Sorry for the Delay
ArchPundit
My e-mail is stuffed and generally with stuff I can’t or don’t want to ignore.
August 2005
Sweet on Cegelis
Lynn Sweet covers Cegelis’ effort to ramp up her campaign including
–full time fundraiser
–Hiring Adelstein/Liston for media and strategy (they worked for Bean–though Rahm did a lot of the planning for that campaign himself)
–Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for polling
I think we can all see exactly what Christine is doing and that is trying to attract Rahm with smart choices. It’s generally a good strategy, though the outflow of money has to be very controlled at this point. There is some skepticism out there to be sure, but beating down that skepticism is a pretty common barrier for many candidates.
Sweet sets the bar at the September report having to show some movement to improve on last cycle. I think that’s right though possibly a good January report could still cover for a middling September report. The key to a September report will be whether it’s low enough to attract another competitor to the race–and while a self-funder is mentioned, I wouldn’t limit that as the only possibility.
The key advantage right now is that Christine is the primary public talk in the race right now.
One minor criticism of the article is that IL-06 doesn’t appear to be heavily Republican as it once was–I’ve heard reports the Kerry numbers were around 47% in 2004. The Almanac of American Politics will have the data up in September, but while that is a leaning Republican District, it’s an open seat that will be targeted.
My understanding is that DCCC is polling the District now and that will help shape future decisions as well. More on DCCC in a bit.
Parade Volunteers and Town Halls
Lisa Madigan at the Bud Billiken Parade–from Ralph at Soap Box Chicago
Lisa Madigan is looking for walkers for the Bud Billikin parade next weekend.
The parade is Saturday August 13 on the South Side. If you can help, email hfield at lisamadigan dot org
Durbin in the State Fair Parade
Senator Durbin will be walking in this year’s State Fair Twilight Parade on
August 11th and we are looking for a large crew of volunteers to walk with
us and show their support for the Senator.? The line up will be at 5pm at
Lanphier High School (9th St. and North Grand in Springfield).? If you
already have a Durbin shirt from previous years, please wear it.? We will
have a limited amount of Durbin shirts for volunteers who do not already
have one.?Please let me know if you can join Senator Durbin in the parade by emailing
me at: sara_nelson@durbin.senate.gov or call me at 217-492-4062.
And Obama has two downstate townhalls
Town Hall Meetings in Champaign and Danville
with United States Senator Barack ObamaDate: Thursday, August 18, 2005
CHAMPAIGN:
Time: 12:45 P.M.
Location: Illinois Terminal, 4th Floor, 45 E. UniversityDANVILLE:
Time: 2:45 P.M.
Location: Danville Area Community College, Vermilion Hall Room 306, 200
East Main Street* These Town Hall Meetings are an opportunity for constituents to address
the Senator firsthand with any issues they have.? The Public is invited to
attend.? If you have any questions or concerns about this event, call Kathy
Harrington at (217) 492-5089 or (217) 710-2692.Kathy Harrington
Terrell Barnes in IL Sen-28
I’ve been forgetting to point out this one. I can’t vouch for Terrell, but take a look.
Terrell Barnes is a Democrat running for the Illinois State Senate district 28 seat. He grew up in the following cities: Glendale Heights, Bloomingdale, and Roselle. He attended the Marqaurdt Middle School in Glendale Heights and later Glenbard East High school in Lombard, Illinois. While attending he played on the freshman basketball team and participated in many activities. Shortly thereafter he attended the College of Dupage and received two Business based certification which are: Management supervision and entrepreneurship. Terrell later worked as a package handler with United Parcel Service, as a machine operator with an aluminum wire plant in Batavia, and various other labor intensive jobs.
First a little background on the 28th District. The district is located in parts of the 8th Congressional district, 6th congressional district, and the 14th congressional district. His candidacy could win this seat with the resources flowing to the competitive 6th district and the democratic incumbent Congresswoman Melissa Bean creating democratic votes down ballot. Terrell could use your donation to win this seat down ballot while helping democrats at the top of the ticket. A donation draws money away from the Illinois Republican Party and changes their planning.
Weller seals economic fate of constituents
OK, everyone knows I’m an apostate on this issue, but I think this is an important issue for Weller
Beecher, IL -? July 28, 2005 ? John Pavich, Democratic candidate for congress in Illinois? 11th district, calls Jerry Weller?s actions during these last days of the session ?deplorable.?
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?Mr. Weller has once again ignored the problems faced by the people of Illinois. His votes this week on CAFTA and the Energy Bill demonstrate his willingness to sacrifice the needs of his constituents for the benefit of special interests.?
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?This week, Exxon Mobile, Royal Dutch Shell and Marathon Oil Corp. all posted record profits. Yesterday, Mr. Weller voted for an energy bill that gives these same companies over $60 billion in subsidies. And, more importantly, this energy package will have no impact on the prices U.S. families have to pay at the pump.?
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?With gas prices in Illinois averaging $2.50 a gallon, what is the average family supposed to do? The price cuts we continue to dole out to the oil companies never find their way back to the consumer.? The people of Illinois deserve relief at the pump, not the major oil companies. When is enough ? enough??
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Referring to Mr. Weller?s support of CAFTA, Pavich said ?Mr. Weller has been asked time and again to?answer questions?about his apparent conflict of interest on CAFTA. The citizens of Illinois, the very people he has sworn to serve, deserve answers to these questions.? While Mr. Weller claims to have no conflict of interest, he refuses to disclose his wife’s, his father-in-law’s or his family’s business interests which may stand to gain from CAFTA’s passage.?
?He had plenty of time to clarify these issues, yet he apparently thought the people of the 11th did not deserve an answer. By voting on CAFTA and refusing to adequately answer his constituents’ questions, Mr. Weller has effectively said his constituents have no voice.? The people of Illinois? 11th district deserve a leader who is going to put their interests first every time and address their concerns every time. Mr. Weller?s complete disregard for the concerns of his constituents on this issue is deplorable.?
Pavich continues by saying that CAFTA, as policy, raises concerns as well. ?I?m not opposed to free trade but we have to create policies that are good for all parties. This includes strong, enforceable labor standards and environmental protections. I don?t feel CAFTA does that.?
Jerry Weller has received over $150,000 in contributions from U. S. Agribusiness while special interest energy PAC?s have contributed over $300,000 to Weller?s campaign fund. ?This doesn?t even address the money these groups have donated to Mr. Weller?s PAC?s,? Pavich said.
“Is it not time our representatives remember who they are working for?”
Sound Familiar
I’d have written something snarky about this sounding like it’s from Illinois, but Jefferson is from the only place with a worse repututation
Today, federal law enforcement officers executed search warrants on my Washington, D.C., and New Orleans homes as well as my vehicle in Washington. Subpoenas were issued to me, in my official capacity, to the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and to members of my Washington and New Orleans office staff. I do not know the extent or precise nature of this investigation but I am cooperating fully with the authorities.
Don’t I get some Love Fritchey
So John Fritchey appears to be starting a blog
I’m not on the blogroll? C’mon Amy Allen and Bill are on there–why not me?
(long time readers understand this is fully tongue in cheek as blog roll discussions really annoy me.
More importantly, he needs to change the under construction pic here
On more serious topics, check the blog roll on the left that includes some new blogs including Soap Box Chicago (Ralph is back and we discuss the particular genius of Gordie Ropp there), Happy Hour which is just funny as hell, GOP Illinois and their daily news round-up which is really indispensable, and a ton of Illinois blogs on the expanded list of blogs.
As a note, there are just too damn many Illinois blogs for me to list on the front page anymore so I’d highly recommend checking out those on the explanded blog roll. Amy Allen is included there at Obiter Dictum, Bill Baar a great commenter and blogger on the right, The Elginite–a Dem from a place I lived for a short time, the 10th Congressional District Democratic Blog, a remarkable number of Decatur based blogs, Jill Stanek (only there because so much isn’t Illinois based), Vonster, and a hysterical blog The Truth about RYP.
Errr…okay Jeff is correct
Jeff Berkowitz makes a very good point in relation to something I wrote the other day.
In response to my argument that Roskam was running to the right:
I don?t know if I would bet the ranch on that. Such a strategy wouldn?t necessarily be a winning strategy and I think Senator Roskam is running to win. As I am sure Archpundit would agree, the more the Democrats run to the left, the more room there is for Roskam to run to the center
Uhhh..well, yeah. I don’t have a response because I was wrong essentially. The lack of a primary opponent gives Roskam a great way to run as more moderate than his record would suggest and perhaps more importantly, set the agenda early if he can get coverage in relation to the general election.
I think it’s an open question as to whether the eventual nominee has to run to the left, though Roskam’s record gives some room to do that–but not much since he’s essentially on his own.
That said, Rich makes a few great points in some posts I meant to link to previously–one of which is that the conventional wisdom that primaries are bad is often wrong because primaries are news and news means coverage. Having a walk means you are relegated to the sentence that says “So and So is the nominee for the other party”.