Conservatives conference: Removing names just 'streamlining'

The names of three Illinois Republican leaders have been taken down from a website listing hosts of a conservative conference in Hoffman Estates this September, just days after announcement of the hosts garnered national attention

But an organizer of "Right Nation 2010" featuring pundits Glenn Beck and Andrew Breitbart and tea party leader Herman Cain, among others, insists the removals are not damage control but event streamlining.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross, of Oswego, Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, of Lemont, and Illinois Republican Chairman Pat Brady, of St. Charles, were listed late last week as hosts of the Sept. 18 event on the conference's site, rightnation2010.com, alongside several Republican and tea party groups in Cook, Kane, Lake, McHenry and DuPage counties.

Facilitated by the United Republican Fund, the conference, according to the site, aims to "celebrate shared lineage and a common purpose" as the Nov. 2 election draws closer.

Having the names of moderates Cross and Radogno - who have supported stem cell research and abortion rights, respectively - alongside more conservative sectors piqued the interest of local and national political blogs, including Capitol Fax and Huffington Post.

Some even went so far as to suggest the move might indicate a larger Republican strategy for candidates to align themselves with more conservative positions.

A Monday morning search revealed the leaders' names - along with the names of every other individual host - had been stripped from the site.

"There was so much information that we had to condense it all," Right Nation spokesman Collin Corbett, who made the changes to the site over the weekend, said. "They're definitely still on there as hosts and nothing's changed."

Corbett said Cross, Brady and Radogno "will continue to be highlighted" in other aspects of event promotion.

The conference, Corbett said, aims to "draw people from every faction on the right."

"It doesn't mean we all agree on every single issue," he said, "but it does mean we are finally united against liberal Democrats and their attempts to expand government and tax hardworking families."

Similarly, Brady described the party leaders' decision to host the event as a "unity thing."

"Fiscally, we all stand against excess spending and borrowing," he said.

Radogno said she wasn't aware of "who all was going to be invited" when she was approached by the United Republican Fund about the conference.

""I am grateful for any forum that's going to get a lot of people excited and interested. And so it does not mean that I subscribe to all of their views," she said. "Obviously, clearly I'm considered fairly mainstream and moderate. The same can be said about Tom Cross and Pat Brady. I just don't think there is (a particular strategy). A lot of the party leadership is considered pretty mainstream."

She said she will be unable to attend the conference because of a scheduling conflict.

In a statement, Cross spokeswoman Sara Wojcicki noted the event would include party members from around the state, and said the House leader "believes in the importance of unifying the party."