Donkey
Tails
By Maury Goodman
January 2007
For the "Warrenville
Today"
Newspaper
Congressional District 14
Democratic candidate John Laesch
will run again, but it is also clear that Aurora State Representative
Linda
Chapa Lavia will run as well. She
represents a part of Aurora
that is
near to DuPage County,
and is a friend of many DuPage Democrats.
We'll be talking much more about this in the next two years. It
looks like that we won't have a special election, as Dennis Hastert
will continue to serve as congressman. {I saw a report that
if he resigned early, it would affect his pension, but I also
read that it wouldn't have affected his pension.)
I enjoy hearing when people enjoy this column
I went to several holiday parties around
Warrenville, and
this year I heard at every one that some people, at least, enjoy
reading the
column. Thanks for the encouragement.
Remember, if you ever miss one of the monthly
issues of
Donkey Tails, you can find them on the web at
http://www.dupagedemocrats.org/donkey.html
Vosicky recount
The closest race in DuPage
County was for State
Representative
District 46 where Joe Vosicky and his Republican opponent were
separated by
less than 300 votes out of
26,000 cast. That was
close enough to ask for a recount, and whenever there is a close vote,
questions come up. Why were there other
vote totals announced on election night?
Why were two cartridges from voting machines missing? Well the recount caused a change of two
votes. I would ask, why did any votes
change? After the recount, Vosicky
announced he wasn’t taking any further actions, but would run for the
seat
again in 2008.
Winfield
Township
Democratic
Organization Meetings
The next two meetings of the Winfield Township
Democratic
Organization, after the January 17 meeting, will be February 21 and March 21, 2007.
The monthly meeting is the third Wednesday of
each month at Bowling Green Center, 30W150 Roosevelt Rd, West Chicago,
Il
60185, (about 1 block west of Joliet St)
meeting in basement; contact winfield@dupagedemocrats.org
Letters from Republican State Representative
Tom Cross
About the same time that I started writing Donkey
Tails, I
started getting letters from Republican Illinois House Minority Leader
Tom
Cross, about one every two months. They
each cover a particular issue facing state government, and they usually
express
the point of view that the Republicans in State Government are fighting
for
truth, justice and the American way, while the Democrats are not. I wondered why I was getting the
letters. I pondered, does Donkey Tails
make its way to Springfield? I later found out that he chooses to send
these to all elected committeemen. It is
appropriate for him to send letters to anyone that he wishes, but I do
find it
curious. And Tom, thanks for the
Christmas card!
Email list for articles of interest to local
Democrats
Former Winfield Township Democratic Chairman Doug
May is
always scanning local papers and other sources on the internet for
interesting
articles. He then sends them to an email
list that he maintains. If you would
like to get these articles (usually about once per month, sometimes
more
often), contact him at dmdmwcil@earthlink.net.
Deadline for Donkey Tails
If you know of a meeting that might be of interest
local
Democrats, let me know and I will post it in Donkey Tails.
Issues come out the 3rd Friday of
each month, and my deadline is the 2nd Friday of each month. If you send me notice a day or two before
then, I can try to mention it.
Possible Democratic Presidential Candidates in
2008
number 2.5
I’ve previously written about possible Democratic
candidates
for president in 2008, Joe Biden from Delaware
and Russ Feingold from Wisconsin. Feingold has already pulled out of the race
(as will most candidates before it is over.)
Others who have been mentioned include Evan Bayh from Indiana,
Hillary
Clinton from New York, Wesley Clark from Arkansas, John Edwards from
North
Carolina, John Kerry from Massachusetts, Barack Obama from Illinois, Bill Richardson from New Mexico and Tom
Vilsack from Iowa. I’ll try to profile
one per month as the candidates come and go.
Remember, the first caucuses are only about a year away. But residing here in Illinois,
is is fascinating to watch the Obama phenomenon unfold.
I get many emails from various lists, and
right after the election, there was a very strong letter from Senator
Dick
Durbin endorsing the candidacy of Obama for president in 2008. There was also a note from Dick Hynes, who
had just been re-elected Illinois’
comptroller. Remember Hynes ran against
Obama in the 2004 Senate primary. Hynes
wrote: “As Barack's opponent in 2004, I had a unique perspective to
observe
Barack emerge from a State Senator from Chicago
into what can best be described as a national phenomenon.
Throughout our 2004 campaign, I was able to
witness firsthand how people from all walks of life were drawn to
Barack and
his message. …Since he was elected to
the Senate, Barack has proven himself as someone who tackles difficult
issues,
successfully works in a bipartisan fashion, and isn't afraid to
articulate his
true convictions. The real belief that
Barack could serve our country well as President was never more evident
than
during his trip to Africa this past summer. The images of thousands of people flooding
the streets in adoration of the Illinois Senator made me realize that
not only
can we count on Barack on the domestic front, but he can restore the United
States' image around the globe. It was for these and other reasons why I
decided to write Senator Obama in September and urge him to run for the
President of the United States.”
Upcoming Events
Many events of interest to Warrenville and DuPage
County
Democrats can be found at http://www.dupagedemocrats.org/dupagenews.html Send information about events that aren’t
listed to webmaster@dupagedemocrats.org
Feedback
It is welcomed and appreciated
maurygoodman@dupagedemocrats.org