Progress Illinois

According to The Hill, Rep. Rahm Emanuel dropped in on a closed-door meeting of House Republicans last week:

The unusual appearance of the partisan Democrat was triggered when Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) passed out fliers to GOP members on the House floor about the meeting.

“He said, ‘I’m going to come to this thing,’ ” Kingston said, noting that he and Emanuel have a good rapport. “And he showed up.”

Kingston said the Illinois Democrat was well-received by the group and even offered some advice: that President Bush and the GOP’s lack of an agenda would continue to haunt the party in November.

“Rahm was merely showing conservatives some compassion,” said Nick Papas, a spokesman for the Democratic Caucus chairman and the former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

While Emanuel’s visit to the GOP roundtable group was in jest, his message was serious — and Republicans know it.

Rahm's "advice" is fairly common these days. A lot of observers are emphasizing that the GOP needs to distance itself from Bush if they hope to avoid a Democratic landslide this November. But as Atrios and Josh Marshall both point out, it's not clear how the Republicans actually do that. Most voters are fed up with the country's direction and the GOP is inexorably tied to the administration that's been steering this ship for the past seven years.

One-time presidential contender John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama at a rally in Grand Rapids last night, proclaiming that the party must unify to defeat John McCain. "We are here tonight because the Democratic voters have made their choice," he said, "and so have I." The New York Times suggests that Edwards could help Obama woo working class white voters in the general election.

Edwards' endorsement came just hours after the national abortion-rights organization NARAL threw their support to the Illinois Senator, catching the Clinton camp -- a long-time ally of NARAL -- off-guard. When asked for a response, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson said he was "surprised" considering that his candidate's leadership on abortion rights had been "second to none."

Following their party's third consecutive loss in a special election, several GOP members of the Illinois congressional delegation believe the Republican Party needs to be "rebranded." Rep. Mark Kirk said several Republicans have inquired about his "suburban agenda," a bipartisan package of health care, environmental, education and other measures.

After what the State Journal-Register called "a confusing debate that mixed religious differences and personal criticism," a state Senate committee killed efforts to change the state law requiring students to take a moment of silence to reflect or pray at the beginning of the school day.

Despite threats from state Senate leaders to rewrite the bill, sources tell the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the body is poised to pass an ethics law today that would outlaw campaign contributions from state contractors to politicians. "I can't imagine there will be a single vote against it," said Sen. Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), the bill's sponsor.

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Barack Obama's presidential campaign has announced that former White House hopeful John Edwards will endorse the Illinois Senator at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan this evening. Both Obama and Hillary Clinton had long sought the endorsement of Edwards whose campaign, while unsuccessful, attracted substantial popular support. The New York Times reports that the endorsement may come with some expectations on the part of former North Carolina Senator:

Privately, [Edwards] told aides that he would consider the role of vice president, and favored the position of attorney general, which would appeal to his experience of decades spent in courtrooms as a trial lawyer in North Carolina; and his desire to follow in the footsteps of Robert F. Kennedy, one of his heroes.

The fact that the announcement is being made in Michigan is also significant, as the state was stripped of its delegates by the DNC, and its status in the nomination process has been a major point of contention between Obama and Clinton.

Moreover, the timing of the announcement will bump Clinton's victory in the West Virginia primary out of the news cycle and increase the pressure on her to bow out of the race. As Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson just said on MSNBC: "The sound we're about to hear is the sound of a door closing."

In her recent appearance on Jeff's Berkowitz' "Public Affairs," 4th District congressional hopeful Col. Jill Morgenthaler displayed a refreshingly strong grasp of international relations. At the outset, the Democrat and decorated veteran stated her opinion that the economy -- and not the war -- is of greatest concern to voters. Nonetheless, Berkowitz pressed her on a variety of foreign relations issues and she proved up to the task.

Morgenthaler spoke about the U.S. trade deficit, dependence on foreign oil, and America's need to engage with allies in the Middle East. One of her most astute insights came when she advocated diplomacy with Iraq's neighbor Iran, linking the escalation in hostilities between the Washington and Tehran to the economic situations of both countries:

MORGENTHALER: We have to have a dialogue with Iran. Right now Iran has a president [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] that we have to watch out for ... [Iran] has a troublesome economy and he is using us to distract from his problems. And I believe that President Bush is using Iran to try and distract us from our economic problems.

Having listened to Morgenthaler, it's of little surprise that she holds one Masters Degree from the Monterey Institute for International Studies and another in strategic studies from the Military War College.

Global talk aside, Morgenthaler did a good job of linking the Iraq occupation to the economic downturn at home. She also emphasized her support of progressive domestic policies like the mortgage finance bill, expanded health care, and ending subsidies for oil companies.

Nestled in the Los Angeles Times' recap of Hillary Clinton's big West Virginia win last night is more evidence that the Clinton campaign is pivoting away from an argument based on electoral math to one that emphasizes her purported appeal to white voters:

But Clinton is no longer resting her candidacy on the delegate count. She hopes to persuade party leaders, who hold the balance of power, that she would be the more electable candidate against McCain, based on her support among white, blue-collar voters who have not embraced Obama's candidacy in the same way as black, more affluent and better-educated voters.

"The White House is won in the swing states, and I am winning the swing states," Clinton said Tuesday night.

However, Talking Point Memo's Greg Sargent flags a new Quinnipiac poll that undermines Clinton's argument that Obama's relative lack of support from working class white voters will be a fatal flaw in the general election. The survey finds that both Hillary and Barack trail John McCain by an identical seven-point margin among white voters with no college experience.

As Daily Kos' DHinMI has convincingly argued, Obama struggles in Appalachia -- not among the white populace at large. In fact, Obama and Clinton trail McCain among all white voters by seven points as well, which would be an improvement over recent Democratic nominees. Josh laid out those figures in a recent post:

In 2000, Gore lost to Bush among white voters by 13 percent. In 2004, Kerry lost among this demographic by 17 percent. Bill Clinton also lost the overall white vote in his successfull 1992 and 1996 campaigns, but by much slimmer margins. However, he didn't really attract a greater share of the white electorate than his Democratic successors; rather, George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole won a lesser percentage, thanks to Ross Perot.

If you combine those numbers with the probable rise in turnout among black voters and young voters of all races, Obama doesn't look nearly as vulnerable as the Clinton campaign would have us believe.

Larry McKeon, the first openly gay state legislator in Illinois, died yesterday in Springfield at the age of 63. From the Tribune:

An Army veteran and former lieutenant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, McKeon came to Chicago in the 1980s to pursue a degree in social service administration.

He worked as a director at United Charities and became involved with gay activist groups, leading to his run for political office. In 1992, he was hired as executive director of the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, serving as Mayor Richard Daley’s liaison to gay and lesbian leaders in the city.

McKeon was elected to the House in 1996 by voters in the North Side’s 34th District. During that campaign, he acknowledged being HIV-positive.

One of his major legislative priorities was to expand gay rights. In 2005, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law a measure that added sexual orientation to the state’s human rights act banning discrimination against gays and lesbians by landlords, real estate agents, employers and lenders.

Today the Illinois House unanimously approved HB 2747, a bill that ensures that prisoners detained for immigration violations can be visited by religious officials. According to a press release from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), the bill had the support of over 60 religious institutions and leaders. ICIRR also emphasizes that visitation rights could become a growing issue as immigration raids increase:

Raids and deportations are escalating rapidly throughout the country, requiring more space to house immigration detainees. Many of these detainees are seeking asylum and are being detained while awaiting their day in court. Others are there solely for lacking immigration status, without having been charged with any crime. "Immigrants are suffering after being separated from their families and communities, with very limited access to spiritual counseling," said Rep. [Julie] Hamos [(D-Evanston)]. "Enabling religious workers to visit and pray with these immigrants is a basic but compassionate improvement in the conditions that they face."

Back in April, ICIRR brought over 100 new immigrants to Springfield to lobby in favor of this measure and other immigration-related legislation.

The bill now moves to the Senate where it is sponsored by Sens. Jacqueline Collins (D-Chicago) and Iris Martinez (D-Chicago).

An important detail in SEIU's plan to spend $75 million this election cycle is the union's emphasis on Democratic accountability. The New York Times' Steven Greenhouse has the details:

[SEIU Secretary-Treasurere Anna] Burger said the $10 million accountability fund might be used to try to defeat 5 or 10 other candidates who don’t make good on their promises to support workers on various issues.

She said the money might also be used to run ads to criticize Democrats who her union believes take the wrong positions. For instance, she said her union ran ads criticizing Representative Dan Boren of Oklahoma when he opposed a bill to spend more money for health coverage for children.

Expanding programs that confront conservative Democrats is a great step for both labor and progressive activists in general. Mark Pera's primary campaign in Illinois' 3rd Congressional District this year is a prime example. To beat back the grassroots challenger, incumbent Dan Lipinski was forced to reverse his original support for an Iraq blank check bill, a vote he wouldn't have cast had Pera not been campaigning to his left. As I wrote in my In These Times profile of the Pera campaign, these primary challenges are valuable regardless of the race's outcome:

Despite the concerns about Republican takeovers, primary-race challenges could improve party discipline. Incumbents would benefit from local races that force them to regularly reconnect with constituents. In the long run, ousting incumbents who are out-of-touch could save cash and time for activists who now spend limited resources lobbying conservative Democrats. More energy could be devoted to open races. Most importantly, internal challenges can give voice to voters and activists who are shunted aside when no mechanism for accountability exists.

Full disclosure: the SEIU Illinois Council sponsors this website.

(h/t Open Left)

The GOP has now lost three special elections this year for congressional seats vacated by Republican House members. First came Bill Foster's victory in Illinois' own 14th District seat, formerly held by House Speaker Denny Hastert. Then, two weeks ago, Democrat Don Cazayoux won in Louisiana's 6th District, which had been vacated by retiring Rep. Richard Baker. And yesterday we saw the third GOP domino fall: Democratic candidate Travis Childers beat Greg Davis to take control of Mississippi's staunchly Republican 1st Congressional District.

The loss in Mississippi has Republican Party leaders feeling, well, a bit antsy. Check out National Republican Campaign Committee chairman Tom Cole's statement last night, in which he warns GOP candidates, in Marc Ambinder's words, to "change or die":

Republicans must undertake bold efforts to define a forward looking agenda that offers the kind of positive change voters are looking for. This is something we can do in cooperation with our Presidential nominee, but time is short.

I encourage all Republican candidates, whether incumbents or challengers, to take stock of their campaigns and position themselves for challenging campaigns this fall by building the financial resources and grassroots networks that offer them the opportunity and ability to communicate, energize and turn out voters this election.

Meanwhile, House Republicans have been biding their time coming up with a catchy new slogan: "Change You Deserve." Too bad they didn't realize this motto is already being used to market the anti-depressent Effexor XR. Huffington Post's Jason Linkins helpfully pointed out that Effexor's common side-effects "are very much in keeping with the world the House Republicans have striven to build: nausea, apathy, constipation, fatigue, vertigo, sexual dysfunction, sweating, memory loss, and - and I swear I am not making this up - 'electric shock-like sensations also called "brain zaps." ' "

Despite justified opposition from the immigrant rights community, workplace raids of undocumented immigrants continue unabated in the United States. A meatpacking plant in northeast Iowa is the latest target, where over 300 workers were arrested yesterday in the biggest raid of 2008. The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights put out this statement in response:

Yesterday's historic raid on the AgriProcessors Plant in Postville, Iowa, highlights not only our nation's ongoing need for immigrant labor, but also the failure of the rapidly expanding and unchecked immigrant detention business that has sprouted up in the absence of real immigration reform.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested more than 300 immigrant workers at the plant, who represent 15% of the population of the rural town in northeast Iowa. These workers were shipped off to the National Cattle Congress fairgrounds fifty miles away. ICE has issued nearly 700 complaints and warrants, so even more arrests may be coming.

All of these workers were laboring in one of our most physically demanding industries, meatpacking-- an industry that historically has traditionally relied on immigrants. The workers were doing nothing more than striving to support themselves and their families, with the opportunities that were available to them. As a result, they were rounded up and herded off to cattle grounds, which ICE had rented out for the operation, while the managers and owners of the Plant faced no criminal or civil charges.

Beyond questions of humane detention, a labor economist quoted in a New York Times story the morning after the raid noted that it will be “absolutely devastating to the local economy.” Removing so many people from the plant at once will cripple its ability to operate, and the impact of shutting down the plant and taking so many wage-earners and their spending power out of the community’s economic base will ripple across the region.

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