Mike Quigley thanks his supporters at John Barleycorn in Wrigleyville (Chicago) for their help in achieving this progressive victory.
In this heavily Democratic district, there was little doubt that the Democratic candidate would win but in this victory we have a true progressive who's made his career about challenging the machine.
Feeling on the street: Quigley was a County Commissioner in Cook County. We will sorely miss him.
I appreciate Chris's apology to folks about the IL-05 results, and I definitely agree with the spirit of his comment that mere moral victories are, at this point, frustrating. But if I may, let me file perhaps what we might call a Minority Opinion in this verdict.
I just wanted to add that (speaking only for me) I don't think an apology is necessary. I don't think any of us promoted Tom as anything other than A) a movement progressive B) a guy who had a steep uphill climb in a first race for Congress. Just because he lost doesn't make any of that untrue - nor do I believe it makes any contributions or work for him a waste worthy of apology."
Given that Tom Geoghegan finished in 7th place last night, with only 6% of the vote, I wanted to take a moment to apologize to the Open Left community on the front page about this campaign. Given that 212 of you donated over $11,500 to Geoghegan, it is the least you deserve. I can see two main things that went wrong in my decision making on the race:
Went in flying blind: There was only one poll on the campaign that I saw. The top three candidates in that poll finished in the top three, including a victory for the leader, Mike Quigley. Clearly, it was actually a good poll. The poll was conducted before Tom Geoghegan entered the campaign, and I thought the low numbers for the leader made it an attractive, and winnable, possibility. However, I probably should have waited for another poll showing Geoghegan at least in the mix, rather than just jumping in blindly.
Kept disregarding warning signs: I should have taken more heed of the warning signs that kept appearing. Geoghegan was not endorsed by local unions, by local ward leaders, or local newspapers. Also, his field campaign was, from what I heard "good but not great." In such a low turnout election, all four of those factors are absolutely crucial. These warning signs kept appearing in January and February, and I did not take the appropriate caution from them. Again, I allowed my hopes of what could be achieved in a wide open, low-turnout primary to get the best of me.
Now, I donated to Geoghegan's campaign as well, as I always make a point of taking whatever action I ask of the community. Also, while it appears that Geoghegan only received one vote for every $100 he raised, that amount seems pretty similar to everyone else in the campaign. We should have done better, but the lack of endorsements was the main cause for that.
This isn't the first time we have backed a candidate who lost by double digits, and I doubt it will be the last time, either. I am still happy to have supported such a strong progressive, and I don't think less of Tom Geoghegan as a person because of this. However, in the future, I promise to do a better job of gathering information on the campaign beforehand, and of monitoring warning signs as I see them appear. There were other, pretty progressive candidates in this campaign, and if I had done more due diligence, we might have been able to help one of them.
Thank you to those who donated. I will do better for you in the future.
BlogPac sent out an email today, pushing one last time for people to give to Tom Geoghegan. The election is on Tuesday, so if you are going to give, the time is now. Already, almost $2,000 has been raised.
This is an open thread. Tell the world what is on your mind.
If you were to ask me why I'm supporting Tom Geoghegan in the IL-05 special election for Congress, the answer would be simple. I'm supporting Tom because he is the truest progressive in the race.
What, you may ask, is a progressive? A progressive is someone who "comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable" -- someone who, above all, will fight for the rights and the dignity of ordinary people, even -- especially -- when that means taking on the most powerful institutions and entrenched interests in our society. Given that so many injustices derive from economic inequality, the cause of economic justice will always be at the center of a progressive vision. But economic justice is by no means the only vitally important progressive value. A true progressive is someone who signs on to the entire progressive agenda -- not just the bits and pieces of it that happen to be popular at any given moment, or happen to coincide with his or her own self-interest. And finally, a progressive is someone who is committed not merely to advocating incremental change, but to advancing big, bold, and sometimes quite controversial new ideas.
By those measures, Geoghegan is far and away the most progressive candidate in the race. He has bloody well spent a lifetime "comforting the afflicted, and afflicting the comfortable." He's filed lawsuits against employers who illegally discriminated against workers or prevented them from joining unions. He's won back pensions, health care, and lost wages for thousands of people. He's gone to court to enforce child labor laws, and to crack down on predatory payday lenders.
Read this if you want to elect a true progressive to Congress
I've been calling for Tom Geoghegan for the past few days. I've called for 7 past campaigns during my politically active years and here are some of the differences I'm seeing with this election:
- very low awareness of the election (not surprising, but different than other elections)
- very low commitment to any candidate
- no mention to me of support for any candidate other than tom. I realize they are less likely to tell me, but it is unusual not to have 1 mention of another candidate during calls
- people who do talk about Tom are enthusiastic about supporting him
I thought Sara Feigenholtz and Mike Quigley were going to be clearly in the lead at this point, and that isn't what I'm hearing from people I talk with. Definitely motivating me to keep on calling.
Want to put a bold progressive in Rahm's House seat in the March 3 special election? Here's what you can do.
If you live in DC, join us this Monday evening at Local 16 for a fundraising event for Tom Geoghegan, and meet the candidate himself. There's a high-dollar fundraiser later in the evening, but tickets to this netroots fundraiser event are only $30. Get them here. Facebook invite here.
Not in DC? Read more about Tom and donate at the event's ActBlue page. Every dollar makes a big difference, so please consider giving. (If you buy raffle tickets you can still win, even if you're not at the event.)
In my previous diary, I wrote that fighting for reform hasn't always been easy.
I've spent a career in Cook County government on the opposite side of the Chicago political machine on virtually every issue. That itself can make one's career tough.
But the truth is that I enjoy finding ways to improve government. Call me naive, but my view is that government should play an important role in improving the lives of citizens. I believe that government can and should do more.
I am running for Congress in IL-05 to replace Rahm Emanuel because we desperately need reform and because it's too important right now in our country's history to not have our best and brightest fixing our problems.
This is our first endorsement of the 2009-2010 election cycle, and the start of our Better Democrats 2010 page--Chris
Look, if you've read my work at all, you know I don't have a lot of good things to say about lots of politicians, and I don't spend my time shilling for anyone simply because they have a D behind their name. So I hope you take that into consideration when you read what I'm about to write:
As the Washington Post reports today, Tom is running in the March 3rd special election primary in Illinois' 5th district to replace Rahm Emanuel - one of the worst influences on Democratic politics in a generation. The idea that a lawmaker as soulless as Emanuel could be replaced with a progressive - any progressive - is an amazing thought. The idea that he could be replaced with one of the greatest living progressives in America is beyond amazing - it should make you contribute whatever you can right now.
As I said to start, I don't use phrases like "one of the greatest living progressives in America" often - if ever. But I mean it when I say it about Tom. I've written two columns about him in the last year (here and here), and if you've read any of his work, you know why I use superlatives to describe him.
Look, if you've read my work at all, you know I don't have a lot of good things to say about lots of politicians, and I don't spend my time shilling for anyone simply because they have a D behind their name. So I hope you take that into consideration when you read what I'm about to write:
