Tom Bowen (Quigley campaign manager) writes a decent column on the 5th District and the disconnect between local and national progressive:
While Quigley had already assembled a coalition of progressives, Geoghegan was busy forming a different one, outside of the 5th District.
It’s true that Geoghegan brought fresh policy approaches to the table. And it’s always refreshing to see a candidate introduce new proposals into the debate. But a campaign is not just about ideas. As with policymaking, it’s about presenting constituents with clear choices, motivating supporters, building coalitions, surpassing countless hurdles, and finding a way to win.
When faced with a multi-candidate primary field like the one in the 5th District, progressives should ask the following questions before going with the “long shot”: Does this candidate’s agenda vary significantly with the rest of the field? Will he or she be able to push those other candidates towards more progressive positions? And if the campaign is ultimately unsuccessful, will there be lasting infrastructure left in its place?
I’m not entirely convinced about the lasting infrastructure bit, but I think there is something that national supporters missed beyond Quigley’s strong ties locally. This was probably the worst campaign to try at the worst time. Geoghegan is very smart and I think he’d make a good Congressman. That said, he’s a guy who didn’t have strong ties to local community groups and he was running in a very short time frame. Insurgent campaigns usually need time to overcome a money disadvantage and while Geoghegan couldn’t control that the open seat came up with only a special election, it makes a tough race even tougher.
Adding to it–is the Rod Blagojevich side show which pretty much shut out any earned media. Geoghegan even tried to sue for a Special Election for US Senate and the story dropped because of the Rod and Roland show.
It was pretty much a doomed effort given the short time and the media environment that pretty much ignored the race. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have run, but his chance to even change the debate was limited by the environment. He did run a fairly spirited campaign though and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Separate from Tom Geoghegan himself, I was disturbed by the tendency of national activists to dismiss Mike Quigley though. I stayed neutral in the race–I liked several of the candidates and had friends working for different campaigns and largely I saw the chance for generally good outcomes. I noticed, however, a real tendency to dismiss anyone else who wan’t Geoghegan nationally because of Geoghegan’s great credentials and strong mind. That wasn’t fair to Quigley who has been a strong voice for reform.
Quigley has been a progressive voice in Cook County and has fought some of the worst tendencies in machine politics. He took one for the team when he pulled out of the County Board Presidency race in favor of Claypool–a very classy move that made Claypool very competitive, if ultimately coming up just short.
His environmental record is incredibly strong and he’s fought for better management of the County health system. Those are not credentials to turn up your nose at. He’s not as intellectually grounded the way Geoghegan is, but he is a smart, stubborn in a good way, progressive politician. All politics are local and in local politics, Quigley really deserved credit for being the guy who put the hard work in over the years.
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