From comments a Bennett supporter writes in:
I’m not trying to write anything bad or untrue, only of what I know and have read myself. I just wish these elections didn’t focuse so much on how much money the candidates raise and more about the experiece they have. So, I will tell you why I’m a Bennett supporter:
Before this election even got started I heard rumors that he was going to run, I knew him as the mayor of Palos Hills and how wonderful he has run that city so of course I was very excited about the news! I’m excited because I know his leadership roles as the president and co-founder of the illinois municipal league, chicago metropolitan agency for planning, southwest conference of mayors and southwest central dispatch, which has helped so many communities besides the one I live in. He is one of the greatest speakers I’ve ever heard and I believe that he will make a differece and change in washington especially now when we need so bad.I stand beside his views on the increase of minimum wages, making it harder for big corporations to shirk their responsibilites under pension plans, repeal the Bush tax cuts, ensure funding for the state children’s health insurance program and the rights for women.
I know that he has a strong following because he is a strong politican with ideas and plans to get things done. Even if he didn’t raise one dollar I still believe he, by far, is the most experienced and has the better know how to be in congress. It seems like he was born to serve the people. I met him and I think if you did too, you would change your mind and vote for Mr. Bennett! What a great guy. 🙂
And let me make clear, Jerry sounds like a great guy and my effort this primary isn’t meant at all to disparage him. When I take sides in Democratic primaries where I see the candidates as decent, I try to make sure everyone can talk about them reasonably.
I would have to agree that Jerry Bennett sounds like a good guy. The simple problem is he hasn’t run a real campaign.
I’ve been on his mailing list from the time he first posted it. In December he put out an end-of-year appeal for 300 new online donors. He got 7. This past week he put out another plea. As of this writing he now has a total of 84 online donors. Jim Capparelli has 8, and Mark Pera has 4,127, hundreds of whom are from within the district.
Sadly, any Congressional race in the Chicago media market, especially against an incumbent, requires huge media expenditures – far more than Senate or state-wide races in most states. Just look at Duckworth, Bean, Seals and others who need to spend millions to get their message out.
Being a hometown mayor and connected to other suburban mayors just isn’t enough exposure to reach the nearly 700,000 citizens of the 3rd District.
By starting late, and with little media exposure, whether intentional or not, Jerry Bennett is only doing exactly what the Lipinski machine hopes he will do – syphoning off votes from the only challenger with a chance to unseat Lipinski.
NOT to knock the work of Jerry Bennett. But go to http://www.actblue.com, and search for il-03. That page clearly tells the exposure story as well as the fundraising story.
And yes, supporting the concept of disclosure, I am a Pera supporter.
Why is this campaign about money and not about the qualifications of the candidates? Jerry Bennett is the best qualified candidate in the race; just read the Sun-Times endorsement, the SouthtownStar endorsement, the Riverside-Brookfield Landmark endorsement and today’s Kristen McQueary column.