My political work these days consists almost entirely of grassroots organizing for Congressional candidates. My time is spent either out in the field or else trying to recruit others to join me out in the field.
But when I step back and think about what the progressive movement can bring, I'm not usually picturing Speaker Pelosi or Chairman Conyers. I'm more often thinking of Debra Shore.
Join me below the fold for a discussion of who she is, what I think she represents, and what that has to do with this Sunday.
If you live in Cook County, you probably don't need to be told about
Debra Shore, but I'll summarize the story briefly for those who haven't heard about her.
Debra is a long-time environmental activist and volunteer; after decades of this work, she decided to run for commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. This has long been considered a patronage position, and has pretty much never been held by anyone with a serious environmental background.
Debra, of course, wasn't owed a patronage job, and so the party slated three of its own (there were three openings, so the party endorsed three of the nine candidates).
Debra went up against the legendary Chicago machine with a remarkable campaign that blended traditional and innovative techniques with a whole lot of passion. After meeting her, people kept saying "I didn't even know this office existed before, but during the 10 minutes she spoke, I honestly felt like water was the most important political issue out there!"
In other words, Debra Shore got progressive Chicagoland fired up for a countywide primary election for an office that almost nobody had heard of before!
The progressive community was united. While my friends bickered about Cegelis v. Duckworth and Eisendrath v. Blagojevich, everybody felt the same way about the Water Commission race. Debra had tons of volunteers, generated lots of excitement, and on primary day, she beat the machine. Easily. In fact, she didn't just win one of the top three spots -- she was the #1 vote-getter. (When Markos was in town for his book tour and congatulated Debra, saying that we needed good candidates in small races to help build the party, I wondered if he realized that she'd gotten more votes in the primary of this "small race" than Jon Tester or Sheldon Whitehouse will need in November to become Senators...)
Why am I telling this story right now? Because it's a sign of what a united progressive movement can do in the Chicago area. We're ready for progressive reform, and most voters are too. It's just a question of building the right infrastructure and having the right candidates. Once we've done that, there will be no limit to what we can do around here.
And, what might a progressive Chicagoland look like?
It would be a place where every MRWD Commissioner, not just Debra Shore, is a committed environmentalist.
It wouldn't be a place where the mayor responded to calls for a "big box" ordinance to raise the minimum wage for large retailers by not only vetoing it, but also calling for a maximum wage law -- making illegal local minimum wages that, like Illinois's, are higher than the federal one.
It most definitely wouldn't be a place where that same mayor bulldozed an airport under cover of darkness, taking even the FAA by surprise, because he couldn't win a political argument in a more conventional manner.
It wouldn't be a place where the race for county board president pits a poster child for nepotism and cronyism against a right-wing idealogue.
It wouldn't be a place where seemingly half the elected officials have the same last name.
It would be a place where municipal recycling programs get more than lip service.
So that's what's at stake. That's what we need to accomplish, and it's what we most definitely can accomplish, with enough hard work. But we first we need to meet each other.
The internet is going to play a role in the building of a progressive infrastructure in the Chicago area, and this is a big weekend for internet activism in Chicago. First, Chicago was just announced as the site for the 2007 YearklyKos convention, and secondly, the crashing the states team will be in town to interview Dan Seals and John Laesch.
So let's make a weekend of it: join me, the state-crashers, loads of Kossacks, and possibly even a special guest or two at this Sunday's DK Chicago meetup. With 30 days before the election, let's meet face-to-face, talk politics, get to know each other, and get geared up for the last 30 days of hard work. And then when that's over, we'll be ready to take the next step toward building a progressive Chicagoland.
Date: October 8, 2006
Time: 5:00 pm
Place: Blue Agave, raised level (this has been reserved -- here's a link with some more info about the place, including map/directions)
Address: just off intersection of State and Maple.
(Not to complicate, but two addresses are given since it's an intersection)
1 West Maple Street, Chicago IL, 60610
1050 N. State Street, Chicago IL, 60610
Blue Agave phone: 312.335.8900
Oh, and for those of you planning to participate in the Tammy Duckworth canvass that day, there should be plenty of time to get from one to the other -- see you at both of them!