The greatest part of the Illinois Circular Firing Squad Team’s spat is that one side is right and the other one is far right. Rimshot please as I welcome myself back.
But seriously folks, the mantra of social conservatives goes something like, "If only the Republican Party would throw off the yolk of the horrible liberal, corrupt moderate Republicans the Illinois GOP would wipe the floor with the Democrats."
The only problem with that is that social conservatives are on the wrong side of just about every social issue in the State of Illinois. Don’t believe me?
From the Trib’s recent poll,
57 percent support a bill outlawing discrimination against gays and lesbians including 51 percent of downstaters and 46 percent in Southern Illinois. Overall 25 percent oppose such a law and in Southern Illinois that percentage was 30. Even in the most socially conservative portion of the state, a plurality supports such a law, and many are simply agnostic.
The whole argument that the great moral, but silent majority was against such horrors as equal treatment for human beings should have been thrown out the window when Normal approved an ordinance banning discrimination. For goodness sakes, the oxymoronically named Jesse Smart was thrown out of office for his homophopic rants on Oprah in the only slightly more progressive than Normal City of Bloomington. Many people may not be comfortable with homosexuality, but the current of tolerance and justice overcomes that discomfort.
The ERA has brought back Southern Illinois’ perpetual nightmare, Phyllis Schlafly, to argue against the bugaboo of gender integrated restrooms and other horrors, but how does the state feel? That Phyllis is whacked–well we already knew that, but that her position on the ERA is whacked…
65 percent approve statewided with 17 percent having no opinion.
In Chicago the for and against is 72-16, Cook County 68-17, Collar Counties 61-23, and downstate 62-18. I’ll be looking for Phyllis at the urinal near me soon.
And finally, gun control. 62 percent favor stronger restrictions on gun sales and 31 percent were against. Cook Suburbs 77-19 and downstate 54-37 with Southern Illinois only below 50 at 48-43. I have a different view on gun control–that the State of Illinois can’t be any more effective without federal regulation, but the general sense in Illinois is for tighter restrictions.
The poll does show concern over expansion of gambling which is often a favorite issue of movement conservatives, but not solely their issue.
Illinois is a moderately liberal state. The moderate wing of the Illinois Republican Party gets that. Movement conservatives don’t and that is just fine because they are putting on a hysterical show for the rest of us.
Economic issues used to dominate in Illinois and thus union and minority voters against business dominated the arguments with swing voters trying to balance the differences. Social conservatives were in both parties as those who remember the ERA defeat will attest, Democrats often were obstructing passage as much as Republicans. Illinois was then a true swing state. But now that the national parties have realigned over social issues and Illinois is a moderate to liberal state on social issues and trending Democratic unless the Illinois GOP wants to concentrate on moderate candidates. Given Movement Conservatives show little interest in compromising, they will quickly find themselves locked out of power.