GOPUSA ILLINOIS Daily Clips - March 1, 2008

ABC7
-- 14th Congressional District: Special election one week away - Andy Shaw
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=5991578 (Includes video clip)
(THE ARTICLE: Voters in the 14th Congressional District will head to the polls one week from Saturday for a special election. The 14th is a big, sprawling Congressional district that runs almost to Iowa from the far western suburbs and it's always gone heavily Republican so G.O.P. businessman Jim Oberweis is a favorite, but Bill Foster is predicting a political upset based on changing demographics, an exciting Democratic presidential campaign, and a very unpopular Republican president. Republican Jim Oberweis and Democrat Bill Foster are running against each other for the unexpired term of Dennis Hastert. Foster, a businessman and scientist from Aurora, is making his first run for political office. His ads connect his competition with President Bush. "The people that are here, really, the people that have been here, like me, 20 years, all their adult life or longer, feel the need for change. They've seen what's happened in six years of George Bush, they are anxious for change," said Foster. Foster hopes an endorsement ad featuring Barack Obama will give him a boost in what's always been considered a safe Republican district. "There is no one that I respect in politics more than Barack Obama," said Foster. "I've had some differences with the White House on a number of issues but quite frankly, George Bush is not on the ballot, Barack Obama is not on the ballot, it's Oberweis vs. Foster," said Oberweis, who emphasizes his endorsements from John McCain and former House Speaker Denny Hastert, who resigned in December after 22 years in Congress. Oberweis said Foster's ad is wrong. "Saying I support George Bush . . . and everything, you've followed me long enough to know that's complete nonsense," said Oberweis. "Aligning yourself with George Bush on a range of policy issues is not at all a misrepresentation," said Foster. According to Foster, it is a misrepresentation for Oberweis to paint him as a tax-and-spend liberal in an ad. "No, not at all I'm consistently on the record in favor of middle class tax cuts," said Foster. "He's talking about an increase for health care $440-billion&he believes bigger government is the answer to all of our problems. That's where we have a difference of opinion," said Oberweis. The winner next Saturday goes to Washington almost immediately to be sworn in but will have to turn around and run again for a full term in November. It's entirely possible for one candidate to win the special election and lose the seat in November. Oberweis has a slight advantage for the election on Saturday, but Foster has an edge in November. But first, it's a week from Saturday and to see the entire interview between the two candidates, it's going to be on ABC7 News this Sunday morning around 9:10.)

DAILY HERALD
-- 14th Congressional District: The cows make another appearance in campaign - Lisa Smith
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=145228&src=5
(THE ARTICLE: The cows have been raised from the dead a week before the special election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee sent out a campaign mailer this week featuring photographs of dairy cows and GOP 14th Congressional District candidate Jim Oberweis. "Oberweis says he wants to crack down on employers of illegal immigrants, but illegal immigrants were working at his own dairy stores," the ad states. "Perhaps they thought the cows would keep the secret." The DCCC also robo-called voters Thursday with that message. In a story that broke in 2005, two illegal immigrants hired by a janitorial service to clean Oberweis Dairy stores filed a complaint against the dairy and the Illinois Department of Labor, saying they were paid less than the minimum wage. Oberweis, who called it a "smear job" at the time, reiterated this week that the pair "never worked for Oberweis Dairy. We hired a contractor . . . (that) had two illegals working for them without the knowledge of the owner." The last time cows came up was during the primary campaign, when Oberweis' GOP foe, state Sen. Chris Lauzen, used cartoonish drawings of dead cows to illustrate Oberweis' failed campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, a recent mailer from the Oberweis campaign depicts a photo of a baby to illustrate how even infants will have to pay higher taxes under Foster because he supports maintaining the estate tax that Oberweis, who refers to as the death tax, wants to repeal. Poll no surprise: Foster's campaign released another poll this week -- this time claiming Foster holds a slim lead over Oberweis. Forty-five percent of respondents in a telephone poll supported Foster, compared to just 41 percent for Oberweis, according to a memo released by Foster's campaign. Global Strategy Group called 402 randomly selected likely voters in next week's special election. The calls were made over a four-day period starting Feb. 21. The margin of error is 4.9 percent at the 95 percent confidence level. Forty-seven percent of voters identifying themselves as independents favored Foster, while 25 percent favored Oberweis. Foster also held a stronger appeal among Democrats than Oberweis held among Republican. Foster's last poll, released right after the primary, showed the pair in a statistical tie. Oberweis fans: Oberweis trotted out endorsements from former Gov. Jim Edgar and former U.S. Sen. Peter Fitzgerald this week. What's particularly notable about that is Fitzgerald supported Lauzen in the primary. In a news release from the Oberweis campaign, Fitzgerald calls Oberweis a "a lifelong and well-known common sense conservative." That's similar to a statement he made on Lauzen's behalf last month. Years ago Fitzgerald and Lauzen were two among the so-called "Fab Five" young conservative state senators. Goodbye: Kane County politics has kept me busy the last few years, and this is my last column. Thanks for reading.)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: The anti-religious, especially homosexuals, are overjoyed: Burt Constable argues against all religions and against all religious people, again
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=145139

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
-- 14th District candidates vary on handling housing crisis - James Kimberly
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-14th-district-mortgages01mar01,1,2759735.story
(THE ARTICLE: The two candidates running in a March 8 special election to replace former House Speaker Dennis Hastert disagreed Friday on the federal government's role in the nation's mortgage crisis. Republican Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove argued that government intervention would disrupt the housing market, but Democrat Bill Foster of Geneva suggested a Great Depression-era plan might help solve the problem. "I believe there is a strong government role to help out people in a way that is still responsible with taxpayers' money," Foster, 52, said Friday while taping a segment of "City Desk" at NBC 5. Foster, a former Fermilab physicist and business owner, said he thinks the federal government ought to enact a program similar to the Homeowners Loan Corp., which the federal government created in 1933 to stabilize real estate that depreciated during the Great Depression. Oberweis, a dairy owner and former investment manager, said Foster's proposal would set a bad precedent and could hurt the real estate market. "I'm afraid while Bill is very, very smart when it comes to quantum physics, his understanding about how the economy works and about how the mortgage industry works is pretty limited," said Oberweis, 61. Oberweis said he supports President Bush's proposal to have lenders and borrowers come together voluntarily and renegotiate the terms of their loans. "We certainly want to have compassion and do whatever we can to help those people," Oberweis said. Oberweis' dig at Foster was typical of the exchanges the candidates have had since the Feb. 5 primary. As the campaign enters its final week, the two millionaires are pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into a TV advertising blitz. Their efforts are being supplemented by ads from their respective national parties. The Service Employees International Union also is buying ads to boost Foster. The candidates, who are seeking to fill out Hastert's unexpired term in a special election, also taped a segment for "News Views" on WLS-Ch. 7. Both programs will air Sunday morning.)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Warning to all potential "warm-up acts" for Republican political candidates: Unless you are very nice to Democrats, you may very well be thrown under the bus
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-warmup-acts-mar02,1,2637826.story
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Outrageously, federal and state laws require non-Hispanics to discriminate against non-Hispanics in order to give preference to Hispanics. Nevertheless, Hispanics in Ohio are mad because Hillary and Obama are not promising enough additional preference.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-ohio-latinos-mar01,1,1902093.story

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES (Page 11, 3/1/08 edition)
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Juan Cole with Salon.com promotes the name "Hussein." Diersen challenges Cole and Salon.com to legally change their names to "Hussein." Diersen challenges the Democrat Party to legally change its name to the "Hussein" Party.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/02/28/hussein/

CBS2
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: Catholics (BUT NOT HOMOSEXUALS?) want McCain to reject Rev. John Hagee's endorsement
http://cbs2chicago.com/campaign08/john.mccain.john.2.666405.html
(THE ARTICLE: McCain Under Fire Over Texas Pastor's Endorsement Today, it was Republican frontrunner John McCain's turn to answer mounting questions about one of his supporters, the Rev. John Hagee, a San Antonio pastor with a worldwide broadcast ministry, reports CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield. Hagee has offered some highly provocative views on a variety of subjects. For instance, he linked Hurricane Katrina to the gay rights movement: " . . . All of the city was punished because of the sin that happened there in that city." He has also denounced the Roman Catholic Church as "the great whore of Babylon" and "a cult." He blames it for the Holocaust and predicts its imminent demise. "This is the apostate church," Hagee said. " . . . this false religious system is going to be totally devoured by the anti-Christ." In a statement, Catholics United said: "We hope Senator McCain will take the principled position of publicly and unequivocally distancing himself from Pastor Hagee's anti-Catholic comments." And Bill Donahue of the Catholic League offered a tougher view: "I do want a clear-cut statement from McCain saying that he knows Catholics have been offended, when this man hagee calls my religon the great whore and a false cult system." Today, Sen. McCain offered carefully measured words: "I don't have to agree with everyone who endorses my candidacy," he said. "They are supporting my candidacy. I am not endorsing some of their positions." He added that he was "proud" of Hagee's spiritual leadership of his congregation at the 17,000-member Cornerstone Church. The Catholic League and Catholics United called on McCain to reject the endorsement. "By publicly addressing this issue, you will reaffirm to the American public and to Catholics that intolerance and bigotry have no place in American presidential campaigns," Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United, wrote McCain in a letter sent Thursday."Hagee's hate speech has no place in public discourse, and McCain's embrace of this figure raises serious questions about John McCain's character and his willingness to do anything to win," said Tom McMahon, executive director of the Democratic National Committee. The question is whether Pastor Hagee's view on the Catholic Church constitutes "a position" or a view that the presumptive Republican nominee has to address head on. This dust-up may also make it a lot tougher for Republicans to criticize Barack Obama for some of his more controversial supporters.)

SPRINGFIELD STATE JOURNAL REGISTER
-- Ramey’s proposal would create smoking licenses for businesses - Adriana Colindres
http://www.sj-r.com/news/statehouse/2008/03/01/lawmaker_s_proposal_would_create_smoking_licenses/

CHICAGOIST
-- Can Foster Beat Oberweis on Turnout? - Kevin Robinson http://chicagoist.com/2008/02/29/can_foster_beat.php
(THE ARTICLE: With the special election for Dennis Hastert's vacant 14th Congessional District seat coming up next Saturday, the race has heated up. Democrat Bill Foster has hit Jim Oberweis almost daily, pointing out the differences on Social Security, global trade, and the war in Iraq. Oberweis has fought back, calling Foster a liberal and a liar, and charging that he will raise taxes. The close race got even more interesting this week when Foster released recent internal polling indicating that he leads Oberweis in the race. Now Foster is claiming that Oberweis violated the so-called "Millinoare's Law", by failing to disclose that he was about to dump buckets of his own cash into the race. And while all of that matters to the race, so will turnout. Foster, in his first campaign for political office, is still trying to find his voice on the campaign trail, but doesn't come unprepared. What Foster lacks in experience as a candidate, he makes up for in GOTV experience. Foster worked on Patrick Murphy's challenge to incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick in suburban Philadelphia. In fact, Foster was the genius behind Murphy's win, engineering a sophisticated get-out-the-vote effort. Foster wrote a software program that some credit with the narrow win in that district. "He helped us crack the code and figure out where we needed to go and how to do it really efficiently," Nat Binns, a spokesman for Murphy's campaign told Eric Zorn. "It was brilliant. We were able to knock on 140,000 doors on Election Day, which was a big part of why we won." No matter who wins next Saturday, Foster and Oberweis will have a rematch in November. And while the winner will take steps to try to change the political landscape after March 8, it's a given that the loser will try to make up for the mistakes and shortfalls of this race.)

ROBERT NOVAK
-- Hastert's successor
http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Robert+D.+Novak%3A+Hillary+error+saves+Barack+error%2C+but+no+one+saves+Newt&articleId=49f02002-be6a-4ce2-8826-ffa9125a6075
(THE COMMENTARY: Despite recent favorable polls, Illinois Democratic leaders fear that former House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s district is too Republican for a Democrat to win in next Saturday’s special election. A recent Democratic poll (Global Strategy Group) showed the Democratic candidate, liberal businessman-physicist Bill Foster, taking a narrow lead over his Republican opponent, conservative dairy magnate Jim Oberweis. Foster has been outspending Oberweis nearly two to one. Oberweis, who has lost three GOP primaries for statewide office, is a controversial figure inside the Republican Party. Nevertheless, losing the former speaker’s old district would be heralded as a harbinger of a big Democratic year ahead.)

WASHINGTON POST
-- Obama: A Thin Record For a Bridge Builder - David Ignatius
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022902784.html

MIAMI HERALD
-- Far right sees McCain as on the wrong side - Kevin Merida
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/439863.html

LAKE COUNTY NEWS SUN
-- 10th Congressional District: A harbinger of things to come? - Nancy J. Thorner
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/opinions/letters/818911,5_4_WA29_THORNER_S1.article

OBAMA CAMPAIGN
-- DIERSEN HEADLINE: According to all the religions of the world, homosexual activity is sinful and should be discouraged. Obama has now made it even more clear that as President, he would assure that America would do even more to promote homosexual activity. That may very well prompt radical Islamists to launch another September 11 attack on America.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/alexokrent/gGggJS

CAPITOLFAX
-- HILARIOUS RICH MILLER VIDEO CLIP THAT FEATURES TOM CROSS AND FRANK WATSON: Zombie Democrats: "Republicans baaaad"
http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/2008/02/29/zombie-democrats-republicans-baaaad/

GOPUSA ILLINOIS
-- Cronin, Fortner, Hultgren, and Sauerberg speak at outstanding Wheaton Woman's Republican Club chili dinner and legislative update
http://www.gopillinois.com/
(THE ARTICLE: State Senators Dan Cronin and Randy Hultgren, State Representative Mike Fortner, and U.S. Senate candidate Steve Sauerberg spoke at an outstanding Wheaton Woman's Republican Club (WWRC) chili dinner and legislative update Friday evening, February 29, at Faith Evangelical Covenant Church in Wheaton. WWRC President Lori Carlson served as master of ceremonies. The approximate 60 attendees included Jean Austin, Joe and Patti Birkett, Tina Connelly, Lynn Crane, Sal and Sherry Falbo, Mike Formento, Howard Levine, Carl and Dagmar Lofgren, Liz Martinez, Pam Mitroff, Gary and Fiona Muehlfelt, Barb Murphy, Elizabeth Roskam, Darlene Ruscitti, and Ron Smith.)