Former Blackhawk Pilot To Run For Congress (lost her legs, opposes Bush)

[Barrett808]

Former Blackhawk Pilot To Run For Congress
Joanie Lum

(CBS) CHICAGO A candidate in Illinois is all too familiar with the toll the war in Iraq is taking. Major Tammy Duckworth lost both of her legs in combat there.

Now her opposition to the president's policies is motivating this Democrat for her next battle: the one to win a seat in the U.S. Congress in a traditionally Republican district in the western suburbs.

CBS 2's Joanie Lum has more on her announcement.

Major Tammy Duckworth walks with her husband's assistance but stands firmly against President Bush and the Iraq war.

The former helicopter pilot lost both legs last year when her National Guard unit was shot down over Baghdad.

Now she's entered a political battle and hopes to change the course of the war.

"We should focus our military resources on pursuing terrorists who attacked our country and capturing Osama bin Laden," said Duckworth, who is running for Congress in the 6th district.

(more)

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_352182118.html

[edbermac]

1. The SwiftBoaters will say her lost legs was self-inflicted...

Mark my words...:grr:

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. I'm sure Ann the man Coulter will have no problem saying such

[OneTwentyoNine]

39. Yep....get out those bandaids for lost legs

Yet they support our troops,uh huh.....

[Halliburton]

2. I'm sure Rove will gladly swiftboat her

COME ON FITZ

[warrens]

29. No joke

Rove named her district as the No. 1 seat to defend next year, and Phil Crane's old seat (Melissa Bean's now) the No. 1 seat to take. It's going to be ugly in Illinois next year, but we should be able to take both of them and meanwhile suck a lot of money out of other GOP campaigns.

[Name removed]

40. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[madrchsod]

3. if you go to the illinois forums

you`ll see that there`s another woman who maybe more qualified. duckworth has been appointed by the national party to run. to bad they don`t back the democrat that will run against fat denny...

[dogman]

17. Why would Cegelis be more qualified?

There are two Democrats vying to run against fat denny. Which one should they back?

[PassingFair]

22. "Which one should they back?" How about the ONE ...

from Illinois!

Duckworth is a party ringer. I'm sick of party ringers. With or without legs.

[dogman]

30. You are wrong on two counts.

My question pertained to the two Dem candidates running for the right to run against fat denny, which is Dennis Hastert in the 14th CD, that madrchsod mentioned. Secondly Ms. Duckworth is from Illinois and is a qualified candidate. Cegelis is a loser and I'm sick of losers, but if she wins the nomination I wish her the best. I will support the Party's nominee and hope that others would do likewise.

[PassingFair]

33. Duckworth is from Hawaii.

Although she lived in Illinois through college, she has never lived in the district in which she's running.

I stand by my ringer comments. I will send money to Cegelis, who has many ties to the community.

P.S.: What makes her a "qualified" candidate? The money from the DCCC?

Here is more info:

http://damnliberals.blogspot.com/2005/12/duckworths-residency-is-issue.html

[wndycty]

37. By your standards, Barack Obama should not be the Senator from Illinois

"Duckworth is from Hawaii"

Jennifer Granholm should not be Governor of Michigan, Hillary Clinton should not be the Senator from Hawaii, a ton of the Democrats running Governor from Iowa should not be running because they grew up in Illinois. Howard Dean should have never been Governor of Vermont he grew up in New York.

[dogman]

38. The article linked is just another opinion.

The author states that DeKalb is rural and has nothing to do with the 6th District. That is BULLSHIT. I have lived in Kane, Kendall, and Dekalb counties. I often work in DuPage County. These areas have NO real different interests. The City of DeKalb is comparable to most cities in DuPage. Ms. Duckworth served in the ILLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD. That is not Hawaii. If you choose to support Cegelis, that is fine by me. You don't need to slight other candidates to do that however. The question, which still has not been answered, is, what makes Cegelis MORE qualified? Residency is one issue, and if that is all that matters to you that's enough. I'm sure many others have much more important considerations. As I have said before, may the best person win and go on to defeat Roskam.

[Freddie Stubbs]

25. There has been no 'appointment'

She will run in the primary like any other candidate.

[PassingFair]

41. Check out this local's blog, madrchsod.

Many essays on the right hand side, all concerning the Emmanuel's kingmaking tactics.
If I weren't so young and strong and angry, I'd be despairing of my own party.


http://damnliberals.blogspot.com/2005/12/duckworths-residency-is-issue.html

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. The GOP will be funneling money to her

She's running against Cegalis and was handpicked by Rahm Emmanuel. I read somewhere they're putting $1million into her campaign for support.

Cegalis got something like 44% of the vote last election against Hyde. The district is red, red, red. So, in the run up, it's going to be splitting the Democratic votes and has pissed of a lot of the hardworking grassroots efforts that have been supporting Cegalis.

[MrBenchley]

6. Let's see you prove that.....

"Cegalis got something like 44% of the vote last election against Hyde."
And in 2005 Cegelis spent something EXACTLY like $121,000 of the $150,000 she raised with nothing at all to show for it.

[Norquist Nemesis]

9. It was a waste of time with you the last time

and nothing has changed since. Looks like it will be that way for a while. *sigh*

[MrBenchley]

10. So in other words, you're smearing Duckworth with no evidence

AS I suspected.

[LSK]

13. well how would you explain her appearance on National TV

Before she formally announced?? Sounds like DCCC is pulling a lot of strings for her.

[MrBenchley]

14. And that has WHAT to do with that smear, exactly?

"Sounds like DCCC is pulling a lot of strings for her."
Imagine that...the DCCC trying to get a winning candidate.

[Freddie Stubbs]

27. Sounds like she has a very compelling story

The kind of story that makes for interesting TV.

[MrBenchley]

31. She already made headlines

testifying in March of this year to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.

[Freddie Stubbs]

26. You have to get some Republican support to win in a GOP-leaning

district.

[shance]

34. That's not good. I don't like to hear such news, but we have to look

realistically how the Republican party and the RNC work. They don't play fair and at this point, nothing would surprise me with them unfortunately.

[MrBenchley]

35. WHAT's not good?

You DID notice there was not a speck of evidence for that mindless smear, didn't you?

[shance]

42. You know Mr. Benchley I know of some therapists who could help you

and if you'd like Id be more than glad to give you their numbers.

Your constant combative rudeness could be greatly reduced.

[MrBenchley]

43. Delusion and smear deserve the treatment they get...

So tell us, WHAT's not good?

[goodhue]

5. There is another democratic candidate . . .

Christine Cegelis

http://www.cegelisforcongress.com/meet

[Catchawave]

7. Go Tammy......!

Oh yeah, she has much more than a political message, she wants to help America !

[Peace Patriot]

8. Yeah, my sister just told me about her yesterday. Saw her on TV. Very

impressed. But didn't remember what state. Go, Tammy! Can you imagine the courage and fortitude it must take to recover from an injury like that, and then go public in what has become a grueling battle for attention and support with our war profiteering corporate news monopolies and Diebold and ES&S deciding what we get to hear, and what's going to happen in close votes (and maybe in not-close votes as well*)?

GREAT courage and fortitude--and an UNSHAKABLE belief that our country can be put right. This is the kind of person we so desperately need representing us in Washington DC. And I hope and trust that her Illinois district agrees, and will NOT let the Bushite faction of the Republican Party steal any more elections.

-----------------

*(Bad news out of Ohio. Four ELECTION REFORM measures, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, were flipped over, on election day, into 60/40 LOSSES!--the most audacious result of electronic voting we've seen yet. Why don't Bushite Republicans want ELECTION REFORM?

Read Bob Koehler's article on the Ohio initiatives:
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?file=20051124ctnbk-a.txt&catid=1824&code=ctnbk

---------------


For an easy to read pamphlet on the perils of electronic voting ("MythBreakers"), designed for local election officials. (One of the myths is that HAVA mandated electronic voting; it did NOT; citizens and election officials still have a choice!)
www.votersunite.org

For a project for statistical monitoring and challenges of elections in '06 and '08:
www.UScountvotes.org

For more info: www.verifiedvoting.org

For analysis of the 2004 election results (and exit polls):
www.TruthIsAll.net

For the recent GAO report on the grave insecurity of our election system in 2004:
access to pdf: http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-05-956
text only: http://www.gao.gov/htext/d05956.html

-------------------

Non-transparent elections are not elections. They are tyranny! And we are seeing the result: an out of control executive, driving us toward a trillion dollar deficit to fund his elective wars, spying on Americans, outing CIA agents and putting their lives in danger, mixing church and state, and torturing God knows whom--unnamed prisoners--whisked away on secret flights to torture dungeons in middle Europe! Is this what most Republicans voted for when they voted for Bush/Cheney in 2000? I don't think so. DID most Republicans vote for Bush/Cheney in 2004? I'm beginning to wonder.

------------------

"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."--Josef Stalin

-----------------

Throw electronic voting machines with secret, proprietary programming code, and no paper trail, into 'Boston Harbor' NOW! (--or the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, or Wabash Rivers, or Lake Michigan, will do!)

[Javaman]

11. what I find interesting is: how come we see no repuke Iraq vets running???

I haven't seen or heard of any, have any of you?

[MrBenchley]

12. The news stories I see

all say "most" are running as Democrats, but I've yet to see one that actually singles out anybody that IS Republican.

Googling for "Iraq war," "veteran" and "Republican" got me a bunch of nothing about any GOP vet, but found another great Democratic candidate...and note there's also Vietnam vet running as a Democrat in the next district over...

http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=4246498&nav=4CAL

[rox63]

21. There is one Repuke Iraq War vet running

Somewhere in TX, not sure where. But I heard him on the radio on NPR, along with a couple of Dem Iraq War vets who are running.

[MrBenchley]

23. I figured there must be one somewhere....

I just never see him mentioned...

[Jimbo S]

15. Listening to NPR a couple of weeks ago

The count is seven Dems and just one GOP running for Congress. The phrase used was akin to "the new Macho Democrats".

[Freddie Stubbs]

28. The only one I have heard of

was one who was elected as a state Senator in PA a year or two ago in a special election while he was deployed (he actually filed to run before his unit was called up).

[eppur_se_muova]

16. story from AP... (no mention of Rep. vets...)

" Tammy Duckworth has announced her candidacy
for the congressional seat of retiring Illinois
Republican Henry Hyde.

Duckworth wants to focus on health care,
education and the economy. But she knows the
war will come up. She told ABC's "This Week"
that the U.S. should have been fighting enemies
who attacked us on Sept. 11, 2001 -- rather than
Saddam Hussein and insurgents in Iraq. Still, she
volunteered to serve.

About a half dozen Iraq war veterans are running
for office as Democrats. They're trying to show
that disagreeing with President George W. Bush's
handling of the war doesn't mean they're not
strong on defense and national security.
"
http://www.thejacksonchannel.com/news/5571505/detail.html

[snowbear]

19. LOL !!! ,,,Did you see the other top story on that site eppur?

The headline is "Senator Lott sues Insurance Company"..

There's a story about him suing his insurance company over their handling of his beachfront house after Hurricane Katrina.. http://eliteleague.co.uk/forum/images/smilies/lol!.gif

BTW... GooOOooOo Tammy Duckworth!!!

[wndycty]

20. Tammy has had her detractors on DU, but I'm sure she can. . .

. . .win some of them over if they give her a chance.

[Adelante]

32. I posted this in another thread, wndy

It's a pretty good take on how this could work for the Dems.

-snip

The theory behind the Fighting Dems and the reason the DNC and DNCC are working so hard to find these people is obvious, but compelling: these candidates can take the Republicans on where they are now weakest, but without exposing traditional Democratic vulnerability on security. Moreover, they have interesting life stories, have endured hardship (Tammy Duckworth lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down), and generally exhibit qualities like patriotism and courage that we Americans admire.

I'm getting ahead of myself, but here are a couple of things I find interesting about this: One is that it may offer the beginnings of the overarching narrative progressives will need in 2006 in order to make major gains. To retake more than a handful of seats, progressives will have to do more than run a series of individual campaigns. To defeat incumbents, we will need to explain why people need to begin to turn out the current leadership nationally and what the alternative - writ large, not just in the form of one representative - will offer. Ideas like a National Security Contract with America can help do that. So will a group of young, gutsy veterans with a shared vision.

The Fighting Dems also have the potential to help us fill the genuineness gap: those creeping suspicions that John Kerry's every word - even about his own military service - was crafted by a political spin-meister. The spin machine hasn't (yet) taken over the Fighting Dems, and it shouldn't. They speak from the heart, and from the pain of real and recent experience on the battlefront. If they are indeed seen as the new voice of the party, this could begin to help counter the McCain factor, which is driven by his own direct, unscripted quality.

-more

http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2005/12/fighting_dems_t.html

[wndycty]

36. Thanks WesDem. . .

. . .good find.

[eppur_se_muova]

24. Yeah, saw that one before the Duckworth story.

Couple of news bits about Lott...I posted elsewhere. One quote about *'s response to Katrina being "embarassing".