Illinois politics with a twist of the knife
Jotham Stein's newest video. It you get points for humor in an election, this has to win a few. He could be a stand up comic. Stein made a joke at the League of Women voters debate about the head of the Kane County Democratic Party fumbling pronouncing his first name.
Jotham Stein, for a change, in my mailbox today. Real Solutions, Real Change, really... I'm not sure this Change frame is going to work for Dems this year. 
From Zorn Reader's Predictions for 2008
Who will win the race for the 14th U.S. Congressional District (West suburban) seat formerly held by Republican Dennis Hastert?Where'd all these Stein supporters come from? Read more...
Republican Jim Oberweis 31.3%
Republican Chris Lauzen 9.6%
Democrat Bill Foster 12.1%
Democrat John Laesch 21.2%
Democrat Jotham Stein 22.6%
Democrat Joe Serra 3.1%
1,375 responses
Bill Foster will file 1,832 signatures this morning for the special election in IL-14. They like to point out that's after a week with two ice storms and 8 inches of snow. I like to point out that it's a perfectly sufficient number to avoid a challenge.
I think they needed 870 or so, so 1,832 pads their total nicely and they were still able to do other stuff the past week.
I was out helping the Foster campaign in IL-14 yesterday. I was struck by a few things.
Something I had wondered about with the Foster campaign early on was whether or not they would be able to expand their base and their volunteer pool sufficiently. As I read through their volunteer board on the wall of the office yesterday, I really got it that they are doing the right things to diversify their support. I suspected they were doing all the right things before and I had no reason to think otherwise, but yesterday seriously cemented it in my brain.
Like every campaign should, they started out building upon Bill's personal and professional relationships for financial and volunteer support. One of the things that I look for in candidates is whether or not the candidate's former colleagues like and respect him or her enough to invest time and money in the campaign. Bill certainly passed that test with flying colors! How many candidates can you think of who have world class scientists (and their families) writing checks AND pounding the pavement for them?!
The Foster Scientific Brigade have continued to be out in full effect for Bill and the campaign has managed to recruit many new, enthusiastic supporters form very diverse communities! I've met college kids from Aurora University and Northern Illinois University. I saw several of the Fox Valley Forge strikers and their families. Teachers from Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles and Elgin. Nurses from DeKalb, Aurora, and Oswego. At least two Kane County Board members and several other elected officials and their families. And, perhaps most importantly, many people who I know from firsthand experience who have the ability to influence large chunks of the voting bloc.
Couple this with the fact that Bill has raised the most money of any Democratic or Republican candidate (aside from his personal contribution) and has picked up some very impressive endorsements (AFSCME Council 31, Planned Parenthood, Senator Dick Durbin, and 19 Nobel Laureates among them!) and things are looking pretty good for the Foster campaign. I'm pretty happy with their progress thus far.
[Cross-posted at WurfWhile.com]
I recently suggested that 2006 Democratic nominee for the 14th Congressional District John Laesch did not seem likely to run in 2008. I based that partly on what I was hearing in early March, but things have gotten more definite since then. In the last couple of days I heard from two independent sources (one of them here) that John Laesch may be throwing his hat in the ring again - so I called John tonight and he confirmed that he will run for congress in the 14th district in 2008 (Laesch's 2008 campaign website is here).
John Laesch told me he will announce his entry into the congressional race Saturday, May 26 on the Firedoglake blog. He also plans to be at the DeKalb Democrats meeting this Thursday, and believes there may be other 14th Congressional candidates there too. Through the end of June, in addition to getting married (congratulations John!) he plans to fundraise. Campaign appearances will follow.
John Laesch will face Geneva attorney Jotham Stein in the Democratic primary and possibly Aurora State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia and Geneva businessman Joe Serra. While this may be the whole field, it's early enough that other Illinois Democrats may join the fray in the fourteenth.
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