MyDD :: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster

IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster

by Todd Beeton, Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:44:03 PM EST

And just for the record, while I've expressed some criticism of Barack Obama for not speaking in more partisan terms, I don't doubt his partisan allegiances for one second either -- his actions alone have spoken volumes. He was a huge asset to Democrats all over the country in 2006 and has already proven that he intends to do the same this year.

The latest example is his endorsement of Democrat Bill Foster in IL-14 who is running in a special election on March 8th to win the seat formerly held by Dennis Hastert. Obama even recorded this ad for Foster:

Obama has also set up an ActBlue page for him.

This race will be an excellent test case of how Obama's message of change (Foster's tagline is "Democrat For Change"), and his endorsement for that matter, play downticket around the country this fall whether or not he's the nominee, particularly in red-leaning districts.

Tags: il-14, bill foster, barack obama (all tags)

Permalink :: 13 Comments :: Post a Comment

Re: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster (none / 0)

Good for Obama. Does Foster have a shot?

by OrangeFur on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:49:36 PM EST

Re: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster (none / 0)

Seems to. Polling shows him neck and neck with Oberwies.

by Meng Bomin on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:50:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster (2.00 / 1)

This is a very nice ad. I don't know how much Obama had to do with actually designing the ad, but something he's excellent at is the "ask" - the part of the message where you tell voters exactly what you'd like them to do for you.

In a special election, or in a confusing situation like today's Texas vote, it's not enough just to persuade voters that one candidate is awesomer than the other. You need to make sure they're in the right place at the right time to cast that vote, or it means nothing. Some politicians seem to act like this kind of nuts-and-bolts stuff is beneath them, but Obama seems to understand that it's often more important than all the issue-based messaging in the world.

"Another problem we have...is that in election years we behave somewhat as primitive peoples do at the time of the full moon." --Harry Truman

by Steve M on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:51:56 PM EST

Re: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster (none / 0)

If Foster wins this, Obama should be the nominee without question. We need a candidate who can bring in several more Democratic Congresspeople if we are looking for any type of change in 2009. If we have only the numbers we have now, look for nothing to get done in 2009.

by Toddwell on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 02:56:56 PM EST

How many candidates are going to ask Hillary (none / 0)

to appear in their ads?

by highgrade on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:02:38 PM EST

Re: How many candidates are going to ask Hillary (2.00 / 1)

I can't think of anybody who would want her near any of their ads. Many of them will probably run ads denouncing her in order to survive.

by Toddwell on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:08:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Chicago Tribune endorses Bill Foster (none / 0)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opini on/chi-0304edit2mar04,0,519644.story

by Ajax the Greater on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:08:22 PM EST

Re: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster (none / 0)

For crying out loud, this is Illinos where Obama is senator, I wonder why he didn't come out earlier.
Instead of saying this will be a test for Democrats in Nov. Congress, Obama, Clinton) you are portraying this as an Obama v. Clinton race (without actually saying so)

by rolnitzky on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:22:56 PM EST

Re: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster (2.00 / 3)

Reading comprehension appears lost on you.

Overweiss -- as he has always done in every race he's ever run -- has gone scorched attack, full-throttle attack.

Oberweiss's GOP primary opponent still hasn't forgiven him attacks Oberweiss launched and has pointedly failed to endorse him.

This WILL be a test. Foster's fired back, but Oberweiss hasn't run a single positive ad all cycle. He's gone Rovian overdrive.

IL-14 - a +12 R district home to former GOP speaker Denny Hastert - is a good test about whether a "post-partisan" message can overcome the same old smear tactics.

It's "Obama v. Clinton" --- it's "new v. old", "1990s vs. the 21 century".

If Foster makes it a 2-3-4 digit race - much less wins the thing, it's an enormous boost for the type of campaign Obama has run and would send plenty of smear merchants looking for a new line of work.

by zonk on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:32:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not Just Campaigned... (2.00 / 2)

He's also raised huge amounts of money for Democrats that were up for re-election through his PAC.

by Brillobreaks on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 03:58:42 PM EST

Re: Not Just Campaigned... (2.00 / 2)

He did. Compare that to Hillary sitting on a $50 million warchest in a noncompetitive Senate race and not giving anything to anyone else.

by Toddwell on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 04:09:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not Just Campaigned... (2.00 / 1)

The sad thing is not that she sat on it (sad though that would be) but that she somehow spent as much of it as she did, I mean what the hell how do you burn through that much cash in a rubber stamp race.

by Socraticsilence on Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 04:59:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: IL-14: Obama For Bill Foster (none / 0)

wait.... if foster wins, does that mean obamas gets another superdelegate?
lol

by Lazeriath on Thu Mar 06, 2008 at 12:53:49 AM EST

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