‘Top Line’ — IL Gov Candidate Dan Proft: Banking on Obama Backlash

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: Republican fortunes in 2010 turn in no small part on perceptions of Democratic performance — and, of course, on President Obama’s standing come next year.That’s surely the case in the president’s home state of Illinois, a heavily Democratic state where scandals have tarred the party brand, giving Republicans a better-than-expected shot at taking over the governor’s office, as well as Obama’s old Senate seat.Enter Dan Proft, a Republican candidate for governor who’s making his first run for elected office. The 37-year-old political commentator is seeking the GOP nomination with an unusual slogan: He’s vowing to “un-fix” Illinois — as in, ridding the state of the corruption, the sense that the political “fix” is in. “What folks are seeing at the national level is just Chicago Democrats doing to the nation what they have done to this state,” Proft said on ABCNews.com’s “Top Line” today. “There is the opportunity for a Republican to actually win in Obama base camp here if we present contrast with what the Chicago Democrats have done. If we hold them accountable and we don’t fall into the trap of bipartisanship — we don’t fall into the trap of parsing words or blurring distinctions between the two parties.” Proft is running as a conservative in a primary field of at least six, including three state senators. On the Democratic side, Gov. Pat Quinn — who took over after Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment — is running for a full term, and veteran state Comptroller Dan Hynes is also strongly considering a run.Asked if he’s counting on a backlash against Obama in Illinois, Proft said: “Well, the backlash is here. I am certainly counting on a backlash against Chicago Democrats who have destroyed this state’s economy. We have a public sector literally cannibalizing the private sector. And now that more and more people are being directly affected with their home values going down, their 401Ks getting hit, you know, they’re picking up their heads and asking questions that they should have been asking for a while but haven’t up until this point. So that backlash is here, and if we’re successful in presenting a contrast, then we can capitalize on that backlash.”Proft also declined to endorse Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., in his run for Senate. Kirk is widely seen as the likely Republican nominee for the seat being vacated by Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., who was Blagojevich’s choice to replace Obama but who has said he isn’t planning on running for a full term in part because of fundraising woes. “I’ll be proud to share the line and the stand with whoever the Republican nominee is for that US Senate seat. Mark Kirk is not the only candidate running for the republican nomination for the US Senate so I’m going to let that play out,” Proft said. “I’ve got enough on my plate without getting involved in other people’s races. But I do think that Mark Kirk has had a distinguished career of service in the Illinois House, with some votes that I certainly disagree with like cap-and-trade — which I thought was a horrible vote.”"But I think fundamentally, what the Republican Party in Illinois needs to do — and it’s not dissimilar to what the Republican Party needs to do at the national level . . . you need to define a constituency. The Republican Party cannot be all things to all people. When we try that we get our brains beat in.”Click HERE to see our interview with Dan Proft, on our 100th episode of “Top Line.”
We also spoke with Republican strategist Kevin Madden about the passing of journalist and columnist Robert Novak, the latest in President Obama’s push for health care reform, plus the selection of Madden’s former boss, Tom DeLay, as a contestant on the new season of “Dancing with the Stars.”
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