William Rivers Pitt / PDA: Duckworth Campaign Smoke & Mirrors!

[IndyOp]

Woo-hoo! The Cegelis campaign is alive and thriving! :woohoo:

I just got the following email from Progressive Democrats of America - signed by Will Pitt:

Dear Friend of PDA,

...The kingmakers within the Democratic Party have recruited Iraq veteran Tammy Duckworth to run for the seat, and have thrown all their weight behind her in the primary. A blizzard of fundraising emails from such worthies as John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama flew through the ether last week, looking to raise cash for the Duckworth campaign. There were moments, Carpenter admits, when the PDA team was feeling more than a little overwhelmed.

That feeling didn't last. The Duckworth campaign is made up of a lot of smoke and mirrors, a fact exposed by a recent article by Lynn Sweet in the Chicago Sun-Times. "Big names back Duckworth, but where's ground support?" reads the title of the Sweet piece, which goes on to examine a recent Duckworth campaign rally at a school. "The classroom in the basement of a Roselle Park District building at 555 Byrn Mawr had space to spare," wrote Sweet. "During the course of more than an hour, no more than 20 adults showed up, not counting Duckworth staff and children, and I may be overestimating the size of the crowd."

All the heat, all the action, all the energy in the campaign for the 6th District seat is riding with Christine Cegelis and her dedicated crew of staff and volunteers. The Cegelis rally on Saturday was an incredible event, as Sweet notes in her article. "On Saturday morning," she writes, "Cegelis had quite an organized canvassing operation going on in the Des Plaines headquarters of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. About 150 volunteers were stuffing campaign kits. They had lists of voters all ready, and the volunteers were dispatched to walk precincts."

The primary is two weeks away, and we need your help to push Christine over the top. It can be done, and it will be done if you stand with us. PDA is working all across the country not just to elect a Democratic majority to Congress, but a progressive Democratic majority.

In peace,
William Rivers Pitt

Read Cindy Sheehan's article, "Cegelis vs. The Machine" here:
<http://pdamerica.org/articles/campaigns/cegelis-sheehan.php>

Join Progressive Democrats of America:
<http://pdamerica.org/join-ind.php>

Donate to PDA:
<https://www.pdamerica.org/donate.php>

[bluestateguy]

1. Cegelis earned the nomination

Getting 44% against a dinosaur incumbent Republican in a Republican district ought to silence Democratic critics of her.

[wndycty]

2. By that logic Kerry and/or Gore should be lock for Dems in '08

What Cegelis did in 2004 is irrelevant, if she is the better candidate she will beat Tammy, no reason not to hold a primary.

[IndyOp]

14. If Cegelis is the better candidate and the ground work overcomes the

huge difference in campaign funds (Kerry alone has raised $100,000's for Duckworth). Why is so much Dem money being poured into a primary to get Duckworth elected; to defeat Cegelis??

:kick:

[xray s]

3. It's a shame they didn't run Duckworth in the 10th district

I think she would have been a great candidate to challenge Mark Kirk.

[IndyOp]

7. Agreed! Duckworth would have been great in another district -

but why did the BIG BOYS not pay attention to Cegelis' success in the last election? I think they are trying to find a 'formula' that works everywhere, but in running an Iraqi Vet in this district they are stomping on the local Democratic Party's commitment to Cegelis. They told her 4 years ago when she ran against Hyde that she would not win the first time but that if she promised to run twice they would stand behind her -- and now the national party is running against her. This is *not* the way to build a citizen-powered party.

:grr:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. Unless the last thing they want is a citizen-powered party

:shrug:

[LincolnMcGrath]

4. We will know the outcome of the DC crew's meddling soon.

If Cegelis wins the primary and loses the race, it will be blamed on the leftist boogieman.

If Duckworth wins the primary and loses the race, it will be blamed on the leftist boogieman.

I'm just sayin.

[IndyOp]

5. A picture of the infamous "leftist boogieman" --

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

[radio4progressives]

6. This is very Sweet News...

So nice to see through the smoke and mirrors on this one..

thanks for posting, we need to hear more good news for progressives here, cutting through the kingmakers bogus propaganda campaign for "groundswell support" of their pawns.

[IndyOp]

8. Nice play on words there - 'Sweet' - Thanks! (nt)

:kick:

[NoFederales]

9. Hooray for Cegelis, indeed

Even though the primary fight should be open, I can't help but wonder WHY the big overt nod to Duckworth? The strategy of being military doesn't make sense given Hackett's treatment. Cegelis is a seasoned politician. Doesn't experience count for more than no experience? It's very odd

NoFederales

[IndyOp]

11. If you have a chance, look at Cindy Sheehan's article about

Cegelis -- and why Cindy thinks the Dems don't want her to run. In the most honest interpretation I can muster, the Dems don't want to take any position at all about anything because taking a position means that someone can attack you on the position.

:grr:

[NoFederales]

13. That old saying about you better stand for something or you'll

fall for anything has some validity. If that is Democratic Leadership Thinking, then I need no part of it. AUDI has a trademarked saying that hangs on my shop wall:

Never quit.
Never do the expected.
Never rest on your laurels.
Never think great is good enough.
Never follow.

To me, this about Leadership in a nutshell.

NoFederales

[katinmn]

12. Sweeeeeeet! Thanks to PDA!

:yourock:

[KoKo]

15. K&R....Sheehan's article is a good read, too.

Throw a few dollars her way. Stand up to the Dem Apologists who keep picking and choosing candidates against the wishes of their own grassroots.

[Cults4Bush]

16. Yeshhhhh!!! So great to see Cegelis getting a groundswell from the

grassroots.

DC Dems take a friggin' hike on this one! Why are you trying to lopside a victory for Duckworth when Cegelis already was performing? Might not that money have done much better things in a different race? Why did you all want to run Duckworth in a district not her own when there was already a power player there?

Afraid of some grassroots going further left than what you want? Keep playing that middle fiddle and soon no one will be listening to you.