GOP should focus on party, not Burris

The Daily Herald has printed several letters recently calling for a special election to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate, including one from Andy McKenna, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party (Dec. 23). None of the letters have mentioned a primary. No primary means the candidate from each party will be chosen by the state party leaders. That is a problem.

The Democratic choice is unpredictable. History suggests the Republican choice will be worse. When the Illinois Republican Party replaced its primary winner, Jack Ryan, during the 2004 Illinois Senate election, the Republican leadership determined that Alan Keyes from Maryland was more qualified than any Illinois Republican. Obama beat Keyes 70 percent to 27 percent.

Rather than spend an estimated $50 million of the taxpayers' money on a meaningless election between Alan Keyes II and the Democratic candidate, Andy McKenna should focus on improving the Illinois Republican Party. It would be a welcome change if (a) the next Republican Senate candidate actually came from Illinois; and (b) the next Republican governor candidate would hold the Green Party candidate to less than the 10.4 percent of the vote that Rich Whitney received in 2006. Republican candidate Judy Baar Topinka didn't just lose to Governor Blagojevich by more than 10 percent of the vote. She and Blagojevich together enabled the Green Party to become an established political party in Illinois.

Don Eggert

Hawthorn Woods