Rock Island Today

Rock Island County Republican Party Chairman Drue Mielke views the recent Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) shakeup amid inquiries into the number of minorities on Illinois Congresswoman Cheri Bustos' (D-Rock Island) senior staff more as an indictment of party ideologies than of Bustos' character.

“I think it reflects more on the Democratic National Committee even more than her leadership,” Mielke told the Rock Island Today. “I think it speaks more about them being so hung up and hyper-sensitive. This was an issue because they didn’t have enough minority representation on her staff. How do we know that? What if someone was LGBT? Not everyone has to come out and wave the flag. It seems like with the Democratic National Committee everything now is about race, sexism, bigotry and homophobia.”

Politico reports that earlier this week at least six senior-level staffers were forced out after Bustos’ office came under fire from both the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus because her administration was "short-changing minorities by excluding them from her senior staff.” Mielke said the controversy is emblematic of what the DCCC has come to represent as a whole.

Rock Island County Republican Party Chairman Drue Mielke

“With Cheri, the only thing I’m concerned about is the question of if she is spending too much time doing party work," Mielke said. "I understand she canceled some events in her district to go back to Washington to put out this fire.”

Mielke also said he does not envision the same kind of dispute disrupting the Republican ranks as it is today.

“In the Republican Party, we have a lot of diversity, but we don’t proclaim it like it makes us better than anyone else,” Mielke said. “We don’t need to worry about, 'Do we have the right ratio?' The 'right' people are the people that believe in the values and beliefs of the Republican Party.”