MyDD :: Keeping Christine Cegelis in the Political Process

Keeping Christine Cegelis in the Political Process

by peacenik23, Wed Mar 22, 2006 at 11:37:08 AM EST

A lot of words and emotions have been shed over the race in IL-06. I live in nearby Illinois 10 but was following this race quite a bit and stayed up quite late to see the results trickle in.

In the end (almost the end as only 98.6% are still reporting, Tammy Duckworth seems to have pulled out the victory.

Duckworth , Tammy Dem 14,019 43.81
Cegelis , Christine Dem 12,939 40.44
Scott , Lindy Dem 5,038 15.75

A lot of us in the "netroots" and local progressives are quite upset by what transpired here, Duckworth supporters claimed to be leading in the polls, that Cegilis had no support, and that only their candidate could win. Clearly, that wasn't the case, having been hugely outspent, Cegelis still nearly pulled it out

So what happens now? Please read below the fold.

(Since this will be inevitable asked, yes, I do think the Dems in the district should get behind Tammy Duckworth and make sure right wing lunatic Pete Roskam does not win this seat)

There are a lot of good people out there in the world who think atrociously of politics. They think that it's a dirty world where no one appreciates what you do for people and ultimately the insiders call the shots. We lost one of our finest in Paul Hackett who went home and left politics after his experience in the Senate race.

Now, I ask for your help in making sure we don't lose Christine Cegelis.

Cegelis isn't a politician. She never was and never will be. She works in the IT sector and decided in 2004 that she wanted to make a difference. Almost from scratch, she helped build the Democratic Party up in this, the most Republican of districts. She won 44% of the vote in 04 without any party supoprt and laid the groundwork for a competitive race in 2006.

This time, the party stepped in and despite the best efforts of PDA, DFA, and progresives across the district - she seems to have been defeated.

I know there are many good uses for our money, but if anyone is interested I think we should put together some money and send roses to Christine's office/home. We need to show Ms. Cegelis that we appreciate what she's done and that her efforts DO make a real difference. At a time when she must be pissed as all hell at the political process, I ask that the netroots show her that something else is possible.

If you're interested in setting this up/helping out, post some comments and thoughts. If you think that Christine was a horrid candidate who doesn't at all deserve our support I'd ask that you post this elsewhere or at least not on this thread.

Thoughts? Ideas? Contributions? Thanks.

Tags: Cegelis, Duckworth, IL-06 (all tags)

Permalink :: 3 Comments :: Post a Comment

Organizing (none / 0)

I'm out of town for school but willing to organize this remotely. Still, if someone in the district wants to take the lead send me an e-mail (isheyman@gmail.com).

www.RussForPresident.com

by peacenik23 on Wed Mar 22, 2006 at 11:38:08 AM EST

Well (none / 0)

Well, first of all, I think Cegelis needs to time to grieve and to heal. And that has to be her first priority. In my own life I have had dreams that didn't work out, and I know how it must hurt for her. So frankly I think her first priority is to have the space to mourn what has happened and to work through the grief.

Now, although I have been hostile to Chuck Pennachio and Alan Sandals, I believe that the DCCC was wrong to interfere in IL-6. I thought that Cegelis had established a track record for herself in 2004. The DCCC should have remained neutral in the primary.

Now I only have one part of the story admittedly. Frankly, although I don't necessarily agree with their decision, for whatever reason, the DCCC thought Duckworth was a better candidate. I don't know what their reasons were/are and what Cegelis may have done to them, but I am sure that there are two sides to the story. That being said, I don't approve of how they treated her.

Frankly I think Cegelis should still be involved. I hope that she doesn't give up on the political process because of what happened to her. I know it is a natural reaction, but I hope that she can eventually see past this temporary setback and find the strength to seek out other opportunities.

Although it is not the same as being in Congress, I am sure that there are a ton of other offices in DuPage County that she could run for in the future. I am sure that there is a lot that she could still do. She may not ever be able to serve in Congress, but there are many other ways that she could contribute to the political process. Again, it is still probably raw and hard for her. Once she gets over her grief I hope that she would find the courage and the strength to still participate.

Whatever the case now, both sides need to look to the future. Frankly Tammy Duckworth is now the Democratic nominee for the 6th district. And even though some--in fact, probably, a great many--of Cegelis's supporters may feel bitter that the other candidate won, the focus now has to be on defeating Roskam. For even though you may not like Duckworth or how she became the candidate, I am also certain that you all would rather have her over Roskam.

And now I will conclude by saying that I understand and can relate to the anger you all feel. You all need the appropriate time in which to grieve and to mourn what has happened. But eventually I would hope that you would see past what has happened and work to defeat Roskam. That has to be the top priority now.

For ultimately you all have made a difference. Your voices have been heard. This is just a temporary setback. The far right suffered many of these similiar "setbacks" along the way. You all have to think of the long term even though today the focus is on what didn't work out.

by jiacinto on Wed Mar 22, 2006 at 12:49:11 PM EST

Re: Keeping Christine Cegelis in the Political Pro (none / 0)

Yes. She should be working full time to elect the Democratic nominee to Congress.

just a red meat eatin' Democratic Dawg frontpaging at The Democratic Daily...

by BigDog on Thu Mar 23, 2006 at 04:37:24 PM EST

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