IL-14: Four Candidates and a Future Congressman

The League of Women Voters held a forum last night for all the candidates running for the open seat in Illinois’ 14th congressional district, which was formerly held by Dennis Hastert. The debate will be put up on the League website, and we’ll link to it on our campaign website when it goes up.

Excitement and interest in this race are high, and this showed in the number of people who came out to see the debate. We were told the LWV expected about 200 hundred people but today’s papers report the crowd was 600.

The most interesting part of it to me were the alliances that formed on the stage. Two of the three Republican candidates were there, as well as three of the four Democrats. The interesting thing was, even though they were at two tables, seated by party, Republican Chris Lauzen made this race not about Democrat vs. Republican, but about grassroots vs. big money. Bill Foster was compared to Jim Oberweis many times last night, and Jim Oberweis stated agreement with Bill Foster on issues more often than with Lauzen, his fellow Republican. I’m not sure if this says more about Bill Foster or Chris Lauzen… you can be the judge of that.

Audience members  saw many examples of John’s leadership last night. Some of the local media recognized this:

I’m a fighter and a leader,” Laesch offered, adding his willingness to take stances on tough issues, such as his opposition to the war in Iraq.

The Republicans rattled off all the Bush talking points (the surge is working, support the troops, 9-11, terrorism, etc. etc.). The other two Democrats said bring the troops home end the war, but then talked about a slow, drawn-out withdrawal and redeployment.  Then John spoke. He pointed out that first and foremost, he supports the troops and that he is the only veteran in the race. John said that his background as an intelligence analyst is the reason he has been actively against the war since before it actually began. He was involved in writing the 110 day plan for Iraq during his service. That is a write up that shows where we would be in 110 days if we were to attack a country, so he knew exactly what would happen when we attacked Iraq. John talked about being on site when Bin Laden bombed our embassies as one of the first ones there, figuring out who did it and what our next move should be. These are the things that give John the insight needed to deal with this incredibly complicated and sensitive situation.

John also showed leadership on local issues, such as the proposed “Prairie Parkway,” otherwise known as the “Hastert Highway.” Of course, Oberweis was the only candidate who came out in support of this wildly unpopular plan. Coincidentally, he is also the candidate endorsed by Hastert. The other three candidates came out in support of the 47 Plus Coalition, a group proposing repairing and widening State highway 47 as an alternative to the Parkway. This is interesting because John is a member of the 47 Plus Coalition, and has supported it from the beginning.

Audience members saw that John is indeed the “Democrat’s most formidable candidate against… Jim Oberweis.” John took the fight straight to Oberweis. When asked how the candidates would keep the country’s economy on track (specifically with regards to the Bush tax cuts and trade policies) John pointed out that Oberweis has a vested personal interest in free trade, because 84% of his business investments are in foreign countries, predominantly China. I could have sworn I saw him turn red in the face and shift in his seat. He didn’t have a response to John’s statement, he just reiterated his support of free trade.

Lastly, I would like to cover the health care issue all on it’s own, because it is such an important issue, and once again shows John’s leadership and preparedness to fight for us as soon as he gets to Congress. John showed his leadership once again. He was the only one who came out and said he would sign on to  HR 676, single payer universal health care . The republicans talked about the free market, Foster had an overly complicated answer dealing with overhead costs and technological “solutions,” and Stein talked about closing tax gaps to get insurance for the uninsured (in which he also said a line-item veto would be helpful). John showed he was polished and ready for attack on this position, however. In response to the “America isn’t ready for single-payer” argument, John had an AP Poll that showed almost two-thirds of the American people want Medicare for all. America is ready for single-payer, and John is ready to fight for it.

John wrapped up the debate nicely, showing yet again his readiness and organization. He reminded the audience to vote twice in the February 5th primary, once for the special, and once for the general. He also mentioned the campaign website where audience members (and you!) can go to volunteer and contribute.

To make a long story short, John is ready to lead the fight for you today, against Jim Oberweis and against Blue Dogs and Republicans in Congress. Help send him there by going to the website and volunteering and contributing to the campaign.

Thanks,

Kristen Lash

Blog Team Coordinator

John Laesch for US Congress

IL-14: Laesch Campaign Update

First off an announcement. I am the new blog team coordinator for the Laesch for Congress campaign.  Or should I say new-ish? That’s right, I have my old job from the ’06 cycle back. So, as my first duty, I am writing to give you all a general update on the Laesch campaign. Included in the update are a great article on John in the Sun-Times, plenty of new endorsements, and our big event for tonight.

These are exciting times for the campaign.

The Campaign was thrilled to see Dick Simpson’s Chicago Sun Times column on Saturday, January 5th as he declared John the “Democrats’ most formidable candidate against… Jim Oberweis.”

For those who don’t know, Dick Simpson is head of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Political Science Department. He is also a former Chicago alderman, author, progressive leader and columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Simpson won his aldermanic race against a much better financed candidate. His accomplishments as alderman include ending salary discrimination in the city budget for women holding the same jobs as men, budget amendments to provide better funding and speedier opening of day-care centers, and programs to help the homeless and the hungry.

Mr. Simpson highlighted some of our endorsements, John’s great progressive stances on the issues, and his grassroots support as things that make him the front-runner in this race. Mr. Simpson said that John is “headed to victory in the primary…” and in the special election.

Simpson’s list of organizations supporting John didn’t even include them all, I assume he ran short on space. John is also endorsed by many unions, including UAW (region 4); Illinois’ AFL-CIO; the Illinois branch of the International Union of Operating Engineers; and the Western Regional Council of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America. Other organizations endorsing John’s candidacy include VETPAC, DAPAC, IVI-IPO (Independent Voters of Illinois – Independent Precinct Organization), and PDA (Progressive Democrats of America – 14th district and Chicago chapters).

We have also received personal endorsements from the one and only Studs Terkel, progressive radio host Mike Malloy, Dr. Quentin Young of Physicians for National Health Care, and Barbara Ehrenreich (author of “Nickel and Dimed“).

Campaign endorsements also include numerous personal endorsements from voters throughout the district and over 60 Precinct Committee People within the district. If you would like to view all of our endorsements, please visit http://www.john08.com/we-the-p…

We are also participating in an exciting candidate forum. This one is unique because it includes all candidates running for the seat, both Democrat and Republican. If you are in the area and interested in coming out, it will be tonight (Tuesday, January 8) at 7:00 PM. It is being hosted by the League of Women Voters organizations of Batavia and St. Charles-Geneva at the Norris Cultural Arts Center, 1040 Dunham Road, in St. Charles, IL. We would love to see you all out there!

Of course, we could always use your support. We have envelopes to stuff, phone calls to make, data to be entered, doors to knock on, events to attend, literature to hand out, and any number of other things for you to help out with. If you can’t make it to the office, you can still help out with phone banking and data entry from the comfort of your own home. Click here to take action and here to contribute.

Thanks,

Kristen Lash

Blog Team Coordinator

John Laesch for US Congress