A VIEW FROM THE SUBURBS
Rich Williamson will be little
more than a public face for the GOP
by Madeleine Doubek
What kind of Republican Party
chairman will Rich Williamson
be? Whatever kind Gov. George Ryan
wants.
Williamson, the North Shore lawyer
known to many only from his failed
1992 Senate bid against Democrat
Carol Moseley-Braun, is, by title, the
new leader of the Illinois Republican
Party. But by title only. And even at
that, he was the second choice for the
post.
Ryan picked Williamson after botching an attempt to place Illinois House
Republican Leader Lee Daniels of
Elmhurst at the helm of the state party.
The governor failed to find out whether
Republican Senate President and
DuPage County GOP Chairman James
"Pate" Philip of Wood Dale would
make the required move to name
Daniels to the state party's central
committee.
The public relations fiasco that
ensued when Philip would not go along
to get along could serve as an early
object lesson for Williamson and the
state's three top Republicans. They may
all be from the same party, but each has
an agenda that does not always mesh
with the others'. The DuPage County
duo of Philip and Daniels, in particular,
has never been as close as their roles
and geographic ties would indicate. In
short, these GOP players need to learn
to confer, even watch their backs.
Gov. George Ryan sees
himself as the head of the
state party, as do most
Illinois Republicans,
Williamson will need to communicate
most with Ryan, the man who is giving
him an opportunity to reshape his
image after one of the many sorry GOP
Senate bids of the past two decades.
Williamson has some baggage. He
made enemies when he worked in
Washington, D.C., and alienated
Illinois' social conservatives when he
flipped on abortion in 1992, but none of
that may matter much. The governor
gave Williamson the job, but he may
not give him much power.
Ryan sees himself as the head of
the Republican Party, as do most
Republicans. In fact, they may go right
around Williamson directly to Ryan
when they want something done in
election cycles to come.
But if Williamson is little more than a
public face for the party, it won't be the
first time.
His predecessor, Harold Smith,
quietly worked behind the scenes,
adding a professional staff and a multi-
million-dollar budget. He had enough
independence to serve as emissary on
occasion among warring Republicans.
And he is owed a small part of the
credit for a 1994 GOP statewide sweep.
But prior to Smith, the state GOP
chairmanship was so low-key as to be
almost nonexistent. Former chairmen
Al Jourdan of McHenry and Don
"Doc" Adams of Springfield kept the
seat warm and left the heavy lifting to
the party's true leader, then-Gov. James
R. Thompson. Ryan intends to follow
that model.
And he may have to do most of the
fundraising for the party. Williamson
struggled with that task in his 1992
race, and he simply doesn't have the
big-money connections Smith did as
the former chief operating officer of
Illinois Tool Works.
Further, while Williamson brings
perspective from having been a
statewide candidate, it's likely Ryan,
Philip and Daniels will want to control
the shape of future statewide tickets.
The more immediate challenge is the
2000 election featuring only presiden-
tial, congressional and legislative races.
As minority leader in the House,
Daniels will be the top Republican with
the most to prove. Philip said what
many in the GOP were thinking when
he told Daniels to concentrate on
winning the Illinois speakership rather
than also serving as party chair. Last
year, Daniels lost seats in the Lake and
McHenry county suburbs that should
be his, and he has managed only one
term as speaker with a GOP-drawn
political map.
Indeed, the 2000 election will deter-
mine how the power is divided for the
next go-round at political cartography.
And Daniels frequently has relied on
his mentor Ryan for financial and
strategic support. The governor likely
will feel more obligated to Daniels after
both misplayed the chairmanship bid.
But the governor also will want to
impress nationally with a win for Texas
Gov. George W. Bush after Republicans
wrote off Illinois in 1992 and 1996.
Williamson's job will be to help the
governor make all of that happen.
His role is more Ryan deputy than
the leader of the Illinois Republican
Party.
Madeleine Doubek is assistant metro
editor-projects & politics at the Daily
Herald, a suburban metro newspaper.
Illinois Issues May 1999 / 41