This is an interesting Letter to the Editor on the dynamics predicating the impending primary in Illinois's sixth district. It was published in the 21 DEZ 2005 edition of the
Chicago Sun-Times.
Many more of these letters will be written, even if the writer receives anonymous threats from "unavailable" callers on his home telephone. Did he trip upon some deeply held principle?
Although the author disagrees with certain editorial decisions made by the Chicago Sun-Times' staff, he will reproduce it in the extended body.
Lynn Sweet's excellent Dec. 16 column [''Neatly packaged, Dem to enter House race''] describes the haste with which Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the DCCC in Washington, and representative of Illinois's 5th Congressional District, has prepared, packaged and shipped Army Major and candidate Ladda "Tammy" Duckworth to the Democrats of the 6th Congressional District. Duckworth was released from active duty on Wednesday; her representatives signed the lease of her campaign office on Thursday; she was to be interviewed later Friday and filed petitions for candidacy on the Monday deadline. Prepared in the final hours with the assistance of volunteers and representatives from D.C. but not in consultation with local party officials, Emanuel's gift to the 6th District seems to have arrived just in time.
But Duckworth is more than just an innocent holiday gift sent from Washington. Emanuel plans to fuel Duckworth's campaign with $1 million from the party congressional committee on which he serves as chairman, and he will staff her new Lombard office with political professionals tied to Emanuel's Chicago and D.C. machine.
Duckworth, Sweet reports, will be a national candidate: Her appearance on television programs to which Emanuel has connections will be used to raise funds for candidates outside of the 6th District, and her military credentials will be highlighted in order to uphold a national narrative of the Democratic Party's military strength and commitment to national security. Duckworth, in other words, is a cog in Emanuel's elaborate national machine to be installed in the 6th District. A local franchise that holds the promise of generating funds for the national headquarters, Duckworth is Emanuel's new political and economic gamble.
Voters of the 6th District, however, do not want a new casino in their backyards. Instead, they desire representation from an experienced candidate who is aware of local issues and concerns. This candidate is Christine Cegelis, who ran as the Democratic nominee in 2004 and earned 44.2 percent of the vote against Republican incumbent Henry Hyde. Forcing Hyde into retirement, Cegelis and her grass-roots network of volunteers from the 6th District both built the foundations of the local Democratic Party and directed national attention to a district previously considered to be a lost cause for the national Democratic Party.
Cegelis paved the land and created a competitive district by engaging with voters in their homes and at local cafes for the last two years, listening to their concerns and formulating policies that will benefit the 6th District. But now that the land has been paved, Emanuel desires to steal it from the residents of the 6th District and replace it with a casino whose profits will go to his national organization.
Residents of the 6th District and the Democrats of northeastern DuPage and northwestern Cook County deserve better. They deserve a candidate who is in touch with local concerns. The 6th District is not a suburban outpost ready to be colonized by the sleazy political machines of Chicago and D.C.
I guess residents of northeastern Illinois are not very happy with Duckworth. This should be considered before making any statements on the race in District 6.