The Endorsements
Summary: For those who haven’t seen prior endorsements, I only endorse in races of interest to me that are local. I don’t know if your House Rep from Tallahassee is doing their job well (or even their name for that that matter). I don’t have the proper background to tell you who should be on the Cook County Board of Review or which judges should be retained. The races below are races that I care about.
In national races, the endorsements broke out: Democrat 40%, Republican 30.0% and Libertarian 30.0%. Â Overall endorsements were: Democrat 37.5%, Republican 43.75%, Libertarian 18.75%.
President: Barack Obama (D) v John McCain (R). Readers of previous posts will not be surprised to know that Obama is not endorsed. Instead, I am recommending a split vote. John McCain is endorsed for those living in battleground states (Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, Virginia, etc). Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate is endorsed in uncontested (aka “given”) states (Illinois, New York, Wyoming, etc). Ballot access is the greatest challenge to third parties and garnering minimum numbers of votes in national and state elections provides automatic ballot access in the next cycle. For the record, there are still a few areas in which I disagree with Libertarians, but the general concept of limited government is a good one.
US Senate: Dick Durbin (D) v Steve Sauerberg (R). Larry Stafford, Libertarian is endorsed. If you can’t stomach voting Libertarian, vote Durbin. Sauerberg hasn’t convinced me that he can do anything other than bash his opponent. Durbin, as a ranking member of the (likely to remain) majority party will continue to help the state even as he helps to destroy the country.
US House 8th District: Melissa Bean (D) v Steve Greenberg (R). Melissa Bean has moderated very quickly since getting elected two years ago and has become a fitting representative of her constituency. She is endorsed.
US House 14th District: Bill Foster (D) v Jim Oberweis (R). Bill Foster won the special election in May by a narrow margin. He has figured out how to take the underground tunnels from his office to the House chamber to vote. Jim Oberweis is beginning to become a joke, running for whatever office is up for election at the time. Jim Oberweis is a fiscal and social conservative. Bill Foster presents as a social and fiscal moderate, but he hasn’t been in office long enough to know how far left he will lean. Given the relative sleaziness of the Oberweis campaign, I’ll take my chances with Bill Foster.
US House 10th District: Dan Seals (D) v Mark Kirk (R). Mark Kirk is of a similar mold to yours truly. Fiscal conservative, social moderate/liberal. Dan Seals has talent but is beholden to the Chicago Machine and hasn’t bothered to move to the district he’s running to represent in the three years he’s been running. Mark Kirk is the only Congressional candidate I’ve ever donated to. Those who know how cheap I am, know that’s a pretty strong endorsement.
IL State Senate 29th District: Susan Garrett (D) is running unopposed. Sean Diddy Combs is endorsed.
IL State House 58th District: Karen May (D) v Timothy Stratton (R). Karen May is a known entity who has tried hard to listen to those living in her diverse district even if she doesn’t always vote the way they’d like. I’ve met her on a few occasions and believe her to be sincere and passionate. Karen May is endorsed.
Lake County State’s Attorney: Michael Jacobs (D) v Michael Waller (R). The standard line is to always vote Republican for officials responsible for trying and jailing criminals. Michael Waller has also done a pretty good job to boot and is endorsed.
Cook County State’s Attorney: Anita Alvarez (D) v Tony Peraica (R). Anita Alvarez is part of the Chicago Machine. Anita Alvarez takes $30,000 in campaign contributions from her employees. Anita Alvarez needs to win to sweep the prisoner abuse scandal under the rug for Mayor Daley. Tony Peraica is in danger of becoming another Jim Oberweis if he keeps running for every office in Cook County until he gets elected. Alvarez is crooked – Tony Peraica is endorsed.
October 27th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Just as a note. Democrats were listed first in all races for consistency purposes. The bolding of the endorsee\’s name is lifted from a local paper.