At last night's fundraiser for Marie Newman

Rep. Jan Schakowsky introduces Marie Newman at last night's fundraiser

I'll be honest. I don't like going to political campaign fundraisers for two reasons. One, they're usually boring. And two, I can't afford them. I usually escape by making some lame excuse (except when they are at our house and I can't leave) and offering to send a check to the campaign to make up for my absence.

But this past week I went to two that I really enjoyed. The first, for Chuy Garcia, our next congressman. It was held in the neighborhood at Webster's Wine Bar, so I had no excuse. The crowd was mainly a lively and diverse group of young activists and the wine/beer tickets that came with our donation helped ease the pain. I am an avid Chuy supporter and know that he will probably coast to victory in this congressional race, even without my puny financial help (he holds a huge lead in the polls over his nearest rival, Sol Flores). But as a cautious Chuy reminded me the other night, in politics, never take victory for granted (something I always told my ball players).

Last night I begrudgingly slogged through the remnants of Chicago's snowpocalypse to the home of  long-time friend, Marilyn Katz, to help support Marie Newman's campaign.

Marilyn is a talented Democratic Party fundraiser with a big, beautiful home and she's good at turning out supporters for progressive causes. When she calls, it's hard to say no. Plus she's a great cook and I hadn't eaten much all day.

If Newman defeats Lipinski, nazi GOP candidate Jones is next.

Marie Newman is running against Rep. Dan Lipinski in Illinois 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary. If a diseased chicken was running against Lipinski, I would donate a bucket of antibiotic-laced chicken feed to the campaign fund. Lipinski is the classic Chicago machine Democrat, the kind they used to call blue dogs, but now just call Democrats. He's anti-choice for women, anti-gay, and he voted against the Affordable Care Act.

Marie was introduced by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, one of the few good people in the current House. Marie's own rap was short, spirited and to the point. Lipinski keeps getting elected in a district that voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama and for Bernie Sanders. There's no reason for him to get re-elected unless progressives sit on their asses while the machine turns out it base.

Marie has solid progressive credentials besides being not-Lipinski. Plus, she also has a good chance to win. Recent polls show her leading the race by about 5 points.  CNN, Politico, The Hill, Huffington Post are touting the race as one of the most pivotal democratic primaries to watch in 2018.

If Marie can beat Lipinski in the primary, guess who her Republican opponent will be? None other than Arthur Jones, the open nazi running unopposed in the GOP primary. Marie will be well prepared for Jones, since on most issues he's the same as Lipinski.

I was so impressed with Marie, I'm inviting her to be a guest on Hitting Left, even though Brother Fred and I promised each other no more pols for a while. We'll make an exception in this case if she can fit it into her busy schedule running up to election day.