In a post last weekend, Prairie State Blue's "bored now" noted that the campaign websites launched by the current contenders for the 5th Congressional District seat were largely bereft of concrete priorities. This morning, Tom Geoghegan set himself apart by announcing his entry into the race with a statement chock full of specific, progressive policy proposals. He wants to expand Social Security, move towards a single payer health care system, better regulate the financial industries, and pass the Employee Free Choice Act. Here's his introduction:
I’m running for Congress in the Fifth District of Illinois. As a Chicago lawyer for thirty years I have fought for working people in this District and throughout the city. I have represented unions as well as people with no unions to protect them. In plant closings I have helped them recover health and pension benefits. I obtained health care for the uninsured. I’ve been pressing the State of Illinois to crack down on payday lenders.
In my life as a lawyer I have lived out a commitment to one cause above all – to bring economic security to working Americans, in our District, in our country. That’s the same commitment I will bring to Congress. We’re deep in an economic crisis unlike any other we’ve known. It may last years. We need new and creative ways to protect working Americans, especially our older working people who have no real pensions to live on.
For years we’ve heard the doomsayers: “We can’t afford Social Security.” “We can’t afford ‘single payer’ national health.” One thing we all learned from the $700 billion bailout: We’ve got the money to do all of this and more. At the moment, the Federal Reserve is literally printing money, to give not billions but trillions to banks and financial firms. To the people of this District, the banks and others have gotten their money. Now it’s your turn.
Read the whole thing here. And be sure to peruse Geoghegan's full issues page. For more background on Tom, check out this piece by Gaper's Block's Ramsin Canon as well as this endorsement by The Atlantic's James Fallows. To stay in the loop with Geogheghan's campaign, bookmark his website.
UPDATE: That national progressive blogosphere is going to be all over this race now that Geoghegan is in. Digby writes: "If you want to know what a real progressive candidate looks like, this is the guy." Michael Tomasky calls him a "man of unfailing integrity." And Henry of Crooked Timber adds: "I can’t imagine anyone more likely to contribute more to American political life than Geoghegan."
Comments
A woman's perspective (not verified) on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 16:57
I find your "progressive" cred's very disturbing. And your coverage of the 5th CD race is anything but fair. Sara Feigenholtz announced her run for 5th CD at 10 am this morning and her announcement didn't even rate a mention in your article OR your update. It is both shameful and sexist. You also quote three men (do I need to add caucasian to that?) who support Tom's progressive credentials. No women anywhere. Being progressive doesn't mean giving lipservice to women's issues when it is convenient. Being progressive means supporting affirmative action. Being progressive means supporting reproductive rights. Being progressive means...we can go on for days about what we think it means. What we cannot do is allow the sexism of the left to creep in and destroy what Hillary helped build for us....the notion that we are and must be considered equals. And that means on the progressive spectrum as well.
Kathy G. (not verified) on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 10:23
I am a feminist blogger and I strongly support Tom Geoghegan. He is deeply committed to women's rights and is the most progressive candidate in the race by a long shot.
You can read my endorsement here: http://tinyurl.com/8u46n9
Tom has spent his life working for labor rights and economic justice, so those are the issues for which he's best known. But he's also terrific on a wide range of issues -- he opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, and he's strongly supporter of LGBTQ rights, including legalizing same-sex marriage. And he's absolutely stellar on women's rights.
Here's an excerpt from my post:
"Women's issues? As regular readers of this blog know, I'm a loud-and-proud feminist, and as such, I could never endorse anyone who is not deeply committed to women's rights. Tom, as you might suspect, is strongly pro-feminist. As an attorney, he's won a number of cases for women who were the victims of workplace sex discrimination. When it comes to choice, he describes his position as being pretty much identical to Ted Kennedy's; i.e., like many Catholics, Tom is personally opposed to abortion in most cases, but strongly pro-choice and staunchly pro-Roe v. Wade. And Tom really, really gets work-and-family policy. Some of the most interesting parts of his forthcoming book on European social democracy concern the ways that universal, publicly provided child care, elder care, and paid family leave policies dramatically improve women's lives and make the task of combining work and family far less arduous than it tends to be in the U.S."
Btw, I've also heard a rumor that Katha Pollitt is going to endorse Tom. He's going to get a lot of support from feminists, and rightfully so.
Sheridan (not verified) on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 07:31
Yesterday was the first time I became aware of Mr. Geoghegan when he posted a diary at Daily Kos. Most of the commenters on that site had high praise for him. Some mentioned how his book "Which Side Are You On" influenced them to get into labor law.
Sara Feigenholtz is my representative and I was inclined to give her my support. However, Mr. Geoghegan's passion for labor and civil rights has really grabbed my attention. Plus the fact that he is savvy enough to reach out to the netroots. He even supports gay marriage.
I don't know where Sara stands on many issues because she has not been actively reaching out to her constituents. I have always voted for her simply because she was the incumbent. However, then it comes to the election for Congress, I am keeping an open mind. As of now, Mr. Geoghegan, ranks high on my list.
Josh Kalven on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 09:09
AWP -
Our coverage of the 5th CD race is just beginning -- like the contest itself -- so I think it's a bit premature to judge the fairness of it with regards to gender.
We are very interested in Sara's candidacy, as well as Mike Quigley's, but as of yet haven't received much information from either of their campaigns. Indeed, if we had been notified about her official announcement, we would have covered it in a heartbeat. The reason we spotlighted Tom yesterday is not because he's white or caucasian, but rather because three different individuals on his campaign reached out in the preceding days and made sure that we were aware of his impending announcement.
Likewise, the reason we covered Fritchey's entrance into the race in such a timely manner is because he used social media tools to let his online following know about his plans.
We're three people scrambling every day to cover a wide variety of issues. While we try to dig things out, we're also reliant on what comes to us. As Sheridan writes above, Geoghegan has been "reaching out to the netroots." The other candidates should follow suit.
Also, Digby is a woman.
Josh
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