| 
del.icio.us
| 
E-mail this | 
Facebook
On Saturday, folks in the 48th Ward got together to select themselves a new Democratic committeeman. Sounds simple enough. And in a way, it was.
Mike Volini, the old committeeman, was stepping down and before the meeting he made it clear that he wanted state senator Carol Ronen--his friend, ally, and Broadway Avenue officemate--to replace him. A second candidate, Sandra Verthein , a member of the Edgewater/Rogers Park division of Democracy for America, also decided to run.
More than 100 people attended the meeting, but only 49--the so-called "Committee of the Whole"--got to vote. To no one's surprise, the committee elected Ronen 47 to 2. Hey, it's not hard to win if you keep your opponents from voting.
The curious thing is that Congressman Jan Schakowsky got to vote, and she doesn't even live in the 48th Ward. She's an Evanston resident. (I called Schakowsky for comment, but she didn't call back.)
Ronen explained that Volini was actually encouraging democracy. Originally, the vote was going to be limited to the ward's executive committee, whose members include elected officials. But Volini decided to open the vote to the people, or at least the people on the Committee of the Whole. "The committee represents precinct workers, contributors, and people who have been active in 48th Ward Democratic politics," said Ronen. "If you want to vote, get involved. We welcome your support."
And why did Schakowsky get to vote even though she lives in Evanston? "Jan is on our 48th Ward executive committee because her congressional office is in the 48th Ward," said Ronen. "We claim her as our own."
Ronen's selection as committeeman continues a grand tradition of appointing politicians to fill vacancies in Edgewater, starting in the late 1980s, when Kathy Osterman was alderman and committeeman. In 1989 Osterman stepped down to take a post with the Daley administration. Mayor Daley filled her aldermanic vacancy by appointing Mary Ann Smith, who had been Osterman's chief aide. And the local party leaders filled the committeeman vacancy by appointing Mike Volini, son of Marion Volini, who was the alderman before Kathy Osterman took over.
To her credit, Carol Ronen won her first election in dramatic fashion, upsetting incubment state rep Al Ronan in 1992. Then after state senator Al Berman resigned, the local Democrats appointed Ronen to fill his seat, filling her old state rep position with Harry Osterman , son of Kathy Osterman. And when state rep Larry McKeon resigned, party locals filled his vacancy y appointing Greg Harris, who had been Smith's top aide. I hope you're taking notes--there will be a quiz.
Word has it that Harry Osterman will eventually be slated to replace Mary Ann Smith, whenever she retires. Let's hope Schakowsky won't be voting in that election too.
To vote, just get in the in crowd, or make a donation. Sounds democratic to me.
I think if an elected official resigns, there should be a special election so that every registered voter gets a say in who they want to represent them. But politicians like Alderman Smith will still use the convoluted election laws to prevent people from voting. After all, in the most recent election she knocked off Chris Lawrence (a decorated Iraqi Veteran) and Chris Persons (a social worker and advocate for the homeless) in one of the most undemocratic displays the 48th Ward has ever seen. Protecting the ballot from such undeserving guys as these.
These politicians should be ashamed of themselves. Why bother trying to sound democratic, just have someone knight them, appoint them, and give them titles. Prince Harry sounds good.
For this fraudulent group of liars to call themselves representatives of Democracy is the height of hypocracy.
And to blandly state that the definition of participating in Democracy requires one to "get involved" by becoming "people who have been active in 48th Ward Democratic politics", said activities being "precinct workers, contributors" etc., is an excellent example of the level of contempt these fuckers hold everyone who ain't 'somebody dat somebody sent' as 'nobody, 'cause nobody sent you'.
This shit won't ever change, unless we all get off our non-voting asses and show up in massive numbers on election days, for the sole, focussed purpose of voting out all incumbent, Dumbocratic machine motherfuckers.
After all, we want a civil debate and leaders who are willing to hold themselves accountable to the voters. They hold us in contempt, but don't give them the satisfaction of making us look like angry, foul mouthed and irrelevant voters. I understand your frustration with their hierocracy, but don't let them get the better of you.
Take a page from Pat Dowell - run against these out of control politicians. The voters are waking up and are sick of them. No congressman can protect you from them - Obama couldn't protect Tillman - and the hat is gone.
The Guv may lose his puppet, but only if someone runs.
Carol Ronen as committeeman? What a joke! Without question, she is the biggest Rod Blagojevich butt-kisser in the General Assembly.
Mind you, this is the same Carol Ronen who wouldn't even stop to listen to anything that her precinct captain had to say about anything back in the 1980s. How do I know? I was the captain of the precinct that she lives in for over five years. I got more cooperation and more courtesy from the sibling of a convicted Enron executive than I ever got from this sorry excuse of a public official.
Encouraging democracy - What a joke.
Sad to say, but all this talk of being 'civil' and of "leaders who are willing to hold themselves accountable to the voters" and "don't give them the satisfaction of making us look like angry, foul mouthed and irrelevant voters." is, for all practical purposes, truly "irrelevant".
As those who so blatantly and freely manipulate, bullshit and deceive most 'voters' don't give a shit how many of us are disgusted with their shenanigans, so long as we mostly don't vote, all the civility in the world won't make any difference to these shmucks.
The only thing that will make a difference is for many of us to show up at election times and vote their asses out of office.
Period.
Mathematically, there are more than enough eligible voters to do so.
The problem all we abused, misused and exploited taxpayers face is that we don't participate, we don't show up to vote our disgust, we don't even bother to register to vote, we fall into the trap of surrendering to apathy and resignation, just what these manipulating bullshitters want.
If many of us would choose to participate, even just on election day, just to vote out the machine hack incumbents, this would stimulate hope and encouragement, in many honest people, to run for office.
With patience and determination, we can make things change, even in Crook county, but we first must rid ourselves of the proven, entrenched political crooks, by embracing an attitude of 'anybody but the incumbent, machine hack'.
We can deal with the new crops of 'fresh faces' in the same manner, should they prove to be no better than those we've 'fired'.
And, yes, it's going to take a lot of 'uncivilized' emotions to overcome the generational apathy and acceptance of being 'led' by our 'leaders' down the proverbial primrose path......
Let these bullshitters say whatever they please about those who strive to describe their activities accurately, there aren't enough pejoratives, in any language, to do justice to the ways we've all been exploited, as the dependable 'cash cows' we taxpayers are viewed as, by 'all the usual suspects'.
We work, we pay and they take and dole it out to their buddies and themselves.
Open your eyes, take a deep breath and prepare to take back your rights to freedom from excessive taxation without honest representation.
Use the following formula to maximize the effectiveness of your vote:
1) The voter MUST know who the INCUMBENTS are.
2) NEVER VOTE FOR THE INCUMBENT.
3) If there is only ONE CHALLENGER, vote for that candidate.
4) If there are two or more challengers, then:
a) If the incumbent is listed FIRST, then vote for the candidate who is listed LAST.
b) If the incumbent is not listed first, then vote for the candidate who IS LISTED FIRST.
Should you sincerely like an incumbent candidate, by all means vote for him / her.
Remember, however, that those who have been in power for decades have been able to do so by being unified in their support of the party chosen.
To counter this unity-of-purpose, the common citizen must have the same strength of unity, albeit, one focused on ousting the incumbents.
The above is a strategy that will be the most effective at achieving this goal."
Just because Carol says it, doesn't make it true. Here is a comment from the linked blog post about the meeting:
"Sitting next to me was a fellow who was a friend of a friend of Carol's. He was really a nobody in the organization, had never done any political work, yet was in possession of a letter that authorized him to cast a vote in the committee of the whole, which he duly did for Carol."
I am a 48th Ward resident who came to the meeting in support of Sandra. As a "Democratic" process, it would have made Joe Stalin proud!
To Jan Schakowsky's credit, she was the only speaker on the executive committee who had the decency to acknowledge Sandra and the good work she and DFA have done in the Ward. She was also the only one who came up to extend a hand to Sandra when the coronation was over.
What is also ironic is that I have never had a 48th Ward precinct worker ever contact me, nor do I know anyone who lives in the ward who has ever had a 48th Ward precinct worker knock on their door. So exactly what kind of "precinct work" has this so-called "committee of the whole" been doing? They don't have meetings, they don't inform people about the candidates, they don't send mailings, they don't knock on doors, what do they do?
I wish we had the system they have outside of Cook County, where you VOTE for your Precinct Captain right along with your other Democratic primary votes. To get on the ballot as Precinct Captain you only need 10 signatures. If we had that system here I would have gotten on the ballot long ago and run to be my own Precinct Captain, instead of whoever I have now who I have never met or heard from in the last four years. Then *I* would have been one of the people voting, and it would have been because I was actually *doing* something.
On a side note, one of the people that got one of the letters appointing him to be on the "committee of the whole" works with a friend of mine, and he said that this person hasn't lived in the 48th Ward or done anything for the 48th Ward Dems for over 5 years, but that he got the letter because he use to work for Carol Ronen.
Carol herself now holds 4 public jobs; State Senator, Dem. State Central Committeman, DNC member and now acting 48th Ward Dem. Committeman. Many people think there is no way she can effectively do all four, but that's OK, 'cause now all of those jobs are still 'in the family'.
P.S. The State Senator Carol replaced is named Art Berman, not Al.
The other thing that was mentioned during the meeting was by Ald. Smith, who stated she was supporting Ronen becuase she was a 'warrior'. Funny - didn't she hide behind elections laws regarding a receipt to prevent a real warrior from running for Alderman?
The whole point of this article is to show just how Undemocratic the 48th Ward is. The Politburo in the 48th Ward will dismiss all dissenting voices as losers - but they won't even allow anyone else to get out of the starting gate.
Democracy in the 48th ward? Don't hold your breath. It’s a family affair.
Know who these 'blue bloods' are pushing on us, then vote for anyone who runs against them.
It ain't rocket science, just basic mathematics.
Not even on our liberal North Lakefront. For those of us not born into the right family, yet one proof that the Daley/Stroger/Madigan/Hynes/Lipinski Democractic party is closed to us.
Sad.
Run Sandra - after knocking off Chris Lawrence and the others during the Aldermanic election, we are ready to express our disgust toward 'TEAM 48'
Most of us want to join a team that isn't so exclusive - I saw your flyer, and you have a platform to run on ... Don't be intimidated by this group of 40 or so individuals, they do not represent us... and Jan won't get a vote if you run, only those in the 48th, despite Ronen trying to 'claim her as one of own.'
RUN!
HEY 48TH WARD TAXPAYERS - YOUR VOTE DOESN'T COUNT - GET USED TO IT!
I attended the meeting and was just as dumbfounded as the rest of the people in attendance. I was seated in the middle of the crowd just trying to keep up with the blah blah Roberts Rules of Order rhetoric. Frankly, it was exhausting.
I was chatting with the gentlemen sitting next to me a bit off and on. I had recognized him slightly as someone I had met while helping out a block club picnic last year. He had indicated that he was on "the committee of the whole". I just got so overwhelmed with everything that I just started asking him questions. "How did you get on the committee?" His response, "Well, Mike just called and said I was." A few minutes later, I asked him "Can you follow what is going on? I'm lost in all the motions and ammendments...blah blah." He said, "I have no idea what is going on here" (He giggled a bit). My last question of the day was "So, they keep referring to 'the rules'. Where are these rules? Did you get a copy when you joined?" His response. "I have no idea was rules he's talking about. I didn't get anything."
Well, my "friend" was very helpful but made his vote quite assuredly for Carol Ronen. After the meeting, people were grilling me about my little converstaions with this guy. Turns out...it was Mary Ann Smith's husband.
Even the Alderman's husband didn't have a clue but he did what he was told. Sad sad sad...
Local politics is the only place where a single voter can mean the difference between a win or a loss for these smug, shit incumbents, let alone the hundreds of potential voters who could be making a difference, if only they'd take the meager amount of time it takes to register and vote on election days.
HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE THEM OUT.
1) When Sandra was given the opportunity to speak all she really said was that she made 2 flyers and that she would be more transparent. (Funny, we aren't transparent when its someone else, only when we don't feel included.) Is a couple of flyers all it takes? She really didn't say anything, didn't have a platform nor have any statement ready to go.
2) I grew up in Chicago and find this committee a real mystery and I was ready to support Sandra, but I don't shout how the process is unfair but I rather find out how to break into the process so I can become involved, if I want to and I bet I do this faster then these folks do. Change can happen if one is proactive. These folks are good at accusing and making articulate statements, this is a well educated group.
3) The Chair asked this group 4 times if anyone wanted to speak for Sandra and no one said anything, geez, finally someone raised her hand and saved everyone's day. I could only summize that no one in that crowd knew what Sandra stood for and were brought forth together on the spare moment.
4) Sandra hands out flyers 3 days before the event and expects folks just to clammer to her cause, who the hell is she? I have never seen her at any of the local meetings and of course she DID NOT show up at the most important new TIF announcement last night, nor is she or has she been to at any major event in the Edgewater area.
5) At the meeting, I asked several of her supporters if they are involved in the local clubs or organizations they all said no, they are too busy, but then stated how they aren't told what is going on in the community. I can only presume that they are expecting a personal phone call while they watch American Idol.
6) the writer, C Fox above told the audience that she has only lived in this area 3 months, but yet makes demands on not being involved. This is typical for this group, And she wasn't grilling the Alderman's husband because I was there, she kept making casual comments to him and he couldn't understand what was going on because she kept on interupting his listening with her observations & he was kind enough not to tell her to be quiet and try to answer her constant blathering of questions.
7)Is this yet another round of wealthy white suburbanites or out of towners, who move to Chicago and live in the massive towers/gated communities on Sheridan, as Sandra does, and come off only as entitled white people?
Thats a shame, cause I would have probably backed up the new girl in town, but she and they lack credibility but yet are educated enough to give news pundits and their blog sites some credence with their forced "your not paying enough attention to me" statements.
I think you have the old folks/just starting folks on Sheridan mixed up with the Alderman and her friends living in Lakewood/Balmoral - Or maybe it was the Osterman/Volini bunch up in Edgewater Glen
Either way - I was at that meeting and Sandra did present a platform that included monthly meetings, an open process for endorsements, and inclusive membership (some of us were not born into the Osterman/Volini clan - but we are still Democrats)
Jan wasn't the problem - its not the outsiders who are rotting the local Dems - it starts at the core. Cut off the head, and the rest of the snake will die.
Everyone of those elected representatives (who are not representative of me or my neighbors) should be ashamed.
What have they accomplished? Just you wait till you get the second installment of your property tax bill - then you see what they have accomplished. But they don't ride the CTA, or use the public schools, or have to go to Stroger for medical care... in fact, the only governmental program that truely is a success is the pension system for themselves - ala Bobby Steele - and the rest of us Dolts sit back and allow them to continue.
Thats not a platform those are the tasks to be performed to acheive your platform. A platform is a direct mission statement of what you would like to accomplish if you were to take over the Democratic Committee. For example: I, So What, have a vision to take this committee to another level and there are several areas I would concentrate, 1 is I see that community outreach and communication needs to be strengthen I do would this by : having monthly meetings, bla, bla, bla.
What she said was frankly weak and unnecessary to even bother to remember.
I think one should start with strong dialog like yours, get feedback from the community, an open forum where ideas are as hot as a July night.
Then start a blog diaglog with No caps, no attacks, I would like not to see "they should be ashamed of themselves" if they haven't committed a crime then, let it be and lets move on.
I tend not to be emotional over this stuff, but lean to being pragmatic and sticking with the facts of whats not working, just like being at work.
I would go hang out at the DC to see what goes on so I could be better prepared to know what to change.
Thats all I got for I am just learning about the interior dynamics, maybe I'll write a book on this when my research is over.
One humble piece of advice, for what it may be worth, human nature is both potentially beneficial and potentially detrimental, regardless of the individual's initial intent, since you seem to be a thinking person, all efforts of our 'ruling class' to the contrary, one rule I try to adhere to is to never believe that I've thought about anything too much, and to try to see everything from as close to a 360 degree viewpoint as possible, starting with my perspective, then considering what would be the opposite, then working my way to the median in-between the extremes.
Good luck and please keep posting.
We know what to change. Everyone in the 48th Ward should have the ability to be card carrying members of their party, and that party should have an open and transparent manner on how to conduct business.
The problem in the 48th Ward, and I would argue in most of Cook county and the State of IL is that you have to be born into one of a select group of families in order to be a member of the Democratic party. That does not live up to the Democratic party principals, and until someone starts challenging those who have constructed rules that allow only selected 'members of the committee of the whole' to speak at a meeting like that conducted in this selection process, I believe they should be ashamed of themselves.
It's not a crime to get emotional over fighting for the democratic principles that this nation is founded on.
We can continue to play the losing game that we've been dealt, from the stacked deck foisted on us by all the usual suspects, or we can begin to play the game by the rules clearly established in our state and federal constitutions.
Both political parties, the Dumbocrats and the Retardicans, have long since abandoned all principles of democracy and honesty.
Their 'members' prefer manipulation, propaganda and 'insider' wheeling and dealing, to actual, honest representation.
We've accepted their activities as democratic governance, by not using the power of our votes, united in the one, powerful purpose that they, the 'clever', truly fear, that being to cast a pox on all their houses and vote them ALL out of office.
When the majority of those citizens, (who think of themselves as either 'Democrats' or 'Republicans', but are, in reality, merely patsies and pawns for the so-called leaderships of these two, fraudulent political parties), realize how harmful the self-serving and self-promoting 'policies' of both these 'criminal enterprises' have been, are, and will continue to be, (to all the citizens of this potentially great country), they will then understand that this nation is in need of a long overdue house cleaning, as in sweeping out all incumbent, ('professional' politicians), and opening the door for truly honest, rational citizens to seek public office.
If we start on the local levels, voting out all incumbents, whether Dumbocrats or Retardicans, we can begin to gain ground at the state and federal levels.
All independent minded citizens should appreciate the rare opportunity we have, to revive the spirit and determination needed to have a real democracy, (said opportunity provided to us by the egregious, blatant behaviors of those who claim to be the current 'authentic' representatives of the 'majority' of citizens, when in fact, they work for a selfish minority of citizens dedicated to gaining wealth and power at all costs), and, at the very least, take the time and make the effort to discuss and consider taking the steps needed to effectively and efficiently vote out all incumbents.
More than sincere emotion is needed to force these rascals out, a simple, yet effective strategy is required.
This strategy has been posted in many of the comment boards on this site, so often that some who visit this site have complained about the frequency of said posting.
In respect of these posters, I will refrain from 'repeating myself' and advise those interested in a mathematical means to maximize your vote's effectiveness, in voting out incumbents, by concentrating your votes cast for a single challenger in a multi-challenger race, to explore the comment boards on the articles in this site's archive.
If those who moderate this board have seen fit to allow my comments containing the details of my strategy to remain, you will no doubt find them.
What would be even funnier is if the means by which your 'fist' was being 'recognized' had more to do with their feeling it up their butts than with anything being posted.
I really am not familiar with the 48th DC procedures past and future. Is there any reading material out there on all or Chicago or any various wards and how the DC is handled?
But clearly as Sandra is a staunch JoMO supporter, for her to cry foe at MAS after the antics in the 49th, MAS won by 100%, JoMO-50.01%. Read Morse hell hole to get an idea of SV. She will really have to explain her logic on this issue. The same statements she saids of MAS are said in magnitudes of JoMo. Wouldn't Sandra in fact be just parking on the right, instead of parking on the left? Especially if she follows the footprints of JoMo.
While this will do nothing to affect the content of their comments, it will remove an all-to-easy-to-spot indicator of the lack of substance in their posted comments, thus, increasing the possibility that their comments may be read, not just mocked or scrolled past.
Not that the mockery and scrolling past isn't the appropriate response to them.
Of course the all caps posters can say something that has value, but, as you can see and appreciate, as well as I can, your posted comment is easily readable, well constructed and clearly understandable.
Without the overuse of ALL CAPITOLS.
So, while letter case doesn't NEGATE the meaning, its overuse does DIMINISH the clarity of the message.
Every ward in this city, every county and district in this state, and every state in our union are run, lock, stock and rotten barrel, by the same breed of power-hungry control freaks.
Not one of them gives a fuck about what the 'people' want or need, only what THEY want.
The only thing they value about the opinions of the 'people' are how well they can manipulate those opinions.
Whether one calls them the 'old girls club', the 'old boys club' or just what they are, the 'certified assholes club', they're all cut from the same dirty cloth.
Burn the lot of them by voting them out of office every chance you get.
Is that all you have?
You can always tell when one is right, because people write these types of light weight, no thought statements.
I find people like this writer never attend meetings, ok maybe 1 or 2, nor do they really do anything but just write blogs comments.
THE EASIEST THING IN THE WORLD IS TO WRITE HATE AND Its easy to critize, whine and point fingers, its harder to create solutions. After years of dealing with the Edgewater type "community activists" I find their solutions pithy and laden with personal agendas. But its ok if they have a personal agenda, but not anyone in the DC. They last for 3 meetings and then you never see them again.
They are always upset, when they actually get their way and have their new leader, they end up turning on that person or just run an organization, condo association or group to the ground.
The north side "community activists" go into these situations without solutions. They will tell you everything you are doing wrong, come up with lame alternatives. Any concrete action of listed tasks ain't happening. They are problem creators not solvers.
Just like Bush and Cheney. Iraq = unsolvable.
Its now 3 weeks and no sign of any of the Sandra rebels at any community meetings or events. TIF is the hot button and not a sighting of her, but she will be at the 11th hour meeting when all decisions have been made and after they have blown their chance, and they will decry foul, with the Reader and the Lerner Press sucking up to their side only because they say they are alternatives or some crap.
Thanks for making my point.
"THE EASIEST THING IN THE WORLD IS TO WRITE HATE", which is what YOUR comment is full of, besides the obvious crapola.
Since you like what our currently entrenched aldermen, mayor and our traditional 'members-only' fraud of a democratic party have been up to, keep casting your one vote for these schmucks, it's your right to vote for whoever you please, for whatever your reasons, as it is mine.
I'll be voting out entrenched, machine incumbents every time I go to the polls, and, if enough citizens get registered and do the same, then, and only then, will we begin to see anything remotely resembling an open, honest democracy.
Because, a true democracy depends on it's citizens participating, not by letting the selfish few 'run things' for the lazy, but by putting out the effort to keep every elected official so worried about being a one-term-wonder that they actually pay attention to their constituents, 'cause without the 'machine' to back them up on election day, not one of these hacks could persuade a single, thinking voter to vote for them.
You keep on going to these 'community meetings', they're dog-and-pony shows, meant to placate the gullible, 'cause only the gullible believe these 'guys and gals' are listening to anything they're told by the voters.
The only language they understand is the vote count on election night and the only thing the voters need to remember is that it's takes much more than an honest majority of votes to overcome the maximum amount of vote fraud the machine is capable of fabricating.
Here's the beginning of the solution:
Flush the political toilet and start with a fresh bowl.
Break up the cozy club of schemers that have been sucking the economic life out of us for decades.
Try it, you'll like it.
Is that all you have? You, Sandra V being a stauch Joe Moore supporter why don't you change the "entrenched, machine incumbents" at the 49th ward?
Oh thats right you just want o do the same thing as Joe, now there is a boys only club.
Why would I vote them out so you can do the same thing as they. At least they get things done.
""You keep on going to these 'community meetings', they're dog-and-pony shows, meant to placate the gullible, 'cause only the gullible believe these 'guys and gals' are listening to anything they're told by the voters. ""
Ah, I beleive the one point on your agend is community meetings every month.
Yawn
"At least they get things done."
Apparently, 'they' are 'getting things done' for you......
Do you even bother to make them wear a condom?
Do you even bother to make them wear a condom? ""
See, once again this group can not have a good debate, they have to write personal attacks.
As this IVI group does constantly in Edgewater is they go for the jugular because they can't handle disagreement.
They need to learn how to disagree. IVIer's are big Joe Moore supporters who is probably perceived as the most deceptive and under cutting and closed door alderman we have on the north side, but hes ok, because he pays money to IVI and all.
Volunteer with the Democratic party, make a difference, it takes work, nothning changes because some lady wants to run for Committee Chair and does nothning else but make negative remarks here. Do something positive!
I was in attendance at the 38th annual Pride parade, and was disapointed in not seeing many Chicago alderpersons in the parade. One that really stuck out was Mary Ann Smith from the 48th ward. This struck me as very odd. Was this vote for indifference to her ward constituents? Being a ward alderperson, is a 24 hours a day 7 days a week position, not a 24 hours per week 7 months a year position. Knowing how important this parade is to the area, and what the make-up of the community is, why was she not there?
MAS is not known to be in parades she wasn't in the Thai/Vietnese New Years parade in Feb and they didn't seem to care. Her ex Chief of Staff, Greg Harris and now State Rep is openly gay and a strong adovate for the gay community. Her staff has several openly gay employees and I know one of them was in Wisconsin that day at the water park with his partner. Open Hands and TPA are next to her office and they of course were in the parade, but didn't think twice about MAS not paritcipating.
Not sure why you would think "Was this vote for indifference to her ward constituents?" If this is concern to you, why don't you email or call her directly and ask.
Is this a trick? She's suppose to read your mind and know your the voice of the parade pods...wow
Election Day is a few weeks away. That's not a lot of time.
While Senator Obama is poised to win Illinois’ electoral votes, we live next to a state that is a crucial battleground – Iowa.
George W. Bush won Iowa by less than 1% in 2004 – despite John Kerry leads in polls right before Election Day. Iowa was one of only two states that switched from voting Democratic in 2000 to Republican in 2004.
We cannot allow this to happen again, and we need your help. A switch of only 3 votes per precinct would have stopped Bush from winning Iowa in 2004.
Thousands of undecided Iowa voters now have early ballots in their hands, and we need your help to make sure that when they cast their votes, they cast them for Barack.
That's why we're recruiting Illinois volunteers to come to Iowa, where they will knock on doors and then “get out the vote” every Saturday and Sunday, and on Election Day. Canvassing works – studies have shown that door-to-door canvassing increases turnout by over 11%. Every volunteer makes a big difference.
We’re asking you to sign up here to go to Iowa. The Iowa staff will be in touch with you about your specific assignment. Please make sure your friends and family know about this website as well:
http://my.barackobama.com/cometoIA
Please sign up right away for the days you can come to Iowa. No experience is required. The Iowa team will provide you with everything you need.
Thank you, on behalf of the campaign, for your help and support. Every canvasser in Iowa makes a huge difference. Winning Iowa is crucial for this campaign and Barack needs our help.
Thank you