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At last week's state convention, held in the Springfield Elks Club, Percy resolutely pushed through his purge, staring coldly into space when Murphy came to whisper in his ear. The six purgees bellowed their protests from the convention podium. Cried Granata: "Where have you ever witnessed such dictatorship and bossism as you are witnessing today, except in Russia?" Purgee Robert Austin, noting that all those on Percy's blacklist were Catholics, claimed the whole thing was anti-Catholic. One "Babe" McAvoy pointed a finger at Percy and said: "If you are elected, you will have a Georgia chain gang legislature and you'll be the man holding the whip."
All the while, Chuck Percy sat smiling benignly. He had the votes and he knew it. Of the first 28 delegates to vote, 27 went for Percy's slate, whereupon two of the purgees withdrew and the rest were plainly finished. In his victory, Percy may have suffered some slight attrition around Cook County. But the Illinois G.O.P. was plainly a better party to belong to.