Important questions to ask IRP SCC candidates
By Dave Diersen GOPUSA Illinois Editor
April 1, 2006

BACKGROUND

The Illinois Republican Party (IRP) State Central Committee (SCC) is the legal representative and the governing body of the IRP. It is charged with the duty of organizing and promoting IRP's operations. It consists of 19 people, one from each of Illinois' 19 congressional districts. They are elected for 4-year terms by the precinct, township, and/or ward committeemen in each of the 19 districts at biennial county conventions. All of the 19 SCC positions will be up for election on April 19, 2006. Contact information for current SCC members is at: http://www.ilgop.org/directory/contentview.asp?c=1691. The IRP election rules are posted in PDF format on the Files page of www.gopillinois.com. At 5:00 PM on Friday, March 31, the IRP posted the names of the SCC candidates at: http://www.ilgop.org/news/contentview.asp?c=32686.

QUESTIONS:

-- Why are you running for a SCC position and why should you be elected?

-- What are your most important qualifications to serve as a SCC member?

-- If you are elected, what are the most important things you would want to accomplish?

-- Which individuals and which organizations are encouraging you to run?

-- Which individuals and organizations have endorsed your candidacy?

-- Who did you endorse for governor in the 2006 primary? Why?

-- If you are elected, who would you appoint as your Deputy?

-- If you are elected, who will you vote for to be IRP's next Chairman at the May 13 reorganization meeting? Why?

-- Bob Kjellander has tremendous influence over the IRP, over Chairman McKenna, and over the SCC. Do you favor or oppose Kjellander stepping down as IRP National Committeeman? Why? If Kjellander stepped down, who would you want to replace him? Why?

-- Kjellander has tremendous influence over the IRP, over Chairman McKenna, and over the SCC. If you acknowledge that you favor his stepping down as IRP National Committeeman, how would advance proposals in the SCC that he opposes?

-- What is your opinion of the IRP's enforcement of its ethics rules and its enforcement of its code of campaign conduct?

-- IRP SCC meetings are open to Illinois Republicans. Do you favor or oppose encouraging Illinois Republicans to attend SCC meetings including the May 13 reorganization meeting? Why? Will you ask Chairman McKenna to include a public comment period in the agenda for SCC meetings? If not, why not?

-- Why isn't information on SCC elections and the May 13 reorganization meeting posted on the IRP website and emailed to Illinois Republicans who have signed up to receive IRP emails? Will you ask Chairman McKenna to post that information on the IRP website and include that information in an email to Illinois Republicans who have signed up to receive IRP emails? If not, why not?

-- Do you favor posting more information on the IRP website concerning SCC meetings such as meeting dates, times, and locations and summaries of meeting agendas and minutes? If not, why not?

-- Chairman McKenna set out his plans for improving the IRP in his November 15, 2004 memo to Congressmen LaHood and Kirk. What is your opinion of those plans and the progress that he has made so far in carrying them out?

-- What is your opinion of Chairman McKenna's leadership of the IRP so far? What advice have you given him?

-- What is IRP's financial condition, that is, what are its financial assets, what are its financial liabilities, how much money did it raise and spend in 2005, and how much money has it raised and spent so far in 2006? Which individuals and organizations have donated the most money so far in 2006? Which types of expenses have been the greatest so far in 2006?

-- According to IRP's budget, how much money does the IRP plan to raise during 2006? How much money does IRP plan to spend during 2006 and on what major expense categories? Is the IRP meeting its budget? If not, why not?

-- What were the results of the most recent biannual audit required by Article III, Section E of the IRP by-laws? Have any questions been raised about IRP financial disclosure filings? If so, what are they and how were they resolved?

-- Who is the Chairman of and who are the members of the Finance Committee, the Campaign Support Committee, and the Chairman's Advisory Committee? What other committees and temporary task forces have Chairman McKenna established?

-- Judy Baar Topinka is the Chairman Emeritus of the IRP. What is your response to her extremely harsh criticism of SCC members and her extremely harsh criticism of SCC decisions, especially SCC's decision to fill the Jack Ryan vacancy with Alan Keyes instead of Jim Oberweis?

-- What criteria does the IRP use to qualify an organization as being "allied" with the IRP?

-- If you are a SCC incumbent, what do you consider to be your most important accomplishments on the SCC; how long have you served as a SCC member; in recent years, how often have you missed a SCC meeting and what is the main reason why you might miss a SCC meeting; when you began serving on the SCC, were you elected by Republican primary voters, elected by Republican precinct committeemen, or appointed to fill a vacancy; who, if anyone, ran against you when you ran for the position in 2002; who were the people who encouraged you to run for the position in 2002; which SCC committees and temporary task forces have you volunteered to serve on; and which of those committees and task forces do you serve on? If none, why?

-- All votes taken by the SCC must be weighted according to the number of Republican ballots cast in your congressional district in the most recent primary election. How many Republican ballots were cast in your district and statewide in the 2006 primary election and what is your percentage weighted vote? In the 2004 primary election, more Republican ballots were cast in District 16 than in any other congressional district. What are the main reasons why more Republican primary ballots were not cast in your congressional district in the 2006 primary election?

-- What do you do to help elect Republicans in your precinct, in your township and/or ward, in your county, in your district, in Illinois, in America?

-- The SCC position is unpaid. Do you have the necessary time, money, and motivation to do the job right? Please explain.

-- If you are an incumbent, did you vote for or against replacing Gary McDougal with Judy Baar Topinka? Why? Who did you vote for to fill the Jack Ryan and Judy Baar Topinka vacancies? Why? If you did not vote for Jim Oberweis to fill the Jack Ryan vacancy, why?Why didn't the SCC fill the Jack Ryan vacancy with Jim Oberweis? Who did you vote for to fill the Judy Baar Topinka vacancy? Why?

-- If Illinois returned to direct election of Republican SCC members, would you continue to seek the position? Why? Do you have the necessary time to run a district-wide campaign for the position? Do you have the necessary money to run a district-wide campaign, and if not, could you raise that money?

-- How familiar are you with the township and/or ward, county, Illinois, and federal elected officials who represent your district? How do you obtain and maintain that familiarity?

-- How familiar are you with individuals who are a candidate or are exploring the possibility of becoming a candidate for township, county, Illinois, and federal offices that represent your district? How do you obtain and maintain that familiarity?

-- What criteria do you use, does your congressman use, does your county party chairmen use, and does your township and/or ward party chairmen use to determine which primary candidate to support?

-- Do you regularly attend events hosted by your township and/or ward party, your county party, your district party, and the IRP? If not, why not?

-- If you are elected, would you distribute newsletters to Republican elected officials and party leaders in your district? What type of information would you include in those newsletters?

-- What have you done to help raise funds for your township and/or ward party, your county party, your district party, the IRP, and the national Republican Party?

-- What seminars and training classes have you attended that help you help elect Republicans?

-- What other positions do you hold in Republican organizations?

-- Do you reject the argument that leaders of Republican organizations should be allowed to show favoritism to those who show blind loyalty to them personally and to punish everyone else? If you do not reject that argument, why not?

-- What role did you play in the May 14-15, 2004 IRP convention?

-- What improvements would you like to see made to the IRP website, your district party website, your county party website, and your township and/or ward website?

-- Do you have an email address? If not, why not? Do you share it with the voters in your precinct, the other precinct committeemen in your township and/or ward, your township party webmaster, your county party webmaster, your district party webmaster? If not, why not? Do you check your email at least daily? If not, why not? Do you have your own political website?

-- Do you agree or disagree that only those who have demonstrated by both their words and by their actions that they support the national Republican Party platform and IRP platform should be eligible to hold any kind of leadership position in the Republican Party? Why?

-- The Republican Party exists to advance conservative solutions to solving America's problems. The Democrat Party exists to advance liberal solutions to solving America's problems. How many conservative conferences have you attended, for example, the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)?

Link to Original Story by Dave Diersen at GOPUSA.com