Where have all good Republican candidates gone?

A wise man once told us “I’m a Democrat at the local level, a Republican at the state level, and a libertarian when it comes to federal politics.”

It’s a philosophy that holds, essentially, that you should be more sceptical of government power the farther away that government is from the people it governs. It expresses a comfort with an activist government close to home, a healthy dose of bipartisan restraint in Springfield and lots of self-control in Washington, DC, according to the Tribune News Service.

For those readers questioning the wisdom of supporting self-control in DC (meaning, being wise with your hard-earned dollars), consider, perhaps, that the US is sitting on $40 trillion in debt, which will rain down consequences, both seen and unforeseen, on future generations.

With that in mind, one of the guiding principles for the folks we send to D.C. should be: Waste not, want not. Congressmen should be good financial stewards. But they should also stand on principles of free markets, free expression, free enterprise, a free and unhindered press, and transparency and accountability, especially as it relates to their own side of the aisle. These are ideas historically attributed to free-market conservatives, who most often have found their home among the Republicans.

It’s getting harder to catch a glimpse of any such ethic today. We didn’t just write that it is not pervasive. We said it is hard to catch even a glimpse. As we turn our attention to our federal and statewide endorsements, we’ve been thinking much about this situation.

At the federal level, it seems to us that voters simply do not trust Republicans to offer a balanced approach to governance.

Without it, there is no tempering effect on the ruling party’s worst impulses. When those impulses are unchecked, the electorate inevitably endures recurring whiplash, as disgust with one party is quickly replaced with disgust for the other party. Point being, one-party rule isn’t good for anyone.

Midterms likely will alter the current balance in DC; how much remains to be seen. Regardless of what happens — though we tend to think balance tends to do both sides at least some measure of good — Republicans need to figure out what they actually stand for. Not just who they’re willing to follow.

Simply put, Republicans currently evidence a philosophical and policy shallowness that is on full display for voters. Instead of principles and ideas, the party line has become “whatever he said,” referring, of course, to the whims of President Donald Trump. Instead of thinking for themselves, too many are happy to accept the cravenness, callousness and corruption of the charmless chief.

Because of this, Republicans now have to dig themselves out of a substantial hole.

People forget that Trump scored 43% of the vote in Illinois, much higher than most anyone would’ve expected and surely higher than now would be the case. That was in large part because Trump campaigned on promises to end foreign wars, restore order at the border, excise waste and bring down the cost of living. In addition to finding ourselves in what feels like another inflation-friendly war with no end in sight, what followed Trump’s inauguration was months of pernicious, militarised immigration raids in major cities, including our own, in which human decency and simple common sense were nowhere to be found.

Trump also campaigned heavily on tackling inflation and the cost of living, all of which had worsened during the Biden years and in our post-COVID world. His dismal track record can clearly be seen by voters: we just paid more than $5 a gallon for gas in the city, groceries remain eye-wateringly expensive and 30-year mortgage rates are now above 7%.

The Republican majority not only presided over all of this, but failed to do anything serious to intervene. Anyone who did was not afforded any kind of hearing; on the contrary, they were kicked to the curb.