This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Would Charles Percy Fit in Today's Political Climate?

Analysts offer several viewpoints on how the former U.S. senator would fare in the current GOP.

Amid the tributes and reflections that have popped up in the days following the death of , the question that has been asked–but can never really be answered–is how would Percy do in today’s political climate?  It is interesting to ask, but impossible to know for sure.

With his death at age 91 less than two weeks ago, the noted Illinois politician and businessman, who had struggled with Alzheimer’s disease for several years, came into the public spotlight again. 

Earlier:

Find out what's happening in Wilmette-Kenilworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Kenilworth native, whose parents moved from Florida to the Chicago area in the 1920s, served in the U.S. Senate for three six-year terms. His political career ended in 1984 when he was defeated by Democrat Paul Simon.

On the political spectrum

Find out what's happening in Wilmette-Kenilworthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The reflections on Percy's life have included whether a social moderate–yet fiscal conservative–like Percy could succeed in today’s Republican Party, which has gained a perception that it has moved farther to the right.

Some say Percy would be OK today.

“He was one of the most accomplished leaders in state history,” said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady, who learned his first political lesson at age 12 when his father told him Chuck Percy fliers had to put in the doorways, not in the mailboxes.

“He has a corps of principles Republicans believe in," Brady said of the Percy, who died Sept. 17. "I don’t necessarily believe in all this spin has gone that far to the right. We’ve always been part of a conservative movement and I think he would have fit right in.”

Brady notes U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk--another politician known as a moderate--won close to 75 percent of the vote in last year’s GOP primary and captured some conservative counties downstate.

“In many respects Chuck Percy would be very similar to Mitt Romney of today,” WGN-TV Republican commentator Chris Robling noted in comparing him to the 2012 presidential contender. “He was seen as [a] pro-business Republican who was absolutely devoted to growing the economy and creating conditions that were necessary for job creation and increasing income and wealth.”

What Brady and Robling are saying is not a sentiment shared across the board.

A different skill set

“I would think the GOP in Illinois has moved so far to the right that he would have a difficult time winning a statewide primary for the U.S. Senate,” said Paul Green, a professor of public policy at Roosevelt University and a longtime follower of Illinois politics.

Green added a straight comparison between Percy and Kirk was not equitable because of the individual political skills of each man.

“He was never that good of a blood-and-guts party politician,” Green said of Percy. “On paper and through experiences, Mark Kirk is a much better politician than Chuck Percy was.

"Mark Kirk won two incredibly tough congressional races in the 10th District, one of which he should have lost but because of his political skills he won,” Green noted.

As for Kirk’s triumph in the 2010 primary that led to his election to the Senate, Green suspected that it was more an indication of his campaign opponent than Kirk's philosophy playing well with the conservative base.

“In 2010, the Republicans didn’t have a long list of statewide candidates,” the professor said. “If a political party was a tree, the Republican Party was playing in the roots.”

With many Republicans worried about the long-term health of the party because of demographics and not reaching out to more people to diversify its base, Robling said Percy was a man ahead of his time in the 1960s.

Favored being inclusive

“As Percy’s career continued and the issues started to become more polarized, I think he was by nature and disposition, he was a very tolerant guy. He was not somebody who felt the Republican Party should only be one group of people,” the political commentator explained.

Robling said at big party events Percy would enter the kitchen door, not the front door, as a way of greeting everyone, including those working behind the scene.

“He would shake hands with every person on the staff and he would invite them to become Republicans. He had no use for a restrictive approach to Illinois Republicanism," said Robling, a principal at the public relations firm of Jayne Thompson & Associates.

"We view a lot of his contributions then through lenses that are only available today. The lenses of today distort what was going on then,” he added.

At the end of the day, the question is whether conservatives like Dan Proft, the WLS Radio talk show host would cast a ballot for Percy despite changes in philosophy on social issues.

Proft himself says yes.

“People make more out of the moderate conservative alleged divide in the Republican Party than is really there,” Proft said. “Yes I am more conservative than Mark Kirk or Chuck Percy and I would like to see more conservative Republicans be our nominees for higher office.

"But you have primary races--but whoever the best man is wins and you support the nominee. That has always been my philosophy," he added.

Proft, who worked as a political consultant for former state Rep. Beth Coulson despite some philosophical differences, has a lesson he dispenses at every opportunity.

“Something I tell conservatives all the time--and something I learned at an early age in politics--is to guard against making the perfect campaign against the enemy of the good,” he said.

Stay tuned to Patch for more political coverage. Like your local Patch on Facebook.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?