Your average citizen is blissfully going about his or her life this summer, completely unconcerned about the 2006 election. After all, it’s 16 months away! But many concerned Democrats and progressives are all too aware that the 2006 election is one of the most important ones we’ve seen in a long time. Why? Because if Republicans make gains or even maintain their position in the Congress, state legislature or county board, it sends a message. It says that we like what they are doing.
Of course, it’s ridiculous to say that Americans like the job that George Bush and his Republican allies are doing. Only 41 percent of the population approves of the job Bush is doing. And Congress has never had less support from the American people. But because of “early redistricting” in places like Texas and Colorado (read: gerrymandering) and the power of incumbency, Republicans will find it easier to maintain their majority than we will find it to throw them out. And that will send a message to them that the country likes what they are doing.
That’s why the re-election of Melissa Bean as Congresswoman of the Eighth District is so important. Rep. Bean exercises an independent vote that Republicans can’t bully into their column. She’s a strong advocate of the environment and personal privacy. And she’s sponsored bills to make sure such things are protected, something her Republican predecessor, Phil Crane, would never have done.
It’s also important to show the door to Mark Kirk, U.S. Representative in the 10th Congressional District. And we’ll be helping the Tenth Dems organization to do just that for this simple reason: when the chips are down, Mark Kirk can be counted on to support the failed policies of the Bush administration. An examination of his record proves he’s not the “moderate Republican” he portrays himself to be, but a faithful administration lapdog.
On the state level, it’s important to elect more Democrats to the legislature. The more Democrats we have there, the less likely it is that any one powerful figure – be it Governor Blagojevich, Senate President Jones, Speaker Madigan or Minority Leader Cross, will be able to wield veto power over what progressive legislators want to do: support students and working people. More Democratic legislators can help Illinois get its priorities straight.
And at the county level, our board needs to have more progressive voices and votes. Democrats control fewer than half of the seats on the Lake County Board, for example, which means that Republican members face much less opposition to whatever they want to do. Progressive issues like preventing a Costco from building adjacent to a Forest Preserve prairie in Lake Forest are not pursued with vigor either, with the result that one of the best-preserved prairies in the world is now imminently threatened. (That’s Middlefork Savanna, in case you want to contact Costco and protest.)
So what can you do? You can run for office or you can help our candidates win. Running for office as a Democrat in the Eighth District is not as crazy as it sounds anymore. Melissa Bean was just an ordinary citizen, but she won with 52% of the vote. And Sharyn Elman received 47% of the vote in her race for state representative against Bob Churchill in the Grayslake/Gurnee area. Even I got 41% of the vote in the District 51 race against Ed Sullivan, Jr. in the Mundelein area. The two party system has been revived in the Eighth!
And it’s not so crazy because we have a structure now to support candidates in their runs for office. As a result of recruiting efforts this summer and fall, we’ll have a troupe of volunteers to help candidates as they gear up their campaigns, starting with petition drives this fall. While most people aren’t yet aware that an election is coming up, the activists of EDDI haven’t stopped working since the last election. Oh, maybe we took a short time off for the holidays, but we’ve spent months getting ready. If you want to discuss how you can help, please contact chair@illinoiseddi.com or call me at 847-550-9097.
Or would you rather that the Republicans continue to think we like it?