By DOUG IBENDAHL • February 24, 2011
How many times have you heard GOP officials complaining about, or blaming all of our state’s problems on those awful Chicago Democrats? Pretty much constantly right?
Well they do that of course because they think it plays well with the rubes.
But usually their words don’t match their actions. Here’s just the latest example.
Democrat Susana Mendoza is a liberal State Representative from Chicago. On Tuesday she was elected Chicago City Clerk by a big margin.
Here is a list of Republican officials who contributed to Mendoza’s campaign:
State Representative Mark Beaubien contributed a total of $2,000 ($1,000 on 12/16 and another $1,000 on 2/16).
State Representative Patricia Bellock contributed $250 on 12/16.
State Representative Ed Sullivan, Jr. contributed $1,000 on 12/12.
State Representative Michael McAuliffe contributed $1,000 on 12/10.
U.S. Congressman Aaron Schock contributed a total of $10,000 ($5,000 from Schock for Congress and $5,000 from GOP Generation Y Fund, all on 2/8).
State Central Committeeman Roger Claar contributed $2,000 on 2/12.
Deputy State Central Committeeman Christine Dudley contributed $300 to Mendoza on 12/15, and $250 on 12/3 to Gery Chico, another liberal Chicago Democrat.
What’s worse, all of the Republican officials listed above, except for Dudley, made the contributions from their political committee’s bank account. In other words, in all likelihood most of the money came from Republican donors who probably assumed they would be helping to elect Republican candidates – not liberal Chicago Democrats.
In addition to those Republicans, Mendoza also had the endorsements of: AFSCME, Chicago Teachers Union, EMILY’s List, Equality Illinois, Gay Chicago Magazine, Personal PAC, SEIU, Sierra Club, Dick Durbin, Lisa Madigan, Mike Madigan, and John Daley (the Mayor’s brother) – to name just a few.
With all the high powered help Mendoza already had, it’s a mystery why so many Republican officials felt the need to chip in. And I want to be clear here – I’m not criticizing Mendoza. As far as I know, she’s always been honest about who she is – a Democrat. I can at least respect an honest, worthy adversary.
But “Republicans” who don’t know how to lead and who play dishonest games – I do have a problem with.
If you’re a dedicated Republican somewhere in Illinois who has ever run for a local office – like clerk – now you’ll understand why you may have felt frustrated by lack of help from “the party.” Complaining about Chicago Democrats while writing checks to elect Chicago Democrats is very time consuming.
Doug Ibendahl is a Chicago Attorney and a former General Counsel of the Illinois Republican Party.
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