By Nancy Thorner (photos by Mark Weyermuller) -
Illinois is facing tremendous challenges as corrupt and incompetent leadership is leading many good people to to take flight from this state. It would not be out of line to call what has been going on in Illinois politics for the past 40 years as pure evil. For too long little has been done to stop it.
Common sense does indicate that the righteous anger felt by many conservatives must be channeled into a common mission to fight back against those whose moral values do not reflect our values and for whom financial restraint is not a part of their lexicon.
Illinois Conservatives United is a coalition or grassroots activists (whether solo or if you lead a group or organization) who desire to join with other grassroots conservative activists throughout Illinois for the purpose of making an impact on key state-wide issues. The coalition's first key issue is to ensure election integrity to Illinois by forming and training teams from around the state to clean up voter rolls statewide.
This training took place over a two-day event, Strategy 2017: From Outrage to Action, on Friday, August 18 and Saturday, August 19, 2017 in Elmhurst. During the two-day conference many friendships were formed with fellow warriors who can now spur each other on to winning victories for Illinois in 2018.
The Conference officially began on Friday, August 18 with a 12 pm buffet Lunch, during which time participants had an opportunity to check out the seventeen exhibitors. Conference sponsors included Illinois Review, Freedom Works, The Heartland Institute, Illinois Family Action, and American Majority.
Organizers Jan Shaw, Carol Davis, Jane Carrell - Keynote Speaker C.L. Bryant
Friday Afternoon
The Friday afternoon sessions were devoted to Campaign Support Training led by James Marter, former Candidate, U.S. Senate; Matt Batzel, National Executive Director of American Majority; and Lonnie Leitner, Chief of Staff of American Majority. American Majority has been training conservatives to run and win since 2008 and offers online or in-person training to give leaders and individuals running for office the necessary tools to run winning campaigns all over this nation, whether it be for school board or Congress.
For direct access to the excellent American Majority Friday afternoon presentations containing full transcripts and slides to download showing how to organize and run a winning campaign from start to finish, click on the sites below as provided by Matt Batzel, National Executive Director of American Majority. The sites are invaluable to those who are managing campaigns for Conservatives candidates to replace Republican legislators who have indicated they will not run again after voting with Democrats to increase taxes, as well as those managing campaigns to defeat Democrat incumbents.
To learn more about American Majority's On-line courses go here.
On how to tell your story in a way that appeals to the head and the heart, to bring about meaningful change in your community and the country watch American Majority's Youtube Video.
This site can serve as a tremendous Resource page for downloading "Your Campaign and Activism Toolbox" and for "Campaign Resource."
Saturday Conference Schedule
The Saturday Conference Schedule was a day-long event starting with a Continental Breakfast between 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., and closing with a Dinner featuring Emily Stack and Rev. C.L. Bryant. Rev. Bryant is recognized as one of Americas most Dynamic Orators and he is a highly sought after Speaker, Motivator, Activist, Organizer, Gospel Preacher. Bryant is the D.C. Senior Fellow at FreedomWorks. Rev. Bryant didn't disappoint as he delivered his words with fiery passion to those assembled eager to hear his message.
Featured early in the Saturday morning session was Catherine Engelbrecht of True the Vote. True the Vote (TTV) is a conservative vote-monitoring organization based in Houston, Texas whose stated objective is stopping voter fraud. The organization supports voter ID laws and trains volunteers to be election monitors and to spot and bring attention to suspicious voter registrations that its volunteers believe delegitimize voter eligibility.
The organization's tag line is "If you see something at the polls that just doesn't seem right, record it.Catherine Engelbrecht is the current president of TTV. Her message was well received given the amount of voter fraud that is happening throughout this nation.
Here in our own state of Illinois, a welcome sign and a way for illegals to vote represents a Leftist ideology that supersedes all else.
While the morning Saturday sessions were all about Election Integrity, the afternoon sessions highlighted Tools for Activists in getting out their message. Featured speakers were Jim Lakely, Dr. Tim Huelskamp, The Heartland Institute; James Marter, Matt Batzel, Social Media: How to the the Digital Activist Every Movement Needs ; Carol Davis, "Lightning Round: Solutions"; David Smith, Illinois Family Institute; John Kraft, Edgar County Watchdogs; Heidi Holan, Homeowners Defense Association, Brandi McGuire, Local Government Information Services; Walsh Freedom, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Higher Education (video); and Jim Muratori, Vickie Deppe, Veronica Harrison, Article V Convention of States, about which there exists formidable opposition in going forward with an Article V Convention of States.
Organizers of the Conference
Following are organizers of the second Strategy conference who deserve much praise for all their hard work, time, and effort it took to provide a venue for grassroots activists to join together to avail themselves to the tools that are necessary to fight back against the forces in Illinois, which, left unchallenged, will only mean that Illinois will slip further into the abyss of no return as an officially recognized failed state.
- Lyn Beets, Northern Illinois Tea Party
- Jane Carrell, Northern Illinois Tea Party
- Carol Davis, West Suburban Patriots
- Linda Iverson, Huntley Tea Party
- James Marter, Former Candidate, U.S. Senate
- Loretta Savee, Northern Illinois Tea Party
- Jan Shaw, West Suburban Patriots
- David Smith, Illinois Family Action
- Claire Van Horn, DuPage Tea Party
Exhibitors not aligned with featured speakers
Illinois Review, Illinoisreview.com; Mendrick for Sheriff, James4sheriff.com; David Shestokas, J.D.Author, david@shestokas.com; Turning Point U.S.A., tpusa.com; and Vitual Agora, thevirtualagora.com.
