conservativeBrand

On Friday, the United Republican Fund (led by President Steve Rauschenberger) held a summit for Republican candidates for governor, with WIND radio’s Cisco Cotto moderating. Following the candidate presentations, a straw poll was held; the three top vote getters were Adam Andrzejewski, Matt Murphy and Dan Proft. These three represented the most conservative wing of the party, although all the candidates were pretty much in agreement on the major issues facing the state. With the Quinn/Hynes campaign focused on raising taxes on the rich, the stars seem alligned to give Illinois a Republican governor. Besides looking for a candidate who is unlikely to serve time in prison, the choice for voters comes down to questions of personality, stamina, and character (leaving out the unpleasant reality of ability to raise money). Here’s conservativeBrand’s take on the six Republican candidates.

Adam Andrzejewski (pronounced Angievski) - http://www.adamforillinois.com/  Born well outside the Chicago beltway in Herscher, IL, Andrzejewski is a serious, articulate and clean-cut candidate who presents with an almost angry demeanor - understandable in a state that has become comic fodder for a nation. With no Springfield experience, he is a small businessman who has written paychecks and wants to change the environment that is driving businesses away from the state - by lowering taxes and regulation. He advocates trippling the tax credit for families that send their children to private schools.

Matt Murphy - http://www.murphy2010.com/about.htm The only candidate who kept his comments under the moderator’s time limits, State Senator Murphy is from Palatine and began by citing Indiana Governor Mitch Daniel’s op ed in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, which explains how that state has become the haven for businesses and investors fleeing business environments like that of Illinois (read it at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204731804574390603114939642.html). Murphy articulated a basic objective: “If we clearly contrast ourselves from Democrats, we will win,” he believes. He considers the American entrepreneur the most powerful force for good on earth - the ultimate job creator. As an advocate for Illinois students, Murphy would push for a pilot voucher system for the children in the Chicago Public Schools system. He will work for tort reform and lower corporate taxes as the cornerstones to rebuilding Illinois.

Dan Proft - http://proft2010.com/ His campaign slogan, “Illinois is already ‘fixed,’ I want to Un-Fix it,” sums up Proft’s assessment of the corruption that has characterized the state for the (surprizing) 20 years he has been an active conservative in the Illinois political arena - from the North Shore to the South Side to Cicero. This experience level makes Proft the most adept candidate in the race at articulating, with spirited humor and educated analysis, the problems besettting Illinois. He eschews plans of some of the candidates to “tinker around the margins of Illinois’ problems, trying to figure out how to more effectively finance the status quo.” Proft tells it like it is: Mike Madigan is the real governor of Illinois. But his signature issue is promoting parental choice for Illinois students. Of the 2 million students in the state, approximately 900,000 qualify for poverty level assistance; Proft would take the money out of the hands of unions and bureaucrats, and send a check from the state to allow each of those families to provide their children the education of their choice, public or private.

Kirk Dillard - http://www.dillardforgovernor.com/ Dillard began his presentation with a reference to Dan Proft’s “junkyard dog” campaign. A better question might be how a candidate who is running on his record as the chief of staff for Governor Jim Edgar differentiates himself from the Illinois Combine that has given us two governors (although not Edgar) in or on the way to prison. Although he says that the largest state expenditure should be for education, there is no talk of sending those tax dollars anywhere but into the coffers of the IEA (teachers union) and its pension funds. Ron Gidwitz is his general campaign manager, which will ease his ability to raise money. But Dillard’s appearance in a campaign commercial for Barack Obama is the kind of endorsement that should not work in today’s Republican Party, even in Illinois.

Bill Brady - http://bradyforillinois.com/ Bloomington resident Senator Bill Brady is a popular Republican campaigner who advocates Illinois adopting federal limits on campaign contributions. Brady is supported by economic pundit Art Laffer. Like many representing the downstate Illinois concerns, he is campaigning to shift funding of public schools from property taxes to general taxes - an issue that does not play well in high property tax suburban areas that love their great public schools and do not want to pay even higher taxes. There is talk that Senator Brady accepted support from teachers unions, and that is a problem about which any conservative candidate has some explaining to do.

Bob Schillerstrom - http://www.bobschillerstrom.com/ Chairman of the DuPage County Board, Bob Schillerstrom might have been a good candidate for governor in the old Illinois Combine days. With a blistering campaign voice, he stated that “leadership is knowing how to say no.” Schillerstrom knows the DuPage budget issues inside out, and he touts the value of transparency, more expert commissions and listening to the folks; but his opposition to conceal-and-carry gun legislation and his pro-choice stand on abortion set him outside the parameters of conservative thinking.