Democratic Party - 49th Ward

Our Board Member Makes It Big!

In todays online Chicago Tribune our own Democratic Party of the 49th Ward board member made the paper with his entertaining and humorous blog about the many people who ride the CTA Red line.  If you are looking for a good quick read see what is new on CTA tattler.

Congratulations Kevin!

November Political Meeting

Wondering why it is the third Monday of the month and you haven't heard from us yet?  Your Alderman and your Democratic Ward Committeeman are both out of town.  Nevertheless, we have put together an excellent election review for Monday, November 22 featuring Bob Creamer, a national campaign expert who ran campaigns all across the country and Rupa Shenoy a reporter from the neighborhood who covers elections for the Chicago Reporter.

This promises to be any informative and interesting presentation.  We will of course have a political update and a community update to keep you in touch with what is happening in the 49th Ward.

November Political Meeting
Monday, November 22, 2004
Campeche Restaurant
7124 N. Clark St.
6:30 PM Networking
7:15  PM Meeting Begins

A Little Humor . . .

. . . never hurt anyone.  Follow this link and feel a little bit better.

Depressed Democrat

Hope it helps!

Is Howard Dean the DNC Chair We Need?

Where to go now is the question of the hour for Democrats?  We have a solid base to build on with nearly half of the country on our side last Tuesday, but how do we move the next 5% to our side?  These are some basic and broad routes that come to mind, 1.) move more to the political center, 2.) continue to build our base with registration and education and 3.) wait for the Republicans to make a mess of things.

Moving to the political center is how Clinton won election in 1992.  Through his leadership of the DLC he forged a Democratic agenda that addressed basic core Democratic Party values and included things for moderate/centrist Americans of both parties.

Another move is to stay the course and continue to build upon our recent gains in young voters and new voters.  We know that the vast majority of Americans that do not participate in the electoral process are likely to vote Democratic.  The trick is to find the issues that energize them to enter into the process.

The last of the three is the default plan.  Democrats don’t get it together, some go to the left and some go to the right, while still others do nothing, but Bush and the Republicans in firm control of both the House and Senate put the nation on a path that offends the sensibilities of so many Americans that they are ready to elect anyone other than another Republican.

The first test of where the party is headed will come with the election of a Chairman of the DNC.  The most interesting name that has popped up is Howard Dean.  Dean clearly is a path two kind of Democratic Party Chairman.  There can be no doubt that selecting him will come with controversy.  There are some who think he is unstable, (not true), but on the other hand he clearly energized the party to stand up for what we believe in and his campaign revolutionized campaigning for ever more.

Early next year the roughly 240 members of the DNC will elect a Chair.  Be it Dean or someone else, the path the party will take over the next four years will begin to take shape.  If you care about this here is a list of 13 DNC members that went to the convention representing Illinois at the 2004 Democratic National Convention:

Willie Barrow	Chicago, IL
Margaret Blackshere	Niles, IL
Joseph Cari	Chicago, IL
Hon. Cardiss Collins	Alexandria, VA
Maria Garcia	Aurora, IL
Hon. Constance Howard	Chicago, IL
Hon. Thomas Hynes	Chicago, IL
Hon. Emil Jones	Chicago, IL
Thomas Lakin	Wood River, IL
Hon. Michael Madigan	Springfield, IL
Hon. Iris Martinez	Chicago, IL
Hon. John Rednour	DuQuoin, IL
Edward Smith	Springfield, IL

I believe there are 15 members, but I am not sure who the other two representing Illinois are.

Thank You from Our 49th Ward YD's

This election cycle we revived our Young Democrats chapter and under the leadership Mike Pond and Vanessa Allmon it has thrived.  These resuts are wonderful and we will continue to be looking for ways to get young people involved.  If you're interested please contact us on the volunteer page.

We wanted to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication during
this election.  With record turnouts we were able to elect Barack Obama
to the United States Senate in a landslide!  Obama's leadership will be
necessary, as we now know that John Kerry has conceded the 2004
Presidential Election to George W. Bush.

While we are disappointed in general by the outcome of the election, we are
proud to have worked with so many of you who poured your hearts and
souls into this campaign.  While the direction of our country may be
arduous over the next four years, we are encouraged by the resilience and
spirit our Democratic organization has shown during the course of the
past several months.

We might take the next few days to grieve, fester and vent, but please
remember that the results of this election have given us new purpose and
new responsibility.  The Republicans in the upper stratum of the White
House Administration waged an effective campaign of lies, spin and fear.
They successfully labeled Democrats as soft on terror, as anti-middle
class, and as unpatriotic.  Friends, nothing could be further from
the truth.

With a media unwilling to challenge and investigate the President and
his policies, our Party faced the challenge of exposing the President's
many "flip-flops" on his reasons for the war in Iraq.  We faced the
challenge of "not supporting the troops" because we wondered why we were
sending our young men and women to an ill-advised war when Osama bin
Laden is still at large somewhere outside of Iraq.  We were called
"unpatriotic" because we wondered why money earmarked for the rebuilding
of Iraq still remained unspent while Halliburton and other companies
pillaged Iraqfor loot.  Finally, we questioned why our troops have
constantly had their enlistments re-upped at lousy salaries while U.S.
government contractors earn up to five times as much income for similar
duties.

Beyond the war in Iraq, we now face the challenge of protecting our
rights and liberties.  We must fight harder for stem cell research, to
protect our environment and natural areas.  We must fight harder for
better public education and lower college tuition.  We must also fight
harder to make sure we support Supreme Court nominations that will not
tamper with basic rights entitled to Americans guaranteed in the
Constitution.

Please, our friends in the 49th Ward, we urge you all to remain vigilant,
to continue to volunteer and fight for the best interests of our great
democracy.  Our future, and the future of many generations to come will
depend on how we help guide this country in the next four years!

Lastly, on a more local political note, we should all be pleased about
impressive and hard fought Election Day victories earned by Jan
Shakowsky (9th Congressional District of Illinois), Melissa Bean (8th
Congressional District of Illinois)  and Dorothy Brown (Clerk of the
Circuit Court of Cook County). We take great pride in knowing that the
49th Ward supported these candidates, and cheered them
on to victory. Each of these great women has in some way been a
progressive catalyst for positive changes in the government and
improvement of the political system. Their hard work and dedicated
efforts should serve as an inspiration to us all, and should remind us
of our duty as citizens to take an interest in our government, remain
involved and find ways to advocate for change for the better. 

Sincerely,

Michael Pond                           Vanessa Allmon
Chairman                                  Co-Chair
49th Ward Young Democrats   49th Ward Young Democrats 

On the Road In Ohio

I am here in the mother of all swing states for the third day now and although the election is seven days old many of the remnants are still here.  The most symbolic thing I have seen is the capsulazation of the moral message into a billboard ad that simply said:  Pro-Life, Pro-Marriage Vote George W. Bush for President".  The Kerry stuff is much the same as was in Illinois.  I have not seen anything new.  I have seen some other Bush things, but we never really see any Bush stuff so all of it is new.

In the local paper an editorial summarized one angry Democrats feelings well.  In it she said: I guess everything in Ohio is just fine, no more job problems, no more health care problems, no more problems with the war.  I don't expect to hear a single word complaining since we decide to keep things the way they are and vote for Bush.

Where I am at, Stark County, has long been the bell-weather for Ohio and Ohio was a bell-weather for the nation.  People here are exceptionally happy that they carried for Kerry while neither Ohio or the nation did.  No more foreign reporters, no more life in Stark county pieces, no more negative advertising about how poor and destitute everyone here is.  It is time to get them out of here and get back to find someway to get back to work.

The feeling of everyone I have spoken with in Ohio is universally a collective "Thank God it is over".  Of course the Democrats are concerned with the future of our country and the Republicans are feeling like good has been done.  We are all waiting, across the nation, to see where we will go now.

How Bush Won

As the days pass and the dust settles it is clear that America is a deeply divided nation.  As is so often the case in electoral politics the divide most voter’s feel is not about policy. It is about the character and personal values that the voters perceive exist in the candidates.  This election was very much about the roles faith and intelligence play in the voter’s decision. 

Those who favor science and intelligence as the most important values in a President are afraid of a man of faith.  People of faith are afraid of a man who makes his decisions about the future without the inspiration of God and the foundation of a good religious, (meaning Christian), background.  What most voters’ do is buy into the exaggerations and simplifications that the campaigns put forward.

George Bush ran a campaign that played on the fears of the faithful and he did it very well.  It was a brilliantly crafted message that was executed with excellence.  John Kerry recognized the importance of faith and tried to address it in the acceptance speech he gave at the convention.  Unfortunately, as it turns out in most Presidential elections, it was a poor tactical decision to not re-enforce that message and that is why he lost the election.  Those who are of little or no faith may not have tolerated that message well, but historically it is a vital part of every victorious candidate for President.

Your immediate thoughts may be that Clinton didn’t come off as based in faith as Bush and you are right.  In the beginning he spoke of his faith and more importantly he would use vernacular of the bible to describe some of his thoughts.  Because of that he connected with the faith-based voters just enough to pull some of them along until he left them no room to stand after his exploits with Monica.

So now the campaign is over.  And already we will begin looking for new candidates.  The obvious two are Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.  The only Democrats who have won the White House since 1960 are southern Democrats and I believe that is as much or more because of their ability to speak to people of faith as it is because they are more moderate than northeastern liberals.

So what should George Bush do?  He should work to unite the country if he really wants a mandate.  Do I believe he will do that? No.  He will not.  He will pursue his agenda with full force because he is not intending to be a beloved President; he intends to be a President that has reshaped America into his vision of what is right.  What should Democrats do?  We should work to unite the country, pick battles very carefully and anticipate that we will be spending much more time defending previous gains rather than making new advances.

We Delivered!

Another day has passed. We have seen the sun shine for the first time since before Election Day. Life goes on. We in the 49th Ward did an outstanding job on Election Day. It was a job we should all be very proud of. From registration on the front end to delivering the voters on the back end we succeeded every single step of the way.

Maybe you are not ready to move on. I am only able to do so with mixed feelings. It is impossible not to acknowledge the incredible work we have done over the last six months, and yet we all so painfully know that it wasn’t enough. We have all sat around and discussed just who could these people possibly be that voted for Bush. They aren't our neighbors, nor our friends, but they are our fellow Americans.

We have to see the positive in Tuesday. Illinois is becoming a deep blue state, one that is solidly in the Democratic column. Our success at the state level looks as if it will continue into the 2006 elections. In our ward we were able to deliver 90.45% for Barack Obama. We were able to deliver 86.04% for John Kerry. We had a turnout of 76.66 percent. Our goals were to make 90% for Obama, 85% for Kerry and 75% voter turnout, which were lofty goals. We out performed the city average in each of these areas, carrying Obama 2.60% above the city average, carrying Kerry 5.33% above the city average and having turnout that was 3.20% above the city average.

We were able to reach these very high goals because of the dedication that you showed to winning. It was the hours that you spent making phone calls, registering voters, and going outside on Election Day in the cold and the rain because we knew what needed to be done.

I want each and every one of you who volunteered over the last year to re-elect me and to elect Barack to know that you are appreciated. You have accomplished something that you should be very proud of. Our organization was one of the very first in the state to support Barack. It was the faith that we had in him that has catapulted him from an unknown state senator to a presidential hopeful. Somewhere in our future we will know that we have launched the career of a President.

A Dark Day

Today is a dark day for Democrats. Not only have we lost the White House for the next four years, but the challenges in the Senate and the House have grown tougher. For all of us who invested our hearts and souls into winning this election we have little solace. Over time the election of Barack Obama will be one of the proudest moments I will ever have as a Committeeman and I know you share this feeling. The victory of Melissa Bean is a great victory and she brings a majority for the Democrats in the Illinois congressional delegation. That isn't something to scoff at, but I am deeply concerned about what is going to happen over the next four years.

George Bush will be leading a deeply divided country. This is obvious even to the most casual observers, but I am not sure the White House sees it that way. There was a lot of talk about mandates today. That is the rhetoric of the victorious, but in a White House that believed and acted as if they already had a mandate after suffering a loss of the popular vote these new results will only embolden him to pursue his more radical agenda items.

As Democrats we are going to have to learn, and learn very quickly, how to protect the programs and policies that we have spent several generations developing and refining. Fundamental change is inevitable, be it the Supreme Court, Social Security, Reproductive Freedom, a progressive tax policy and a foreign policy that will continue to emphasis the military might of our army rather than the moral right of a just cause.

Today is a day we should rest, regroup and regain our collective energy. The next four years will require us to work ever more vigilantly, be more determined, and more dedicated to our values.

We have lost, but we have not been defeated.