Bill Foster will file 1,832 signatures this morning for the special election in IL-14. They like to point out that's after a week with two ice storms and 8 inches of snow. I like to point out that it's a perfectly sufficient number to avoid a challenge.

I think they needed 870 or so, so 1,832 pads their total nicely and they were still able to do other stuff the past week.

I was out helping the Foster campaign in IL-14 yesterday. I was struck by a few things.

Something I had wondered about with the Foster campaign early on was whether or not they would be able to expand their base and their volunteer pool sufficiently. As I read through their volunteer board on the wall of the office yesterday, I really got it that they are doing the right things to diversify their support. I suspected they were doing all the right things before and I had no reason to think otherwise, but yesterday seriously cemented it in my brain.

More after the jump...

My friend Justin is running in a charity marathon for PAWS on October 1st. PAWS has an awesome reputation in the Chicagoland area. So if you support no-kill shelters, go visit Justin's fundraising page and donate a couple bucks.

Just has been a friend of mine for years and only recently has he began thinking more of giving back to the community and becoming interested in politics. I REALLY want to encourage this new change so I'm doing everything I can to help him with his goal.

Crossposted from Bridget In the Sixth.

A little birdie sent me these graphics of Tammy's mailers that are set to hit on Tuesday. Kisses to my source!

The RNCC has been repeatedly carpet bombing the district with several mailers a week. So-called Austin Mayor has chronicled them nicely.

All I have to say is GO GIRL! These are great. I love the bit about Peter Roskam being a "personal injury lawyer and career politician".

Crossposted from Bridget in the Sixth.

I was at the bookstore today and I spotted this headline in Foreign Policy Magazine.

This part is of particular interest to me, given a recent conversation that I had with a certain 6th district Congressional candidate. Regarding the administration's flawed arguments regarding withdrawal from Iraq:

Before U.S. forces stand down, Iraqi security forces must stand  up.
The problem in Iraq is not military competency; it is political consolidation. Iraq has a large officer corps with plenty of combat experience from the Iran-Iraq war. Moktada al-Sadr's Shiite militia fights well today without U.S. advisors, as do Kurdish pesh merga units. The problem is loyalty. To whom can officers and troops afford to give their loyalty? The political camps in Iraq are still shifting. So every Iraqi soldier and officer today risks choosing the wrong side. As a result, most choose to retain as much latitude as possible to switch allegiances. All the U.S. military trainers in the world cannot remove that reality. But political consolidation will. It should by now be clear that political power can only be established via Iraqi guns and civil war, not through elections or U.S. colonialism by ventriloquism.

Are ya' listening Tammy? The Vietnamization of Iraq isn't a good plan.

Cross-posted from Soapblox/Chicago, where I blog most often.

Like many fellow Cegelis supporters, I have been feeling a sense of loss and frustration over the recent primary election. I so badly wanted Christine to win. I felt she was the best woman for the job, I knew her heart, and I had confidence in her background and skills. I knew that she would be an independent voice for the people of the 6th, always looking to us first for guidance and advice.

I still feel that way. I maintain the viewpoint that Christine would have been a better candidate than Tammy Duckworth and I will not apologize for that. Christine Cegelis would have been better for us, for our nation, and for the world as our Congresswoman.

However, the operative phrase is would have. Unfortunately, Christine did not win and Tammy Duckworth did. The reality of the situation, all emotional response aside, is that Tammy Duckworth is who we have to face Peter Roskam in November. And I'll be damned if I'm going to let that man represent me in Congress.

So I decided it was the right thing to do to attend the DuPage Democrats Unity Breakfast at Drury Lane yesterday morning. And, for many of the same reasons as other Cegelis supporters, I felt incredibly uncomfortable about it. But, unlike many of you,  part of that is because I made the decision to put myself out there and attack Tammy Duckworth directly.

More on the flip...

Duckworth F6&F6N Summary:

$50,386 from 28 Individuals, NONE residents of the district
47% New York residents
27% Chicago residents
0% District residents

More on the flip...