This was originally a comment to Kos's diary, in which he mentions donating to other candidates instead of Obama today, due to the smashing success of Operation Piss Off the People Supporting and Bankrolling His Campaign In Order To Prove He Hates the Dirty Fucking Hippies, but it kind of inflated.

I made a similar decision to Kos's today. I threw $10 to each of Obama and two other Orange to Blue-ers, but I gave a larger donation - it wasn't much, $50, but it was all that was left in my budget this round and I'd been aiming it at Obama - to another amazing Illinois Democrat, Bill Foster. Maybe some of you can do a little better than I could.

I caught about 5 minutes of Meet the Press yesterday. It was only 5 minutes because I got so angry, I had to change the channel. Between Huckabee going on and on about how much of a maverick and non-traditional Republican McCain is with almost no challenge, and the best Democrat they could find being Harold Ford JR, I couldn't take watching it.

Tonight is the deadline for candidate contributions this quarter. Yeah, you can still give tomorrow, but money you give today will become part of the case the Blue Majority candidates make to the public, to the DCCC or DSCC, to big donors who may not judge by the same criteria we do.

But if those criteria are important to you -- if you want not just more but better Democrats, Democrats serious about getting the US out of Iraq and protecting our civil liberties -- this is where you should be going.

As we've pointed out a number of times in the past week, two Blue Majority candidates have already won this cycle. Bill Foster cast the deciding vote on an ethics bill his first day in office. And it didn't take Al Wynn long after losing his primary to Donna Edwards to decide to cash in -- so we don't even have to wait until January for him to be out of the House. How's that for having an impact?

There's another chance to have an impact before November. Blue Majority candidate Leslie Byrne is in a June primary against a "pro-business Democrat" whose friendliness to the wealthy is helping him build a fundraising advantage. She's at 676 contributions on our page right now. That makes it a long shot to get to 1,000 by the end of the day, but with June coming up quickly and the possibility of getting another "better Democrat" through to a general election, can we maybe do it?

Byrne isn't the only candidate to give to, of course -- Joe Garcia, Gary Trauner, and Rick Noriega are all still under 1,000, and this isn't all you'll hear about them today -- but she's on a deadline. If you care what kind of Democrats we field, or you just don't want to wait until November to see results, chip in for Byrne.

Race tracker wiki: VA-11

The plan is now available here (pdf warning).

This afternoon at 5:30 EST, a group of eleven Democratic hopefuls to become freshman members of the House of Representatives will announce "A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq. The group includes Darcy Burner (WA-8), Larry Byrnes (FL-14), Donna Edwards (MD-4), George Fearing (WA-4), Steve Harrison (NY-13), Eric Massa (NY-), Tom Perriello (VA-), Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Jared Polis (CO-2) and Rep-elect Bill Foster (IL-).

The plan calls for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and details how such a withdrawal should be achieved - the group was advised by General Paul Eaton and General John Johns amongst others.

Please check back at that time to listen in. Below the fold I list the candidates websites:

I could not bring myself to vote for Bill Foster, for many reasons, and I did not. The biggest reason is that I am tired of the choice between Republican and Republican-lite.

So many people told me, "But, he comes from a Good Democratic Family, and he'll be a Good Democratic Vote in Congress." To which I usually responded, "I'll believe it when I see it."

Unfortunately, I haven't seen it. IL-14 has another Republican representative. The only difference is, he has a D after his name. We have effectively traded Hastert for someone the likes of Emmanuel or Bean.

Well, for those of us living in New York this has been, shall we say, an "interesting" week. I discuss the scandal surrounding Eliot Spitzer in some detail in this newsletter. In the end it just may be a good thing. Our new governor, Governor Paterson, is untested in many ways...and some consider him a bit weak. But I have a better feeling about him than I did about Spitzer when he was elected. But time will tell.

This week also has been horrible for our economy. Things are getting worse and worse and no end in sight. I am seriously concerned about the economic situation. But Bush has been "reassuring" America that the economy is just fine. This reminds me of his father telling us "Don't worry, be happy." Which, of course, led to the brilliant counter line, "It's the Economy, Stupid." Well, "It's the Economy Stupid" applies more than ever, as I write on Culture Kitchen.

This isn't an AP story, so I wasn't sure how widely it would be noticed.  If this has been previously diaried I apologize.

The suburban Chicago Daily Herald is reporting that indications are that the NRCC will not be funding Republican Jim Oberweis in the November general election.
http://www.dailyherald.com/...

"Oberweis spokesman Bill Pascoe said Thursday it seems "highly unlikely" the National Republican Congressional Committee will chip in for the general election."

Following Forster's successful run to fill Hastert's seat, how many Republican Congressional retirements will be announced on Friday?

I need to what? write a 300+ page intro?  Uh, why's that?  Sorry first post and all...  

I just wanted to note that I entertain the expectation that despite their "Foster's win is just an isolated case" talk, that what will speak much louder regarding the demoralized state of Congressional republicans will be the number of them that figure out that being a super-minority for the next few years might not be a barrel of fun.  I do hope that we'll see the sad reality settle in over the next 3-4 weeks.  Is that enough of an intro?  

This is why we work our asses off to elect Democrats:

Bill Foster won his election on Saturday. He was sworn in on Tuesday. Hours later, an ethics bill came up for a vote.

The bill, pushed aggressively by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), creates an independent, outside panel to investigate ethics complaints against House members. The House approved it last night, 229-182, with most Democrats in favor and most Republicans opposed. That margin is deceptive: Before final passage, the bill first had to clear a much closer procedural vote, which gave House members a chance to kill the idea without, technically, voting against it.

The bill survived that test by a single vote, with Foster voting in favor.

Do you think Jim Oberweis, a guy who violated election laws on the way to losing to Foster, would have cast the deciding vote for increased scrutiny on ethics?

Race tracker wiki: IL-14

Lots of reasons Republicans lost what should've been an easy district to hold, but I think this is definitely one of them:

Kane County GOP Chairman Michael Kenyon said a Saturday election might have kept people away, but he also was critical of the campaigns both candidates ran. He suggested that there was too much negative campaigning on both sides, and too many automated calls to people's homes.

"I got called by Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Bill Foster, Denny Hastert, the NRCC (National Republican Congressional Committee), and Jim Oberweis himself," Kenyon said. "I told them all I voted the first day of early voting."

Um, Michael? Barack didn't call you. Neither did Michelle. Or Foster. When the county chairman of the biggest county in the district thinks he's talking to a live person at the other end of a robo call, you've got some serious problems.

Race tracker wiki: IL-14

I mentioned in a Previous diary that lobbyists wanted to fund candidates who would be elected. "I'm so grateful to you; your contibution enabled me to run the ad which moved my percentage from 45 to 49" doesn't pass any loopholes.
That's one reason why the change inperception after Foster's victory on Saturday is so important.
The Republican party depends on outspending the Democrats with money that comes from donations by lobbyists. The lobbyists are looking for a sure thing. (They'd prefer to donate to an incumbent with certain re-election, but that's not always available.) The Foster win shows that damn few candidates in Republican open seats are sure things.
The RNCC is downplaying the loss as best they can, although they poured more money into the race than they could afford to; but this makes their fundraising this much harder.

Crosspost

It's hard to give too much actual significance to a special election victory in a nominally Republican seat. While it may have few immediate political ramifications (one seat extra in Congress, and Democrats have another vulnerable seat to defend in a few months), the symbolic meaning is huge.

To illustrate the magnitude of this victory, it's useful to plot it on a map.

Kagro mentioned this earlier today, but it bears reinforcing:

Bill Foster won in Dennis Hastert's solidly Republican districts by running against retroactive immunity for telecoms who illegally spied on US citizens.

The Republicans tried to make an issue out of it:

[W]ould Foster have sided with Nancy Pelosi and the trial lawyers who provide the financial underpinnings of the Democratic Party, or with America's intelligence community and the American citizens it protects on a daily basis?

"Yesterday, the liberal Democrats who now control the House of Representatives played politics with our national security -- and today, America's security is today at greater risk," said Oberweis.

But it simply didn't work.

And really, why would it? No one will rush to the ballot box to defend the right of the hated telephone companies to break the law. This isn't 2002 anymore.

Some Blue Dogs may hide behind their district in their efforts to carry water for the telecoms, but the reality is unfortunately more selfish, corrupt, and crass.

As for Republicans, they hit Foster with the same old b.s. of the last decade -- he wanted to "raise the white flag" in Iraq, he wanted to raise your taxes, he was insufficiently hateful toward evil brown people.

"On Saturday, voters will have a clear choice -- I will fight for lower taxes, so we can get this economy moving again; I will fight to secure the borders and end illegal immigration; and I will fight to strengthen and protect Social Security for current retirees AND future generations," said Oberweis. "Sadly, my opponent has made clear that on these three issues and others, he believes otherwise.

"On taxes, we all know the story -- Bill Foster says he wants to repeal the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, and instead raise taxes. Under Bill Foster's tax plan, the average taxpayer in the 14th District would see his or her taxes go up by $3,914. That's almost $8,000 per family, and that's just extreme. That wouldn't make sense in good economic times; but, given that everyone is concerned about where the economy is headed, raising taxes makes no sense at all.

"But those aren't the only taxes Bill Foster would raise," Oberweis continued. "Ten days ago, he introduced a new tax hike scheme into this campaign, when he said he believed that employers who hire illegal immigrants should pay a new 'amnesty tax' -- as if paying a tax would make everything all right. That might make sense to the failed Democrat majority in Washington, but out here in Elgin, and Batavia, and Aurora, and Dixon, and Geneseo, we think differently - we think that if something's wrong, paying a tax doesn't make it right. And we think it's time to secure the borders, and end illegal immigration.

It was a cute rhetorical gimmick calling the fine undocumented immigrants would be forced to pay a "tax". So to Oberweis, when you get busted for breaking the law by driving over the speed limit, you just paid a "tax" rather than a fine for your lawbreaking.

Then again, his special brand of wingnuttery has seen the end of its days. Illinois Republicans are desperate to get him off the November ballot, and you can be assured that his fourth losing campaign is his last.

More importantly, we have yet more proof that running as a proud Democrat, on strong Democratic principles, is the way to victory even in tough Republican seats.

While Rahm Emanuel carries forth his anti-immigrant vendetta in the House, fact is that the issue is a dud with the electorate. They have more important things to worry about than the brown people cutting their lawns and making their burritos.

While other Democrats cower in fear of being accused of "cut and running" and "raising the white flag", the voters are desperate for candidates who will work to get our troops out immediately.

And while many Democrats work with Republicans to shred our constitution and reward law-breaking telecom companies for invading our civil liberties, fearful that they might be accused of being "weak on national security", we just won a dramatic special election on a platform of protecting our individual liberties from those who would invade them.

The message couldn't be any clearer. At least, outside the DC bubble. Whether the powers-that-be in DC get the message is an entirely different matter.

Race tracker wiki: IL-14

When Martin Meehan (D-MA) resigned his House seat in 2007 to serve as chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Niki Tsongas, widow of the late U.S. Senator, Congressman, and all-around good guy, Paul Tsongas, ran for the vacant seat in a special election.  To place this in its proper context, Democrats have controlled the economically-challenged Massachusetts’ 5th District for thirty-some years.  When Mrs. Tsongas managed only a bare majority (51% of the vote) over Jim Ogonowski, her Republican opponent, the GOP and their bought-and-paid-for media hacks hailed this as a huge "victory" in deep-Blue territory, a sign of an impending Republican comeback, and a small step towards their "inevitable permanent majority."   So, was it really raining, or were they just pissing on our legs?

Democrat Bill Foster’s victory over Republican Jim Oberweis in Saturday’s special election in Illinois is evidence of the clamor for change in the countryside?  Perhaps.

Are exurban Chicagoans disgusted with Washington?  Yes, they are.

But there were some uniquely local factors that were more decisive.  

I was part of the effort of NDFA's drive to boost turnout in the critical race which Bill foster won on Saturday.
The headline about the election in the Chicago Sun Times was

BOMBSHELL

That was accurate.
Of the 8 Republicans who are in the US House from Illinois currently, 6 received a lower percentage of the vote in '06 than Hastert did. Only on the far-west edge of the 14th CD is there anyone who is represented by a Democrat in the legislature. Putting as money much into Republican open seats with lower winning margins in Illinois as the RNCC put into this losing race would take more than it has on hand. Never mind the other 49 states.
My experiences after the jump.

So what are RedStaters to make of the huge cannon shot over the bow that was the Illinois 14th district special election: It's time to face reality

It's a real pleasure to read in the comments how many Red Staters think the deck chairs are much better on the atmospheric side of the deck rather than the side that is leading the plunge to the depths.

So I hope that you will all enjoy the failure of their vision as much as I have. And to think this is only the beginning. What a beautiful Monday morning.

Dear Congressional Democrats,

Let's do the math together.

Bill Foster just won the special election in IL-14 -- former GOP Speaker of the House Denny Hastert's seat, and birthplace of Ronald Reagan. Running as he did in what was until Saturday, a deeply red and thoroughly Republican district, what's Foster's view on the new FISA bill and telecom immunity?

"The President and his allies in Congress are playing politics with national security, and that's wrong.  Nobody is above the law and telecom companies who engaged in illegal surveillance should be held accountable, not given retroactive immunity.  I flatly oppose giving these companies an out for cooperating with Alberto Gonzalez on short-circuiting the FISA courts and the rule of law."

And what was the tack taken by Jim Oberweis, whom Foster defeated in this solidly Republican district?

"So today I ask my opponent -- if you had been a Member of Congress this week, and you had sat in that Democratic Caucus meeting on Wednesday, how would you have voted to instruct your leaders? Would you have sided with the trial lawyers, or with America's intelligence community? Would you have voted to protect trial lawyers' wallets, or to protect America? Would you have defended the extreme, or the mainstream?"

That's as direct a contest between the competing lines on the issue as you could imagine. And the fearmongering and trial lawyer baiting lost, on its home turf, to the rule of law.

Who'll hear the message from IL-14?

Will the Democratic leadership allow the Bush Dogs to make a fool of Foster in his first weeks on the job, and facing reelection so soon?

Or will they read the tea leaves and hold firm, maybe even sending a message back to Illinois that Foster's true to his word?

Why not make a show of it? Send the Senate back immunity-free FISA legislation and let it be called the "Foster bill."

What a shame it would be to waste a win like this by letting the Bush Dogs' worry -- that is, that no marginal seat can be won or defended with the very position with which Foster just did it -- hold the rest of the Caucus, and the country, hostage to their fear.

Race tracker wiki: IL-14