When I think about the abortion vote in South Dakota, I shutter. I shutter because South Dakota is on the long list of red states written off by the Democratic Party. "Better to concentrate on places we know where we can win" was the convention wisdom. As we see red states be ground down by reckless Republicanism, it is clear that the Democratic Party dropped the ball...not merely to caulk up notches in the `win' column, but we Democrats failed to meet the moral imperative to offer a principled and spirited alternative to the GOP culture of death, dollars, and destruction. Look at the ruin that was the Mississippi delta prior to Katrina, let alone after. Consider the bleak desolation of the Great Plains, emptying of people and opportunity. Look at the "irregularities" in voting in Ohio and Florida. Consider the magnificent West, on the step decline of catastrophic environment devastation. In each of the "red" places, the Democratic party pulled up stakes, concentrating on greener and "bluer" pastures of the Northeast and West coast.
The losses in the last two presidential cycles were a clarion call to the party to do something radically different or be consigned to the realm of the Bull Moose or Free Soil. In our wisdom, we called Howard Dean to the chairmanship and charged him to make ours a national party again. And, much to the surprise of our own power elite, and dismay of the Republican Party, he is succeeding. The "nose picking" rabble running around states once considered lost to the Right are having a dramatic impact on upcoming races on all levels. Hats off to Governor Dean. We are building capabilities and capacity to move the party forward and groom future leaders.
Local politics matter because local politics have the most intimate influence on people's lives. Here in Northwest Suburban Chicago we are encounter the difference between the two parties in the starkest terms possible. In the Illinois 27 Senate race, we have right wing extremism running against common sense. Our candidate, Pete Gutzmer, is a firefighter and paramedic, thoughtful, pragmatic, and true to the moderate values of the community. Their candidate is Matt Murphy...if you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all. Let's just say everything Pete stands for, Mr. Murphy is diametrically opposed: Murphy is the Bizzaro Gutzmer. Enough said.
This is our best chance in more than a generation to wrestle this Illinois Senate Seat from the GOP (this was Pete Fitzgerald's seat) and install another strong progressive voice in Springfield. As you good folks are keeping track of races and investing time and money in candidates, take a look at Pete at http://www.votegutzmer.org/ and see what he has to say.
Thanks.