It’s been a busy few weeks in the Laesch for Congress camp. I announced my candidacy for the Illinois 14 on May 26. Since then we have had a few Democrats toss their hats in the ring and several Republicans have created exploratory committees. No word from the Hastert camp on his rumored retirement, other than he will let us know soon. I’ll get to all the political stuff in a moment. First, I have a very special announcement I want to share with all of my friends at DailyKos.
Jen and I remember meeting so many of you at YearlyKos last year and now we are looking forward to seeing you again in Chicago this August. For us, the big difference is that we are now Mr. And Mrs. Laesch.
I swear there is some politics below...
The Wedding:
Jennifer and I were married on June 21st in St. Augustine, Florida. Our small family wedding was held at The Castle Otttis, an Irish castle in America's oldest city along the Eastern Florida coast. It was always Jen’s dream to be married in an Irish castle, and mine to be married on a beach, so Castle Otttis was a perfect setting for our ceremony. A small audience of about 15 family & Florida friends witnessed the non-campaign event.
Our wedding consumed quite a bit of time and attention during June, but we did put our campaign team together and raised some early money. In the meantime, political events in the district keep rolling on and the last two weeks have been a blur of campaign activity as things begin heating up!
Now, the politics...
The Democratic Primary shaping up to be a showdown between a Big $$$ Blue Dog vs. Progressive, netroots/grassroots-powered, John Laesch.
The best and most objective blog coverage of this race can be found on Hiram Wurf’s site.
If you missed our VLOG announcement it is here.
Bill Foster jumped into the race on May 30. Foster is a multi-millionaire businessman and physicist. He intends to invest $1M in the primary as seed money. All of a sudden there is an exciting race to follow in IL-14 and on Feb 5, 2008 we will answer two very important questions regarding the direction that the Democratic Party should take as we look to the future. Should we be the big money party or the grassroots party? Should we go progressive or tack to the right? Illinois' 14th District is a microcosm of the same struggle that is going on at Capital Hill.
I am a Progressive Democrat and he is a self proclaimed blue dog Dem. In the Daily Herald:
Foster said he’d be a blue dog Democrat, a coalition of moderate and conservative mostly Southern lawmakers. Rep. Melissa Bean of Barrington is one of them.
"There’s not much they’re pushing for I don’t agree with," Foster said.
To underscore the blue-dogginess, Foster likes technological solutions to real-world problems and even goes so far as to endorse Newt Gingrich’s plan for a national ID card for immigrant workers.
Jotham Stein, a lawyer from California and recent resident to the district, has also thrown his hat in the ring and is showing up at parades and events. With so much up in the air this primary field could get more crowded and it is hard at this time to see how this newcomer to both the district and to politics will distinguish himself in the minds of our local voters.
Illinois State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia has formed an exploratory committee, but has stated repeatedly to the press that if Denny runs, she will not oppose him. Here is a May 15th Beacon News quote:
Chapa La Via said that if Hastert decides to run again, she will not run.
" I have the greatest respect for him," she said. " You can't discount the
fact that the man has brought billions of dollars into this district. I
have way too much respect for him to run against him."
Which brings us to...
The Republican Primary
Hastert has announced nothing other than he will make an announcement soon. While his silence has persisted, most Republican hopefuls in the district have done nothing. Recently, however, that has been changing.
Chris Lauzen, conservative State Senator has formed an exploratory committee and continues to actively campaign.
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns has formed an exploratory committee. It seems to me that this is "Denny’s pick."
There is some speculation locally that a recent announcement by Republican State Rep. Tim Schmitz, who was rumored to be Denny’s hand-picked successor, that he is not interested in the seat set off this round of exploratory committee formation.
Most recently, Jim Oberweis, an uber-conservative Chicagoland dairy magnate, quietly filed paperwork. Oberweis tried for the Republican nomination for Senate in 2002 and 2004 and the Gubernatorial nomination in 2006. A good indication of Oberweis’ politics is reflected in this Aurora Beacon quote: "I would do everything I can to carry on Denny's legacy."
The right-leaning Daily Herald speculates in an interesting paragraph that Hastert may still have a trick or two up his sleeve regarding the race in general:
Hastert could retire immediately, setting off a special election. He could decide to serve out the remainder of his term and not seek re-election, creating an open seat much like former Congressman Henry Hyde of Wood Dale did last year. Or Hastert could run for re-election and then drop out after the primary, letting Republican leaders pick his replacement. That’s what Quad Cities Democrat Lane Evans did last year.
Nose to the grindstone and back to the grassroots, door-to-door campaign for Laesch 2008:
It is my fundamental belief that the long-term good of the country will be best-served by a sustainable, well-organized precinct committeemen structure that stays in tune with the concerns of this and any district.
As big money and 30-second soundbite commercials continue to dominate the game of politics we have the choice to pursue a different kind of politics that is inspired by leaders, driven home by activists and celebrated in the due course of history: I call it Democracy. It is not a new concept, it is the same vision that our forefathers founded this nation on. The vision that all human beings are created equal and deserve a voice in the political process.
Welcome to the ground-zero battle between a grassroots campaign and a millionaire; the ground-zero battle between the corporate wing of the Democratic Party and the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party!
I am thrilled to be here and hope that you will join us in 2008 at John Laesch for Congress!
I’m looking forward to seeing many of you at YearlyKos, in the meantime, any help you can give to help send a true Progressive to Congress is greatly appreciated.
