This campaign has been a long, fun, exciting road, and while the road ahead is short, it's about to get even more fun and exciting. The primary is 16 days away. That's two weeks and two days. We are doubling tripling our efforts on getting yard signs out, on identifying voters, on fund-raising... everything that will be crucial to our GOTV efforts on Feb 5th and then again on March 8th in the special election to replace Denny Hastert.
We have quite a bit of news to report this week. Follow me below the fold for the full update, including our exciting new endorsements, upcoming events, and online action opportunities for you to help out the campaign!
Endorsements
Perhaps one of the biggest endorsements we have received to date comes from Lt. Governor Pat Quinn. Quinn is known throughout Illinois as a progressive, grassroots Democrat who truly listens to the people. Lt. Governor Quinn came to our campaign headquarters in Aurora on Wednesday to do a press conference with John. The Lt. Governor noted John’s dedicated service to people as well as his willingness to fight for the working people of Illinois. You can watch it here.
John got two more local endorsements this week:
One from the the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, local 196. They said of John,
We believe you will continue to fight for the working families of the entire United States of America, to keep our nation employed and moving ahead.
The other was from the Mayor of Yorkville ( Denny’s Hometown) Valerie Burd.
John also got a nice shout out here on DailyKos when Randall Sherman announced in a comment that John earned the endorsement of the Illinois Committee for Honest Government.
Upcoming Events
Debate season is rapidly heating up.
The next forum is Monday, at 4:00. It is being sponsored by the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce (QCAACC). It will be held at the Aurora Township Youth and Community Center, 313 Gale St, Aurora.
Then we have the Beacon News and CBS Debate. It is on Thursday, January 24 at 7:00. It is being held at Aurora University, in the Crimi Auditorium, which is located in the Institute for Collaboration, on 407 S. Calumet Ave. This debate will be simulcast on the CBS News website. The Beacon will also have a live blog on their website. Be watching for it!
Take Action
There are plenty of online opportunities to take action for the campaign. The first and most pressing at the moment is to vote for John at the DFA Grassroots All-Star 2008 site. The Grassroots All-Star will have the benefit of an endorsement from DFA, and the fundraising and volunteers that go with that endorsement. This would be an enormous boost to our campaign, and a big help in the two general elections we have to fight between February and November.
Then you can head on over to Russ Feingold's Progressive Patriots Fund and nominate John for that endorsement.
And, of course, you can email me at kristen AT john08 DOT com and join our blog team!
Between all the debating and endorsements, we are working hard on the ground. Andrew, our Field Director, is out almost every day knocking on doors, and we have people in every county working hard on planting yard signs. We have put out thousands of yard signs to date and there are more calls from supporters requesting signs coming into the office every day. We have 100 new 4'x4' signs coming in very soon, to be put in high-traffic areas throughout the district.
With all this activity, we could use your help! If you are in the district, I know Andrew would love more company for him and his team as they go canvassing. You could spend an hour of your time delivering signs across your area. Or, you could come to the office at 46 W. Downer in Aurora and enjoy the camaraderie there.
There is also plenty to do if you can't be here. We have plenty of remote phonebanking and data entry to be done.
To volunteer for the campaign, please click here.
Contributions are also always welcome. $30 would pay for 10 of the new yard signs. $15 would pay for a kit and a cup of coffee or hot chocolate for one of our canvassers. Any donation, no matter how large or small, will be put to good use and will be greatly appreciated.
As always, thanks for your support!
Sincerely,
Kristen Lash
Blog Team Coordinator
John Laesch for US Congress
http://www.john08.com