Comments on: Trends?

By: mswing

mswing — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:39:58 +0000

I have to agree with you. I tried calling people on the list and have never gotten a response… Wonder why?

By: brain

brain — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:12:21 +0000

I know this is an older post, but it seems to me that the largest problem with the republican party, at least in Madison County is tradition.

I suspect if you took the average democratic voter and determined why they voted democratic, it would boil down to tradition. They (and/or their parents) voted for John Kennedy and sure mistakes were made around the Carter era, but they got to vote for Reagan and that made it ok, besides their not those type of “rich” people.

Most of the Madison county dems that I’ve ever posed the Republican position to agreed with it and thought it was the position they were voting for. I disagree with Hooverjd, in the sense that most voters are not looking for a social club, they truly are looking for a change, it’s they do not realize that the change they need is within themselves, not from their entrenched party.

More of an effort as to be made to show the differences in the parties, and how the average American’s belief does fall in the party of Lincoln. The question is how do you change the hearts and minds of voters, who themselves are a minority in the overall population. I think may take an individual effort by all of us to educate our fellow citizens that there are choices, even in Madison County.

By: Hooverjd

Hooverjd — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:36:53 +0000

I believe the single biggest thing hurting the republican party, especially in Illinois, is its inability not only to attract new members, but to also get new members involved. The Republican party in Illinois has a very closed off, “members only”, feel to it. While this may work very well for those in the party who are only interested in holding onto power, however limited it may become, it inevitable weakens the ability of republicans to accomplish their goals.

I personally have tried on multiple occasions to contact my local party leadership in order to not just get myself involved but also to get information about how friends of mine can become involved.

The only person who has made any effort to communicate with me is the former Madison county chairman. I have heard absolutely nothing back from my precinct or district leaders. Part of this may very well have to do with my choice for presidential candidate, which the larger republican party strongly disagrees with, but that doesn’t mean that there still aren’t other common goals that couldn’t be used as a way to work together.

The Illinois democrats also seem to be much more active, at least in Madison county. This is evident simply by comparing the calendars of the two groups. The democrats list a large number of various events which they have going on for members to get involved with. By contrast, the Madison county Republican calendar shows very few events and as a result, appears to be much less active.