2008: Another progressive with a shot at winning a seat in Congress

Nothing would set the tone for the upcoming primaries and the fall election more than strong early wins by progressives in the Democratic primaries.

In four weeks there will be a special primary election in Illinois' 14th Congressional district to find a replacement for Dennis Hastert, who just ducked out the door, conveniently in time to beat the new law extending the waiting periods for special interest lobbyists.

One of the candidates in the race is John Laesch, who as the Democratic nominee in 2006 pulled 40 percent in the general election against that very powerful incumbent. With numbers like that, and especially given the shift in public sentiment in the last two years, the Laesch campaign thinks this is a very winnable race.

Laesch supports an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq, wants to shut down NAFTA, will vote for single-payer health care, and favors a host of other progressive positions. He spoke out in favor of impeachment two years ago and wants hearings in the House Judiciary Committee now.

These early elections are important because strong showings by real progressives will put immense pressure on all sitting Democratic members to start listening more responsively to their constituents. It will also discourage the Senate and House campaign committees from supporting conservatives against progressives in primaries as the Schumer/Emanuel-led committees did in 2006. A new member of Congress will be seated no later than March 8. A huge victory for John would send a real message to the do-nothings in the legislature that the days of ignoring the people are over.

John Laesch donations: <http://www.usalone.com/donations_laesch.php>

See Bitter Primary to Succeed Hastert (Washington Post)