•June 1, 2016•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

I covered the Illinois Republican State Convention this past weekend [or “recently”; meeting was May 20-21] in Peoria. I have been to many such over the decades as a delegate. I offer here a few items from the confab and a few observations.

What goes on at a state party convention, you might ask?

Not much, I might respond, yet that would be unfair.

Prior to our primary elections instituted a century ago during the Progressive Era, party convention delegates named candidates for state offices. Lacking that responsibility, there is little substantive business at conventions today.

Yet the affair brings together a thousand folks from all over the state. This gives party leaders an opportunity to gauge the mood of the party faithful before the November election, to reassure them about their party’s great potential and to provide training on how to maximize the vote.

The night before the floor session delegates grazed the hospitality rooms sponsored by officials to gossip and find out what people really think.

Before the Saturday general session in the ballroom of the Peoria Civic Center, vendors in the corridors hawked buttons and apparel that proclaimed the positive (Make America Great Again) and the profane (Trump the Bitch).     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.