Major Democratic Victory - Hastert's IL Seat Goes To Bill Foster
By Logan Murphy Saturday Mar 08, 2008 8:36am
Illinois Democrat Bill Foster, who was endorsed by presidential contender Barack Obama, won a special election held today to fill the House seat vacated by disgraced Republican Dennis Hastert. How big is this win? Hastert had held his seat for over two decades and the NRCC poured nearly 1/3 of their money into the race, and even Republican presidential nominee John McCain stumped for rival Jim Oberweis. On top of all that, Foster is a progressive Democrat and has come out strongly against telecom immunity:
"The President and his allies in Congress are playing politics with national security, and that's wrong. Nobody is above the law and telecom companies who engaged in illegal surveillance should be held accountable, not given retroactive immunity. I flatly oppose giving these companies an out for cooperating with Alberto Gonzalez on short-circuiting the FISA courts and the rule of law."
| U.S. House - District 14 - Special General | |
| Illinois - 558 of 568 Precincts Reporting - 98% |
| Name | Party | Votes | Vote % | |
 |
Foster , Bill | Dem | 50,451 | 52% |
| Oberweis , Jim | GOP | 45,741 | 48% |
Hastert served as Speaker of the House from 1999 till 2007 when the Democrats took control of Congress, but will be remembered most for his disgraceful behavior in covering for former Rep., Mark Foley, who was hitting on underage male pages while in office.
If a Democrat can win in a blood-red district like this, it bodes well for Democrats nationwide looking ahead in 2008.
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Pretty close contest considering who he was running against. Only winning by that slim majority begs to question......what the heck is wrong with people?
It bodes VERY well for the Dems. All of this hand wringing about Obama and Clinton at the moment will be anciant history by November. Let the process run it's course. We'll have one of them as a great presidential candidate. And in January, they'll have a solid Dem congress behind them. Then we can finally start cleaning up the Repug mess!
The Illinois GOP is not an aberration. They are not any more corrupt than the rest of the GOP. Yet, the people of Illinois realize how rotten that party has become, while the rest of the country hasn't realized it.
Can anyone tell me how big is a precinct? What does one look like?
Jim Oberweis is considered nothing short of a complete tool in my hometown of Chicago and has yet to win any election he takes part in (he's now 0-4) - but the national attention Foster's victory is getting is momentum for the Democratic party that cannot be matched!!
Finally, I'm proud to be a Democrat in the Republican section of the Chicago area!!!
Booyah! The Hutt's successor is undone!
No capital reserves left, $20 trillion in debt, $53 trillion in worthless IOU's, all of the capital marketplaces are teetering, and the nation is bleeding red ink at the rate of $1.43 billion per day.
What's your fix Bill?
Looks like just enough people are getting tired of Conservative apologetics.
Zenrage @ 8:
I don't know there's still a few holdouts out there.
http://www.southernangel.com/food/bologna.html
This is great news. The one GOP senator from Maine I hate the most -- next to Lieberman -- who I want to see get the door slammed HARD in her ugly face is that bigot Susan Collins. Susan, we're all praying for that day when we all sing loudly "Good riddance to bad rubbish".
Election Determines Hastert’s Seat to be Filled by TWENTY Democrats
Good, we can have a healthy round of trials after they're swept out. Is a truth and reconciliation committee to soft?
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 1:
Winning a Republican stronghold by any margin is a good sign.
chlorocardium @ 12:
My guess is Washington D.C. will try to sweep all the corruption and losses, would-be indictments, perp walks and prosecutions under the rug and get on with an unprecedented taxpayer bailout of Wall Street.
The Truth has to be trickled out SLOWLY.
No, Denny Hastert will be most remembered for being part of a ring of traitors selling nuclear secrets to the Turkish, among others... Just ask Sibel Edmonds.
Of course, you'll have to go to England to hear about it or find it on the web, as the pussified U.S. "news" media is intentionally ignoring this bombshell of information.
More info here:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5521
http://www.bradblog.com/?cat=58
Poor republic party. They're the rotten food in the refrigerator Americans are throwing out.
Go Obama.
Obama's camp was huge in bringing this about in time, energy and volunteers, and if we want to retain this seat in November Obama's coattails will go a long way.
What, if anything, will the Clinton camp do to help keep this seat? So far, as far as I can see, they did nothing to help get it in the first place.
Is this the race Rahm insisted we needed a BlueDog in order to win? I hope this is a lesson to the DLC and other BlueDogs that they are not the answer.
SIDE WITH THE TELCOMS = LOOSE YOUR JOB!
LA Confidential
Ah! Bologna! The "other" SPAM!
BTW, can you tell me how to get the name@# link into my comments?
Joementum @ 13:
If the fed election is that close, the machines will win it for the Repubs. After 8 years, would you not think that ANY Dem would blow a Repub out of the water? Apparently not. Please sir Dick, can we have some more?
Chicago Joe @ 5:
The north west side, huh?
zabes @ 18:
The Clintons are working hard to keep republics in office. See?
KayInMaine @ 16:
Yeah good bye Repubs, unfortunately the Neocons-Globalists have taken over the country.
Oh duh! I just found out!
Britisher @ 20:
Huh? oh, no. Coffee hasn't kicked in yet. I'm still brain dead this morning.
Britisher @ 20:
There should be a "quote this comment" link in the bottom right hand corner of every comment. Press it, and presto.
Hastert was a thug and a moron. The country is well rid of him.
That having been said, this special election is by no means
indicative of what dems. will face in November.
I will vote for Obama or Clinton regardless of the outcome,
because republicans deserve to lose the White House forever,
and that should be the Bush legacy.
However I have no intention of rewarding the Democrats
for their poor showing since they took control of Congress.
The pathetic attempts to face down a lame duck president
with a 28 percent approval rating do nothing to inspire confidence in their ability to govern.
I hope Obama or Clinton really can reach out and work with the other side, because this is one voter who is going to split
his ticket when he votes. I suspect that I am not alone in this regard.
Seriously, people should be cautious about reading too much into this particular election.
Full disclosure: I live in the district and vote for Foster.
Oberweiss has a lot of money and has tried to buy his way into several state elected offices prior to this. The people of Illinois just don't want him. This would be his, I think, 4th loss and each successive run makes it look more and more as though he's just trying to self finance his way into any office that he can get into here and the general opinion of him is increasingly negative. IL Republicans just keep turning to him because he's an enthusiastic Repblican and he's cheap for them to put up as a candidate.
Couple that with the fact that the IL Republicans are still in shambles years after Jim Ryan's corruption conviction, Jack Ryan's senate campaign meltdown in 2004, Hastert's shameful retirement, and Obama's rock star rise to national media darling. The IL Republican party is just a disorganized mess and not showing any signs of rallying. Some districts may lean heavily Republican but that doesn't mean that every election is effortless for them.
At any rate, there are a number of things going on here that make this special election a less than perfect pile of tea leaves to read.
CheneyIsADick @ 27:
Thanks! I've moved onto beer. now. It seems to be working!
KayInMaine @ 23:
The Obama supporters are now all convincing themselves of conspiracy theories. Hillary has been running all along to be McCain's VP! See?
broken bottle @ 29:
I like to view this election as this: the republics can pour large amounts of money into a campaign and still cannot win it. The only way they can win is to outright steal it which appears they forgot to do in this case. See?
A Foster win of 52% to $46 may not seem like a lot, until you look at the campaign spending. Democrates spent $600,000 and Republicans spent $1.2 million. I'd say it was a significant win.
See? LOL
BoilThemInTheirOil @ 31:
Yeah someday they might realize that even if you spend an entire lifetime doing the right thing and being a champion for humanity, peace, and all the good things life offers your reward is still 6 feet under in a box.
jace @ 28:
That is why it is just as important to get an overwhelming majority in the House and Senate. Even if diebold puts McCain in, the congress is who makes the laws. The other thing is to consider is the supreme court.
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 21:
We're talking about one congressional district -- a solidily Republican one -- out of 19 in the state. McCain has to win the whole state to get the Electoral votes.
Britisher @ 30:
Hair of the dog always works for me.
Don Davis @ 11:
Bah hahahahahaha! Just read this. Those were some huge pants to fill, huh? Wow.
jace @ 28:
Britisher @ 30:
Sometimes I think why in the hell am I doing all this "Good Citizen" nonsense when sex, drugs, and rock n' roll was more fun and less painful.
Bill Foster sounds like he knows what it means to be a real American. The fact that he realizes that we are a nation of laws and that everyone should be held accountable for their actions.
Unlike the Republican belief that your average Joe six-pack should be held to the letter of the law, but faceless corporations should be able to do what then want, when they want, and never have to pay for any crime ever committed...
If you screw your employees out of their pensions that they put money into for their whole career? No problem...those people should have known better. If you offer insurance policies to a community who's homes are destroyed by a natural disaster that was supposed to be covered by your policy...no problem, just don't pay anyone, claim the wind caused the flood damage and the flood caused the wind damage and you don't have to pay out a single penny...it's not your insurance companies fault that they gave policies to people who would need to put in a claim on that policy!
That's Republican values! and I for one am glad to support the Democratic party!
KayInMaine @ 32:
You can think of it like that if you like, but it's a simplistic view of this election. They may have thrown a lot of money at this election, but that's all they did. IL Repubs organization is in shambles and they were working with a proven bad candidate. Yes, democratic enthusiasm is high but this particular election had a number of other factors that need to be considered.
oops sorry jace...mucked up the quote there. Need more beer!
John @ 4:
I think you mean "district"? There are about 435 Congressional districts in the United States. Every ten years when the census is down the district maps are redrawn to reflect the populations. There are many precincts within one district and a precinct is typically a very large neighborhood. It can take several weeks to "walk" one precinct.
Hasturd, has-been.
-GSD
Say what you will but it is a very good sign for Democrats.
Ron @ 36:
Agreed, however the Dems. had plenty of opportunities to put the brakes on Bush&Cheney with a simple majority and time after time they failed. They whined and cried about not having a large enough majority, which was probably true.
However when the shoe was on the other foot and Republicans held a slim majority they somehow managed to get things done. Their plan was almost always wrong and shortsighted, but at least they had a plan.
Bill Clinton accomplished a lot with a republican congress
including balanced budgets and surpluses. His wife or Obama will just have learn to do the same.
jace @ 48:
I agree to. That's if you don't take this into consideration.
Well good. Every single disgraced republican has now been replaced by a dem.
At this country is completely out of its mind.
Thank you voters!
Ugh, I meant 'At this country ISN'T completely out of its mind'. That was a bad typo.
broken bottle @ 43:
Foster's win is a good thing. There are now 28-29 and counting GOP seats up for grabs which any old Democrat should be able to win. BUT they IMHO need to be Progressives. Meanwhile there are the Blue Dogs. I'd like them to be ousted too, but an intra-party challenge might result in a local Dem loss due to a split vote, unless there's some serious grass roots support for a challenger.
jace @ 48:
Oh will you people stop pretending that a 49D - 49R - 2I with the deciding vote to give the Democrats committee control coming from Joe Lieberman is some kind of big power base to make big changes. The Republicans set the all time record for filibusters 11 months into a 2 year congress. I am really sick of the "everything is the Democrats fault" bull shit.
Looks like "all of the people all of the time" TIME is finally here---or at least the "voting majority" time! Watch out though because the Repubs are good at fooling.
jace @ 48:
Chicago Joe @ 5:
I'm with you on that. I live in Dupage County and glad Oberweis didn't win. He's another Repug like Bush.
CheneyIsADick @ 49:
Ron,
It would not link. What's the story?
Jace
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!!!!!!!
BOOYAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#49 CHeneysADick
That's the first time Nader has made me laugh! Probably the only time too.
jace @ 57:
The link worked for me
Britisher @ 60:
It's a youtube video of Nader, he said (roughly) 'the Dems are saying that there's so much evidence to impeach Bush and CHeney that it's impossible to impeach them' ---that's as far as I went with it. IMHO Nader says things that we all know and that are rational so it's nice he gets media attention nad serves our interests in that way, but he's irrational when it comes to the realities of the political process.
hmmmm, maybe Americans are waking up and getting off the couch now that the economy has gotten so bad. Price of oil is costing in every aspect of life, higher food cost, high goods that have to be delivered by any means, loans not available unless you have an equity worth half the value of your property.
yep, the old pocketbook is still the driving force in America. I wonder how bad the economy will have to get before the evangelicals except gays and stem cell research. I mean, it seems everything has its price in a materialistic society.
Britisher @ 44:
What kind are you drinking? I could use some.
Thanks for the info on the link, I got it to work.
Thanks also to Ron for sending it.
ConcernedHusseinCanuck @ 1:
A win is a win. I'll take it anyday.
No more head cheese soufleeey at the HOR dining room. I'll bet?
broken bottle @ 43:
That's a fair response. Spending a lot of money doesn't seem to be helping them though, because Americans are tired of the republics this election season. I was pointing out that the only they really can win is to steal it again. That's all.
Bangkok Bob ☻ @ 62:
I don't think they've woken up yet. The real wake up call is coming. Startling and sudden impoverishment.
Sorry, I didn't post the link, but it did work for me. It's a You tube on Nader.
Dahgrostab'ph-r-i @ 55:
L.A. Confidential @ 67:
The U.S. Government’s total downstream liabilities and unfunded commitments (including Medicare, Social Security, Public Debt, Pensions, etc.) have now exceeded $53 trillion dollars (according to David Walker, the U.S. Comptroller General and Head of the Government Accountability Office). $53 trillion translates into a de facto debt of $455,000 for every American household.
This doesn't sink in to people who's max knowledge of economics is depositing a paycheck, paying bills, and keeping a checkbook balanced.
RayC @ 53:
Thank you RayC.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1878346407.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
jace @ 63:
Sadly, jace it's the "king of beers" . I'd rather be sipping a 15 year-old Nacallan Single Malt, but I ran out of that during the last debate drinking game.
Thank Goodness that Rahm picked a decent democrat to run. Foster barely beat Laesch who was a kucinich style democrat endorsed by geniuses like Noam Chomsky and firedoglake. Had it been Laesch, Oberweis would be my new congressman.
broken bottle @ 29:
Foster scored a stunning upset, but I agree that caution is in order. I can't imagine the Republicants were so stupid as to not extract a gentlemen's agreement from Oberweis that he would step-down from the November rematch if he lost this round, given that they poured over 20% of their cash-on-hand into it. There's no way they're going to continue to throw good money after bad for a seat that should almost be a given for them, so they will either replace Oberweis or write-off the district off for now. As the district is currently drawn, Foster's future re-election efforts will be considerably more difficult against almost any other Repub opponent.
And to correct the record, it was Gov. *George* Ryan's corruption conviction. Atty. Gen. Jim Ryan was never convicted, let alone charged, for his despicable role in railroading Cruz and Hernandez onto death row in the Nacarico case. And Jack Ryan's brief, scandalous campaign wasn't that bad a blow - it simply brought attention to how badly the state party's fortunes had fallen.
on top of everything else i hear foster's a pretty good speller.
jon elrod and canuk please take notice.
RayC @ 53:
I am not suggesting that every thing is the the fault of the Dems. in congress. I am however pointing out that they failed in a big way to deliver on their promises during the 06 election.
We are still at war, we are still funding that war, we are still using the Constitution for a floor mat in Dick Cheney's office,
and the President still continues to run the country by decree by the use of signing statments. Not to mention evidence of wrong doing either destroyed or withheld.
Oil companies are making billions by gouging American consumers, the housing market is a bust, and the middle class is almost a thing of the past, but not to worry we did find out that Roger Clemens was using steroids.
Who would we suggest that we hold accountable?