Four major Republicans left
By Phil Angelo
pangelo@daily-journal.com
815-937-3382
Each of the remaining major candidates is represented by
a local person running as a delegate or alternate.
Steve Liehr for John McCain
John McCain, Steve Liehr says, stands by what's right, instead
of just what is popular.
Liehr, a Republican member of the Kankakee County Board,
is running as a McCain delegate.
Liehr says he's drawn to McCain because of the Arizona Republican's
willingness to veto pork barrel spending. He also likes the way the senator supported the War in Iraq during some of its darkest
days.
"When the surge was announced, it was not popular, but McCain
supported it," Liehr says. "I think time shows it's worked."
Liehr has never been a convention delegate before. He was
appointed to the Kankakee County Board in 2003, and won election in 2004 and 2006. His district, District 28, stretches from
the Briarcliff area in Bourbonnais west to Kankakee River State Park.
Marge Milone for Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney is a doer, not just a talker, says Marge Milone.
Milone, from Bourbonnais, is the retired director of Fox
Developmental Center. She's on the ballot as an alternate delegate for the Republican Romney.
"I like the fact that he was a Republican governor of Massachusetts
and he had to work together with Democrats," she says. "I'm really tired of the infighting between the two parties."
She also admires Romney's health care plan in Massachusetts.
He kept it in the free market system by requiring everyone to buy insurance.
Until this election, Milone says she would have described
herself as apolitical. She had never run for a delegate's or alternate's spot.
David McAloon for Mike
Huckabee
David McAloon did a lot
of research before deciding to back Mike Huckabee for president.
McAloon, from Bourbonnais,
is running as a Huckabee delegate Feb. 5. McAloon will be on the ballot for himself, too, as the Republican candidate for
the nomination in the 75th House District. McAloon ran for the same post two years ago, but lost in the primary.
McAloon said he devoted
about nine months to looking at all the candidates, before coming to his decision late in the fall.
He likes Huckabee's pro-life
position and support of traditional marriage.
He also supports the former
Arkansas governor's belief in the Fair Tax amendment, which would swap all income tax withholding for a consumption and sales
tax.
McAloon has never
run for delegate before.
Lisa Wogan for Ron Paul
Lisa Wogan saw candidate Ron Paul during a televised debate
and then looked up his positions on the Internet in May.
Ever since then, she's been involved in the presidential
campaign for the Republican conservative. Wogan, a former correspondent for The Daily Journal, is on the Tuesday ballot as
a delegate for Paul. She also is the Illinois Communications Director for his campaign, a position that's largely voluntary.
Wogan receives expenses for her work, though.
"Many people have become involved in his campaign," she says,
"because of their displeasure over Iraq." Paul has said that the United States cannot be the world's policeman.
Paul, she says, also wants the government to back away from
the manipulation of financial markets. "We need a real free market," she says.
Wogan has been involved enough in the campaign to travel
to the Iowa caucuses. She has also spoken on his behalf, appearing on "Chicago Tonight" Thursday.
Like other delegate candidates, it's first time she has stood
for that position. Even more so, Wogan has never voted in a primary before.
