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