Hounding the Bush Dogs: Meet the candidates who are taking on conservative Democrats

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Hounding the Bush Dogs
Meet the candidates who are taking on conservative Democrats
By Adam Doster


Mark Pera is not one to back down from a challenge. The son of a steelworker, Pera toiled in Northwest Indiana’s mills to put himself through college and law school. As a Cook County assistant state’s attorney, he worked on environmental criminal prosecution and public utility regulation, diligently fighting special interests. Now the broad-shouldered, 52-year-old father of four is setting his sights on the 2008 Democratic primary in Illinois’ 3rd congressional district, which encompasses southwest Chicago and nearby suburbs. By the looks of it, he’s not messing around. Five full-timers staff his campaign headquarters, a two-story brick house outfitted with stickers and schedules. In August, Pera took a leave of absence from his job to run full time. He also took out a home equity loan to finance portions of the campaign. His favorite phrase? “We’re committed to winning this race.”

But Democratic incumbent Dan Lipinski stands in his way. Lipinski took control of the seat after his father Bill, the district’s representative for 22 years, retired abruptly in 2004 after winning the party’s primary. With no candidate to fill his seat in the general election, the elder Lipinski suggested his son take a stab at politics. State party leaders acquiesced, giving the younger Lipinski the nomination—and subsequent victory—without a primary campaign.

Since slipping into office, the younger Lipinski has frustrated progressive constituents with a less-than-liberal voting record. He is opposed to stem cell research and a woman’s right to choose, earning him a zero-percent score from Planned Parenthood and NARAL. His ACLU rating is one of the lowest for any Democrat outside of the South, partly because of his support for the Protect America Act, an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that the ACLU says “allows for massive, untargeted collection of international communications without court order or meaningful oversight by either Congress or the courts.” Lipinski has not done much to end the war in Iraq either, voting with 85 other Democrats to pass an emergency supplemental appropriations bill that lacked a withdrawal deadline.

Lipinski’s backers contend that his voting record aligns with his district’s socially conservative residents. But evidence suggests the district is no longer the Reagan-Democrat hotbed of his father’s time. John Kerry won 59 percent of the vote in 2004, and an influx of Latinos, who now make up 20 percent of the district’s population, has further solidified the seat as a Democratic stronghold. “It’s a lot more progressive than people realize,” says Larry Handlin, who has been blogging about Illinois politics at ArchPundit since 2002. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3421/hounding_the_bush_dogs/

[acmavm]

1. Conservative democrats? I think they mean Repubic in Democrat's

Clothing.

[madfloridian]

2. We donated to Pera through DFA.

And will probably do it again.

I sm so glad to see the Bush Dog campaign.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. i've volunteered for his campaign

and will be picking signs and pamphlets this week to walk and hand out. Time to put my effort where my mouth is. as big as it is.