ArchPundit
The Illinois Races
IL-3 Two challengers taking on Dan Lipinski in the Democratic Primary. No serious Republican 59 D 40 R (2004 Presidential vote in District)
IL-4 A multiway primary to replace Luis Gutierrez–more later. 79 D
IL-6 Roskam is a freshman and thus a likely target, but there aren’t any candidates right now since Duckworth announced she wouldn’t run in a rematch. 53 R 47 D
IL-8 Millionaire taking on Bean. Little reason to think he’ll be any stronger than McSweeney. 56 R 44 D
IL-10 Democratic Primary between two prolific fundraisers in Dan Seals and Jay Footlik. Winner takes on Kirk in a Democratic leaning District. 53 D 47 R
IL-11 No announced challenges to Weller in a fairly close district 53 R 46 D. This would be a shame to leave uncontested or undercontested.
IL-14 Three Dems seeking to run in what is likely to be an open seat. John Laesch ran last time. Bill Foster is a physicist who has promised to spend $1 million of his own and a third candidate. For the Republicans, Chris Lauzen, CPA has Jack Roeser’s backing, Uberweis is in and presumably garnering the Minutemen for battle, while Schmitz and Stokke are out. 55 R 45 D
IL-18 Open seat, more Republican than the other vulnerable Republican seats, but also a strong labor presence in the District. Two Republican State Reps including party favorite Aaron Schock are looking at the race. 58 R 42 D
LaHood Out
Meaning another seat to defend in Illinois for the GOP:
LaHood, a 30-year political veteran and seven-term congressman, plans to officially announce the decision Friday in his hometown of Peoria, as well as in Jacksonville and Springfield. He said in a telephone interview that he was leaving “at the top of my career” and ready to spend more quality time with his grandchildren.
“I’m going back to a normal life with my family,” he saidLaHood, 61, was a state legislator and later an aide to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.) before winning his House seat in 1994. He forged a reputation for working with Democrats and for speaking his mind. In May, for example, he trekked to the White House with other House Republicans to express concerns about the progress of the war in Iraq.
Early speculation includes State Reps. Schock and Leitch.
From the Almanac of American Politics
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Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 5
It’s a fairly heavy Republican District only surpassed in 2004 by IL-15 and IL-19 in terms of Republican performance in 2004, but none of the Illinois Districts are out of reach in what looks to be another horrible cycle for Republicans.
Didn’t Get In To Yearly Kos?
That’s right–it sold out. So let’s sell out the Welcome Event on Wednesday, August 1st put on by People for the American Way.
Just go over to the right hand corner and click on the ad. That will take you to the RSVP page where you can simply RSVP and pay a low $25 for an event of fun, progressive folks and an open bar for 2 hours. You can pay with a credit card or pay on arrival. You absolutely have to RSVP though since the guest list will be set a couple days early due to said open bar.
The sponsors are a great bunch of folks including many elected progressives, WCPT 850, In These Times and Northside DFA. The host committee includes a lot of the bloggers and online-presence of the area so it should be fun, cheap, and sure to sell out so register now. A bunch of candidates will be there as well from what I’m hearing so it should be a great place to get to know some of the candidates and office holders in a low pressure environment.
Posting will be slow for Wednesday, I’m helping to organize one event at the Convention and I’m swamped with little details and then I’m going to the Cubs game down here.
Proudly Attending Yearly Kos
A few days ago, a right-wing talking head known for his tendency to misrepresent, distort and outright mangle the truth for his own personal gain attacked a group of people who are organizing for a cause. They are discussing how to grow a progressive movement that is trying desperately to put this country back on track. Extremists and demagogues across the country will join him in trying to shout down anyone attending this movement-driven convention.
I am proud to say that I will be attending the Yearly Kos Convention, listening to their ideas, sharing some of my own and talking about how progressives can change this country.
I’m Bill Foster, a businessman, scientist and Democrat running for Congress to change Washington. I’m proud to attend Yearly Kos and I’d be proud to have you join me in showing your pride.
I Really Wish This Guy Would Stop Parking In Front of My House
Given I live in Saint Louis, it’s like he’s taunting me.
Durbin Engages the Blogosphere on Broadband Policy
Over at OpenLeft, Senator Durbin is engaging the on-line community on national broadband policy:
Today I’m writing to invite you to participate in an experiment — an interactive approach to drafting legislation on one of the most significant public policy questions today: What should be America’s national broadband strategy?Starting this Tuesday, July 24 at 7pm EST on OpenLeft.com, I will be engaging in a series of four nightly broadband policy discussions with the online community. During those four nights, I am looking for the best and brightest ideas on what Congress should do to promote and foster broadband. I will begin each night’s discussion with a conversation about some of the core principles I think are important, and then I’ll ask for you to contribute your ideas that will help me craft legislation.
Dick Durbin :: What should be America’s national broadband strategy? There are two reasons I’m asking for your help and participation. The first is because I think we need more public participation and transparency in the way Congress crafts significant legislation. This is an approach to legislation that has never been tried before. If it’s successful — as I believe it will be — it may become the way lawmakers approach drafting bills on other issues like education, health care, and foreign policy.The second reason I’m doing this is because broadband policy is one of the most important public policy issues today. Frankly, America does not have a national broadband strategy, and we are falling behind. That means our families don’t have access to the best medical technologies, our students don’t have access to the best educational opportunities, and our entrepreneurs are limited in the markets they can access. As we work together to draft a bill to solve these problems, the three principles I want to begin with are:
- Broadband access must be universal and affordable;
- We need to preserve an online environment for innovation; and
- We need to ensure that broadband technology enables more voices to be heard.
As I said at the outset — this is not the traditional way legislation is written in Washington. Some people think that by giving people other than policy experts and special interest groups a seat at the table, this process will never work. I believe differently, and I have a feeling that this week, we’ll prove them wrong.
I look forward to talking with you about America’s national broadband strategy, starting this Tuesday night.
— Dick Durbin
The Glenview Humane Society Surge
Pics of the police presence at the Glenview Humane Society Event with Mark Kirk:
Someone Has To Win the Republican Nomination, but They All Seem To Be Finding Ways To Screw It Up
“No to Obama, Osama and Chelsea’s Moma.”
So he finds some woman who not only is terribly offensive, but cannot even spell. Unless there is some reference to modern art I’m not getting.
TPM got the Romney campaign on record:
This obviously invited the question: Was it appropriate for Mitt Romney to hold up a sign likening Barack Obama to the leader of an international terrorist network, responsible for bloody attacks upon the United States, apparently all based on his name? After all, what would the media reaction be if Barack Obama posed with a supporter who had a sign comparing President Bush to Adolf Hitler? The press would go nuts over it, surely, and rightly so.
Election Central contacted Romney spokesman Kevin Madden for comment, asking if it was appropriate for the candidate to hold the sign up with the woman. “The governor stopped briefly for a picture with a supporter who just happened to be holding their own sign with an alliterative play on words,” Madden said, via e-mail. “I don’t think it was equating or comparing anyone.”
IOW, the campaign staffers aren’t much brighter than Flipper.
Congressman “Dogged” by Constituents Who Want Him to Bring Troops Home and End War in Iraq
Americans Against Escalation in Iraq
Glenview – Eight fully-uniformed officers from the Glenview police department were on hand to protect Congressman Mark Kirk today when he visited a Humane Society event in the town’s Gateway Park. The officers joined multiple members of Kirk’s staff at “Pet Protection Day,” where local pet owners learned about local services, pet care issues and animal protection legislation.
Also at the event were seven local supporters of the Iraq Summer campaign, which has been calling on Congressman Kirk to take a stand against President Bush’s reckless Iraq war policies. The supporters – all residents of Kirk’s 10th District – were on hand to present Kirk with a “Report Card” on his Iraq voting record.
Congressman Kirk spoke to the group about current efforts in Congress to protect animals, and was honored for his legislative efforts on behalf of animal rights. After he finished speaking and posing for pictures with pets, the Congressman avoided questions about his votes on the war from constituents as he hurried to his car.
Members of the Glenview Police present at the park – including Chief William Fitzpatrick – refused to answer questions about why so many were needed for an event attended by about 50 people. Village President Kerry Cummings, who was also on hand, said that everyone was welcome at the event and highlighted the park’s key role in the Glenview community.
Today marks the second time in two weeks that Congressman Kirk has been pressed in person by his constituents to answer questions about his position on the Iraq war. Despite signs that he may break step with the President, Kirk again voted with Bush on a July 12th bill that would withdraw nearly all American troops from Iraq by next April.
“Why is Congressman Kirk willing to talk about protecting pet food but not our soldiers?” said Sharon Sanders of Northbrook. “We were a peaceful group that wanted nothing more than a straight answer from our Congressman. I was shocked that he called in that many police to a Humane Society event,” said Sanders.
More after the jump