Two big election wins

Another bad day for Madigan and the machine. Big wins for Kim Foxx and Marie Newman.

People are crazy and times are strangeI'm locked in tight, I'm out of range -- Bob Dylan, (Things have changed)

After nearly two weeks in COVID lockdown, I needed an emotional lift last night and I got one. In fact, two. The IL primary wins by Kim Foxx and Marie Newman had me grinning like a pothead last night while pedaling my damn stationary bike and watching the results come in.

Yes, Bernie Sanders did get trounced by 30 points as expected. Plus a couple of other local down-ticket progressives were knocked off. But the Foxx/Newman wins were big, big, big. Kim ran up the score on three great-white-hope opponents including billionaire's son Bill Conway who tried to ride the "bullshit" Jussie Smollett case to victory a la Bush and Willie Horton.

Both Foxx and Newman were backed by Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot who also endorsed Biden.

The icing on the cake for me was watching Eddie Burke get beat in his own ward race for committeeman by freshman State Rep. Aaron Ortiz. 

As the song goes: It's hard out here for a pimp. 

Marie pulled an Ocasio-Cortez by narrowly defeating 8-term incumbent Dan Lipinski whose family has ruled the district for 38 years. Lipinski was backed by many old-guard Democrats, AFL-CIO leaders and party boss Michael Madigan.

She did it even while calling on Madigan to step down and backing Bernie Sanders.  Yes, that's right. The same 3rd-district voters who overwhelmingly chose Biden over Sanders chose progressive Newman over Lipinski.

Lipinski pitched himself as in line with the district’s voters and cast Newman as too extreme, citing her support for "Medicare for All" and the Green New Deal.

I shouldn't be surprised though. All over the country polls are showing voters who overwhelmingly support progressive issues like Medicare-for-all, voting for Biden because they think he can beat Trump.

Bernie lost big. But with nearly the city's entire black leadership endorsing Biden, and with the Chicago left, including the teachers union, badly divided and unable to turn out Sanders voters, he had no chance to stall the Biden momentum.

And now that it's clear that Bernie has no real pathway to the nomination, he and his team may decide to pack it in and actively work for Biden. Whether they do or not, Bernie will still have lots of influence at the convention. This mainly because Biden and the DNC know he can't win without support from the party's progressive base.

I say all this without a clue how or even if a real election campaign can be carried out under the conditions of COVID.  But I'll take victories when and where I can find them.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

With SEIU members packing the stage behind her, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot endorses Marie Newman for Congress in the Democratic primary against Republicrat Dan Lipinski.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot 

“Dan Lipinski is on the wrong side of history and he doesn’t represent our values,” Lightfoot said. She said Lipinski also didn’t support Barack Obama’s reelection in 2012, voted against the Affordable Care Act and had disenfranchised Latino voters. Lightfoot said Lipinski also had opposed same-sex marriage in the past. “I’m happy to be here supporting Marie Newman,” she said. “We are not ever going backward, not ever.” -- Tribune

MSNBC host Chris Matthews 

...drew rebukes on social media Friday night after suggesting that as a Democratic Socialist, Sen. Bernie Sanders could lead a dictatorship in which establishment political figures would be “executed,” should he win the presidency. -- Truthout

Kalyn Belsha, Chicago education writer

Educators say the [CTU] votes not to endorse were a result of a variety of concerns. Some were procedural, including questions about whether members had been adequately consulted. Others were local, including lingering tensions over the union’s endorsement of and spending on a losing 2019 mayoral candidate. -- Chalkbeat

Barbara Duffield, the Executive Director of SchoolHouse Connection

"The record number of children and youth experiencing homelessness nationwide is alarming. But for many of these children and youth, public schools are their best — and often only — source of support." -- CBS News

Robert Reich on Bloomberg

The word “oligarchy” comes from the Greek word oligarkhes, meaning “few to rule or command”. It refers to a government of and by a few exceedingly rich people or families who control the major institutions of society. Oligarchs may try to hide their power behind those institutions, or excuse their power through philanthropy and “corporate social responsibility”. But no one should be fooled. An oligarchy is not a democracy. -- Guardian

👀 https://t.co/QFXIQWKk3x

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) February 10, 2020

Big election wins in IL yesterday

Brandon Johnson on Hitting Left

Lots of big wins yesterday in IL. Congrats to Chuy, Brandon, Fritz, Delia, Aaron, Alma, Beatriz,  and the rest of the victorious, progressive, machine busters.

Also to Marie Newman who didn't win but ran a helluva race for congress against oinker incumbent Lipinski. He had big backing, not only from the rotten DCCC leadership, but from anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ groups as well. Sad to lose a race so close.

Also a salute to progressive Dan Biss who finished second to billionaire Pritzker and ahead of Chris Kennedy, in the gov primary race. Now Dems have to somehow pull together, at least until November, to crush Rauner.

They have a great chance, riding the anti-Trump wave. Good sign yesterday was a huge increase in Democrat voter turnout while many Repugs stayed home.

Some of Team Newman

It was a good day for teachers, advocates of elective school board and for the CTU. Bad day for school privatizers. Although I didn't agree with all their choices, the unions showed their power by backing winners with nearly every endorsement. Big win especially for CTU organizer Brandon Johnson who battled his way to victory in county board race.

FRIDAY ON HITTING LEFT... Much more election stuff to talk about on Friday's Hitting Left with the Klonsky Bros.

TODAY AT NOON ON HITTING LEFT... Tune in to www.lumpenradio.com or listen on WLPN, 105.5 FM today at noon, for a special HL show. We're continuing our 1968 retrospective with guests Cha Cha Jiminez (Young Lords Organization), Billy Che Brooks (IL Black Panthers), and SDS veteran organizer Susan Klonsky.

On election day: It's not about, in pols we trust.

Biss on Hitting Left

It's election day in Illinois and in the governor's race, the choices are woeful. Like many on the left, I had hoped that Bernie Sanders' stunning performance here in his statewide 2016 race against Hillary Clinton, would have led to movement-backed, candidates (preferably not just rich, male and white). But the divisions in the progressive left and in the labor movement, the powerful hold of old Democratic machine politics, and fear of Republican Bruce Rauner's billions in this, the most expensive gov's race in history, left us where we are now on election day. We've got three traditional Democrats to choose from. 

Let me say upfront that I early voted for State Sen. Daniel Biss in the Democratic primary. I say that unapologetically, even though I've been among the sharpest Biss critics ever since he and state Democrats engineered passage of an unconstitutional bill that would have slashed the pensions of public school teachers. But given the choices and the fact that Biss came on our radio show and was openly and sincerely self-critical about his vote and his "succumbing to the culture of Springfield", I gave him my vote.

A pol who feels our heat, responds to criticism and changes their position and their votes, is the best we can hope for. Much better, in my opinion, than campaign promises by born-again "progressives".

If you know me, you know I couldn't have voted for billionaire J.B. Pritzker (my god, he's got millions invested in the oil pipeline company we fought in Standing Rock) or for former U of I chief Trustee Chris Kennedy (reasons here. I even tried my best to defend him here, but...). Many liberals are still enamored with the Kennedy family name. Not me. And as an educator, I was repulsed by his attempt to destroy the careers of U of I faculty with whom he disagreed politically.

I also voted for or supported other progressives like: Chuy Garcia and Marie Newman for congress, Fritz Kaegi for county assessor in his run at machine boss Joe Berrios, Brandon Johnson for county board, Aaron Goldstein for AG, Delia Ramirez, and others in local races.

Yesterday on FB, my friend and announced 2019 mayoral candidate Troy LaRaviere, proclaimed his support for Kennedy for a reason that bewilders me.

I found myself going back and forth between two of the three frontrunners, unable to make a choice about whom to endorse. Then one morning, my partner, Margaret, said to me “Forget about endorsements for a minute…. If the election were today, which one would you vote for?”
“Kennedy”
Without a moment of hesitation, I said that name. Kennedy
Then she asked an even more important question: “Why?”
“Because I trust him.”

Now as we head into the final day of voting, with the Democratic governor's race tightening (only single digits separate Pritzker, Kennedy and Biss in the latest polls) and with no longer any guarantee that Democrats can come back together and defeat Rauner, I'm left with this thought.

Politics is not about "trust". It's not a spectator sport where we vote and then hope to god that the Democrats we elect will do the right thing. They rarely do. And when they do, it's because we are there, as always, in the streets or on the picket line, ready to take them on when they don't.

Harold Washington told us that, the day after he was elected as the city's first black mayor.

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.