Stay with me, here. This train of thought originated earlier this week when I read columnist, Mark Brown's, remarks in the Chicago Sun-Times positing an Illinois Democratic primary so dull and boring that Illinois Democrats might consider voting in the GOP primary just to screw with them because their Presidential primary may well still be in play when Illinois votes on March 20. He said
What if Illinois Democrats, looking at a scarcity of interesting races in their own primary, were to pull a Republican ballot instead and help their neighbors across the political divide settle on a candidate to run against Barack Obama?
Yes, I know, that would be wrong.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. But would it be SO wrong? I’m not so sure.
My first thought was that it was "wrong, wrong, wrong" to assume that Democrats shouldn't be interested in down-ballot races, even in a primary offering no statewide apex races like President, Governor or Senate. So, Tip O'Neil's observation that "all politics is local" will be especially true in the upcoming Illinois Democratic Primary. But Brown's argument overlooks the importance of the election for the next Congress. There has hardly ever been a more important year for people who consider themselves Democrats to take an interest in the election of the next Congress, to completely replace the complete travesty of a House of Representatives run by John Boehner and his tribe of cannibalistic clowns.
But how does a Democrat know whom to support and know how important this potential change in Congress is to America? One answer is the campaign website.
I recommend this exercise to everyone. Do it in your own Congressional District. You may come up empty, but in many places there will be more than one Democrat running for the nomination, if your home district is occupied by a Republican or is open. If your seat is held by an incumbent Democrat, he or she may draw a primary from the left. It's worth looking into. A few minutes on the Google will answer all your questions. If you don't know what Congressional District you live in, find out by calling or going online with your local election board or clerk. You could easily be mistaken about which district you get to vote in, because so many lines have moved with redistricting.
Once you figure out which primary candidates you want to know about, find their websites. If they don't have one, they aren't serious and cross them off your list. On each website find the issues page and the endorsements/supporters page. A candidate who won't list where they stand online or say who they stand with, should also be crossed off as not serious.
Continuing, comparing the two leading candidates in my home district, the Chicago suburban IL-10 produced some notable distinctions. First look at the topics addressed by the candidates issues page. What are the headings? This tells a lot about how the candidate wants to talk about the issues.
Mr. Schneider's Issues page addresses fifteen topics under the following headings:
Middle Class Opportunity
Jobs and the Economy
Fiscal Reform
Education
Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid
Environment
Energy Security
Health Care
Protecting Women’s Rights
LGBT Equality & Civil Rights
National Security and Foreign Policy
Security and Peace for Israel
Immigration Reform
Separation of Church and State
Gun Control
Mr. Sheyman's Issues page addresses fifteen topics under the following headings:
Putting the American People Back to Work
Standing up for the Middle Class
Defending Health and Retirement Security
Education – Investing in America’s Future
Keeping People in Their Homes
Criminal Justice Reform
Ending the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
Meaningful Immigration Reform
Honoring Our Troops
Leadership Toward Middle East Peace
Energy and the Environment
Defending a Woman’s Right to Choose
Commitment to Equality
Repairing our Broken Electoral System
Representing Illinois’ Working Families
It is interesting enough that Mr. Schneider's topics include no mention of work or working and shies from bold, topical language like Mr. Sheyman's use of "defending" and "repairing" and "standing up". Reading the material under each topic for each candidate is obviously more illuminating, but the topics alone are telling.
Also illuminating are the candidates' endorsements. Mr. Schneider enjoys the support of one incumbent Congressman, two incumbent State Senators, one incumbent Mayor, one former Congresswoman, two former State Senators, one former mayor and several past unsuccessful candidates for the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in this district (prior to redistricting). Endorsements are said to mean little at the ballot box, yet the difference between these two candidates seems stark, when it comes to who they hang with and who hangs with them.
Mr. Sheyman enjoys the support of four incumbent members of Congress, one incumbent county commissioner, one incumbent township supervisor, one former Vermont Governor/former DNC Chairman, one incumbent AFT union local President, three local unions, two Township Democratic organizations (so far), four national progressive organizations and one progressive PAC.
Look at the races in or near your home district. Find candidates whom you can help. Start with their websites. Start anywhere. Just start. The upcoming primaries to select the Democrats who will run for Congress in November are some of the most important elections in our lifetimes. Failure to win back Congress will be catastrophic