Changing America one election at a time.

Several of us went out canvassing in the 10th Congressional District last Saturday, talking to voters and collecting petition signatures for Ilya Sheyman. The people we spoke to were all Democrats, and all regular voters. A common theme of concern from the voters we spoke to was a general angst at the way things are going – or not – in Washington: the dysfunctional Congress ranked high on the list of concerns these voters expressed, and some expressed a general despair at the disappointments of the last two years as Congress has stopped meaningful change over and over again – and a worry that President Obama hasn’t fought hard enough for the changes he spoke of on the campaign trail.

I know these concerns are shared by many in NDFA: but here’s the thing – if we want things to change, we have to go out and work for it. The way to get things done in Washington is to send a strong signal in the next election cycle that the status quo hasn’t been good enough, that the Tea Party does not rule our world, and that Progressive ideas are the ones that are going to make a difference to the economy and to our future. It’s time to stop with the despair and go out and work to make change happen: it’s time to replace Tea Partiers with Progressives, and machine officials with independent Democrats. How do we do that? By working to win elections, that’s how.

Now that September is here (and almost gone), guess what our focus is on: getting our candidates on the ballot. Yes, it’s time to collect petition signatures for our adopted and endorsed candidates. This work ensures they will get on the ballot: they can’t even begin to fight for our values unless they get on the ballot, so it’s up to us to make sure they have enough signatures to get on the ballot and stay there.

If you’re interested in collecting signatures in the 10th Congressional District for Ilya Sheyman, please contact Mary Koczorowski at minidiva121@aol.com: she’s happy to help arrange rides, give directions, and liaison with the campaign so they know you’re coming. We’ll be having another Action Day on October 15th for Ilya, where a group of us will go up together to help out.

If you’re interested in collecting signatures close to home and you happen to live in Cook County, consider collecting signatures for Debra Shore for Commissioner of Board of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. She needs signatures from every part of Cook County, and she needs a lot of them: so if you can help out, please do. Email me for a pdf of the signature form and the instructions: I’ll be happy to send them to you. We’ll have hard copies of both at our monthly meeting, and a notary will be present to notarize signatures there.

What happened at our last monthly meeting? We heard from Tammy Duckworth, candidate in the 10th Congressional District. She spoke of her military service, and of her belief that our American values include a society that cares for one another, a government that helps people when they need it. She considers herself a social liberal. Alderman Ricardo Muñoz spoke on his race for the Clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court, promising to modernize the work of the Clerk’s office to bring it into compliance with Federal standards. And Alderman Michele Smith spoke about running for committeeman, and about her own race for committeeman in the 43rd Ward. She also announced that our own Mary Kozcorowski has taken the position of Political Director for her: Congratulations to Mary!

The other big news from our September meeting was Steering Committee elections. Members voted to elect Melissa Lindberg as chair, Mary Koczorowski as Treasurer, while Barry Aldridge, Joe Fedorko, Cynthia Fox, Pete Kalenik, Nate Lefebvre, Theresa Mah, Carl Nyberg, and Mike Wood were elected “At-Large.” Congrats to all who won election, and I want to take a moment to thank the members who served on Steering during the past two years since our last elections who have now moved off Steering: Sandra Verthein and Ed Mullin (both past chairs), Lisa Ginsburg, Frank Palmer, Jeff Waldhoff, Owen Brugh, and Arlene Swartzman. All were invaluable to the functioning of NDFA while they served: and we thank them for their efforts.

There are two things to do to help support our candidates without leaving your desk. One is to voice support for our candidates on the DFA page – the more support they garner, the more likely they will gain a DFA endorsement.

Two links:

Ilya Sheyman: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/campaigns/4173-sheyman-for-congress

Debra Shore: http://www.democracyforamerica.com/campaigns/4248-friends-of-debra-shore

For those who know and wish to support Barbara Moore in her race for commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, here is a link for her page:

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/campaigns/4249-friends-of-barbara-moo...

Finally, it’s the end the quarter again: our candidates could use donations to ensure that they stay viable. If you’d care to donate, it would be great if you’d donate through NDFA’s Act Blue page:

https://secure.actblue.com/page/ndfa2012

There you can donate to Ilya Sheyman, Debra Shore, and NDFA. Any donation of any size you make through this page helps to let our candidates know we love them, and takes them one step closer to winning their elections.
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