen. Kirk Dillard says his was a crystal chandelier.

The Sun-Times Natasha Koreki took note of the Brady purchase.  And Tweeted it.

 And...if you look closely, you'll see that she got an enthusiastic Re-Tweet from her editor Jim Kirk.

The problem?  Pat Brady isn't running for Governor.  That would be Bill Brady.

US Senate Candidate Jim Oberweis Skips Town - Confident in Primary Victory?

News percolating out of the US Senate GOP Primary here in Illinois has that despite his best efforts - and impeccable credentials - Republican Candidate Doug Truax can't quite seem to overcome the name recognition and polling lead of his rival Jim "The Milkman" Oberweis.

As any candidate with what appears to be such a sizeable lead would do, Oberweis hasn't really directly engaged with Doug Truax.  He's appeared 'above it all'.

Now, however, it seems that Jim Oberweis isn't even interested in being around Illinois in the run-up to the Primary Election next week.

From the Sun-Times story entitled:  'Arrogant' Oberweis in Florida days before U.S. Senate primary:

U.S. Senate hopeful Jim Oberweis' opponent on Tuesday called the dairy magnate an "arrogant" "timid snowbird" for skipping out on debates and heading to Florida less than a week before the Illinois primary.

Oberweis' Republican primary opponent, West Point grad and Army veteran Doug Truax, said Oberweis, a state senator from Oswego, was disrespecting voters by leaving the state just before Tuesday's primary.

Our take on what appears to be the 'ultimate 1%-er' ILGOP Ticket?

Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn on ILGOP: Stop Fighting Yesterday's War

We've long talked here on the Truth Team about how we 'grow' the ILGOP and how we're supporting candidates who are doing just that:  making moves to ensure the Republican Party in Illinois survives.  There are others who aren't interested in growing the party.

Those 'platform Republicans' as they like to be called would have the smallest, most pure Republican party that would surely win a ton of arguments but loose a ton of elections.

Using the Ron Sandack/Keith Matune slugfest as the prism to examine how the ILGOP can move forward, Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn put (pardon the usage...) a 'fine line' on it:

What's pathetic is that all the righteous venom is in the service of an ultimately lost cause. Gay marriage is here, it's fast spreading beyond Illinois, and the sooner the so-called "pro-family" groups and perpetually seething activists who have focused their money and wrath on this DuPage County district get their minds around this fact and stop fighting yesterday's war, the sooner the GOP will emerge into the 21st century.

"Name That Tune" - 2014 GOP Governor's Race Theme Songs

Posted by: The Ghost of Babe Woodyard

Every campaign, like every sports movie worth a darn, needs a good theme song. Clinton had Fleetwood Mac belting out “Don’t Stop”, Kerry and Obama had some lousy Springsteen songs, McCain thankfully had Mellencamp, while Richard Nixon had maybe the strangest of them all with “Nixon Now”.

“Making dreams reality, more than ever Nixon now for you and me”

I love it, its on my ipod. 

But it got me thinking, no one in the race for Governor here in Illinois is using a hot song for their campaign this year.

 So I thought I will lend my years of expertise in the music/political industry to some of the candidates out there and hit them up with song ideas. If they don’t take my advice I won’t be hurt. Not the first time. But let it be known if I hear my song pick on the trail I will want royalties as well as the band.

Kirk Dillard

Kirk is kind of all over the place these days, the only place he is not is leading the polls. For him, Man in the Mirror by MJ. Not only was his presidential candidate for change, he too has changed into a super conservative right winger.

I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change

Bill Brady

Bill is charging hard and though Dillard wants him out of the race, we like Bill right where he is. And Bill can’t be too upset about it either. With no money he is all of a sudden a serious challenger to a guy with all the $$. For Bill, I like Here Comes the Hotstepper by Ini Kamoze. Bill Brady is the Hotstepper right now, if that is a real thing. Don’t turn around Bruce because here come the Hotstepper!

Start like a jackrabbit, finish in front of it
 On the night is jack , that's it, understand? I'm the daddy of the mack daddy, his are left in gold, maybe Ain't no homie gonna play me, top celebrity man

Dan Rutherford

Dan has had a rough go of it recently. So I think he needs something on the trail that would not only pump him up but cheer him up before that big speech. And for that I think Melissa Etheridge belting out Come to my Window would do the trick.

Come to my window
Crawl inside, wait by the light
Of the moon
Come to my window
I'll be home soon

Bruce Rauner

A promise to Hammer and Shake up Springfield, and a bank account you can’t touch. So I am going with MC Hammer, You Can’t Touch This. This pick is mostly on the fact that I don’t think any of the other challengers are going to touch him during the primary, not that I think he campaign will end as painfully as the great rappers career.

You can't touch this
You can't touch this
You can't touch this
You can't touch this
You can't touch this

P.S. Bruce I have an idea about manufacturing parachute pants again, just need some investors. Call me.