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