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From today’s Daily Herald, reflections of Illinois GOP National Convention delegates:

“‘…[W]hat binds all of the Republicans together are the fiscal issues,’ said state Sen. Dave Syverson, a conservative delegate from Rockford. ‘Issues of smaller government, issues of more personal responsibility, these are the issues that unite Republicans ultimately on Election Day.’

DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom, a moderate delegate from Naperville, offers a similar response.

‘Despite the differences between moderates and conservatives, I believe we stand together as Republicans on the key issues that matter to the people of Illinois: economic opportunity, fiscal responsibility and job growth,’ Schillerstrom said. ‘I believe if we don’t embrace a big tent philosophy, we will continue to be a minority party.’”

The problem is that the national Republican leader, George W. Bush, has been anything but a fiscal conservative. Deficits are up to record numbers. There is no “job growth,” but rather job losses (the most since Hoover and the Depression), and the new jobs don’t pay as well.

On the state Republican scene former Governor George Ryan was noted less for fiscal austerity (see Illinois First) than for fiscal corruption (see his trial next year). The recent U.S. senate picture has been less than flattering (who best to replace Senator Fitzgerald, a non-entity for the GOP ( “I am a senator from Illinois first and a Republican second”) who couldn’t build coalitions to implement policies, than…you guessed it, another non-entity…followed by another).

If Democrats, nationally and statewide, get their acts together (and for some that’s a big “if”) they will win, and we can look forward to greater implementation of Democratic policies and priorities. This good news is also the worrisome news: the Republicans at the top of the national ticket and in Illinois can’t go all that much lower - and it’s the Democrats to win or lose, they can only defeat themselves.