Progressives Looking for Leadership

David Sirota, Senior Editor at In These Times, published an article yesterday looking back on IL-5 candidate Tom Geoghegan’s campaign. Sirota argues that progressives’ efforts and donations were not all for naught, despite the seventh place showing in the polls.  Sirota writes:

Geoghegan backers helped build a support system for future progressive projects and campaigns. Such a culture of participation and engagement is necessary to let other progressives know that that they can count on the movement’s rank and file when they decide to risk a run for office, even if they aren’t a frontrunner or a career politician.

The question is, if progressives are to actually believe their efforts in supporting Geoghegan were not done in the vacuum of the campaign, but rather for the movement as a whole that will result in getting more progressives elected.  Sirota’s argument is correct in theory yet independent from what is occurring in reality.

I’ve reported that post-March 3rd, Geoghegan’s communication to the thousands of supporters in the Chicago-area and many thousands more nationwide have been essentially non-existent.  His Twitter status has yet to be updated since the election.  His Facebook too.  And his website has yet to be transformed into a post-election progressive information hub.

Josh Kalven at Progress Illinois reports on a new effort led by progressives called A New Way Forward.  Leaders of the movement are calling for an end to government bailouts of banks and failed corporations and instead want to see the federal government nationalize, reorganize and decentralize those institutions.  The Chicago rally, within a series of nationwide rallies all taking place on April 11, is not yet confirmed.

It occurred to me, with this April date looming so close and the issues put forth by A New Way Forward exactly what Tom Geoghegan called for in his congressional campaign, where is Geoghegan taking the leadership on this in his hometown?

In other words, for Geoghegan to be a progressive leader, his political campaign has to continue past the congressional bid for office.  There’s lots of issues that he focused on as a candidate and that he focuses on in his professional life.  The opportunities are there for him to take the lead – especially in Chicago.  It’s not like Geoghegan is stepping into a chorus of leaders and well-known figures.  The progressive movement in Chicago is still pretty new and without a clearly identifiable leader recognized outside of progressive circles.

Local progressive leaders should be knocking down Geoghegan’s door and telling him that there is too many important issues happening post-March 3 that call for his leadership.  For Sirota’s argument to hold and for progressives to feel like Geoghegan’s promise is kept, he must get back to leading and using his communication tools so carefully built over the campaign to reach supporters and new audiences.  That is the prescription needed to for Geoghegan supporters to feel their contributions go well beyond March 3rd.

IL-5 Democrats’ Post Election Twitter Hangover

Post March 3rd, my life hasn’t been the same.  Maybe my inbox isn’t full of candidates’ emails.  Maybe I’m not getting Facebook event invites at the same rate.  Or maybe my Twitter feed isn’t filled with election talk.

I guess I missed the quick-hitting and breaking news nature of Twitter.  So, I took a closer look at what the leading Democrats’ of the IL-5 race have been up to on Twitter post-March 3rd.

The answer is not much.  And I’m surprised quite frankly.

Democratic nominee Mike Quigley had a slew of Tweets on March 4th (I chalk that up to election win high), three updates on March 5th and one update on March 8th.  Quigley still has a general election to win!  I understand that his Republican and Green Party opponents have a one in a million shot at upsetting him, but Quigley still needs to keep his 1,000+ plus Twitter followers engaged and motivated.  If not, an even lower turnout in the general election will put Quigley at a disadvantage when everyone knows the Republican and Green strategies are about turning out voters to capitalize on voter apathy.  Plus, Quigley should be the district’s next congressman and I think he should have practice Tweeting updates to followers who want to stay informed about what their elected official is doing and thinking.

I saw that Sara Feigenholtz has not posted any updates since the day after the primary election.  She’s also got over 1,000 followers and even though I remember her having a Twitter profile as a state representative (seperate from her congressional Twitter profile), I did not see her revert back to that profile.  That leaves a lot of people who supported her hanging with no outlet to stay connected.  The election was an avenue leaving Feigenholtz with a higher profile for herself and she could continue that upward trending leadership role with additional communications via Twitter to constituents.  Plus, given the rumors that she is interested in Quigley’s Cook County Board seat, it might be nice to get some popular support behind her from Twitter followers.

John Fritchey’s Twitter snooze is a similar story.  No updates post March 3rd and no invitation to the 100 plus followers of his congressional campaign to join his other profile (as a state representative).  After all, Fritchey’s congressional Twitter profile should be deleted at some point soon, but not before he invites those followers to his normal Twitter page.

A closer look at Fritchey’s regular profile shows that he protects his updates!  For crying out loud, isn’t Twitter’s purpose to broadcast messages to anyone who will listen?!?!  He should change that ASAP.  I mean, in the age of Blago and Burris, people are expecting some transparency from their elected officials…especially if they’re on Twitter.

The biggest surprise though is Tom Geoghegan.  I’m not sure that he is thinking he has a political future post March 3rd, but I think a lot of other people think he does.  Geoghegan was arguably the candidate with the greatest national following, given his popularity with the netroots and mentions from major national publications and journalists.  Yet, his Twitter profile also doesn’t have any updates post March 3rd.  If Geoghegan was interested in running for office at some point in the future, it’s important that he pick up his Twitter game and start communicating.  And if he has decided not to pursue political office again, well I think he has an obligation to let his public know that as well.

As I’ve said on this blog before, Twitter is not nearly as effective when thought of using it as part of a campaign than taking a long term view.  That’s really what is needed for people to feel loyal and trusting of political leaders, and I would argue is necessary for long term support.

The Best of IL-5

It’s been a lot of fun blogging about the Democratic Primary for the 5th District Congressional seat.  We’ve seen a lot in the 10 weeks or so that the campaign has been in full swing.  I thought it would be nice to provide a rundown of the best and worst moments in the primary.

Image Credit: Progress Illinois

Best Coverage

This one is tough.  Capital Fax, Progress Illinois, David Ormsby and  Gapers Block have all provided insightful content into this race.  However, I think Progress Illinois did voters a tremendous service through publishing original and investigative content.  I for one am a more informed voter (though not a 5th District resident) because of the folks at Progress.

Too Many Skeletons in the Closet

By far, John Fritchey was put on the defensive more often than any other candidate.  This is a pol whose uncle-in-law and brother-in-law have been linked to some unsavory dealings, to say the least.  Furthermore, given his connections to the ward bosses and seeking their endorsement did  not do anything to alter the image that he’s the Machine candidate in this race…more so than even Patrick O’Connor.  Given the Blagojevich scandal and the Burris embarrassment, Fritchey seemed all too vulnerable in this race.  Rich Miller reports on just the last few days of Fritchey’s problems.

Where the Hell is this Guy?

Speaking of Patrick O’Connor, I’m confused as to why he even stayed in the race.  He didn’t show up to the first and probably best attended and covered candidates’ forum at DePaul University, citing that he had better voter reach going to various Super Bowl parties.  His website was not even up and running until about two-and-a-half weeks before the election and his biggest selling point is that he’s Richard Daley’s floor leader.  Not exactly a compelling argument to put him in Congress.

Most Impressive Campaign Operation

Sara Feigenholtz started campaigning in mid-December, before anyone else and never looked back.  She put together a top-notch group of staffers, whose outreach to the public was always respectful.  She was the first to open a second campaign office.  She received the biggest endorsement of the race – in terms of money and people to hit the streets – in the SEIU.  And, she demonstrated message consistency in a race with a lot of mudslinging that kept voters knowing she is about health care reform above all else.  Yes, that could mean she’s disciplined and a good campaigner.  But I also give a lot of credit to her staff for keeping the ship on course.

What the F*%k was He Thinking?

Victor Forys comparing Mike Quigley to the Nazi “Big Lie” theory:

The Minister of Propaganda for Germany in World War II, said “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”

“Commissioner Mike Quigley is telling a big lie, and he is repeating it over and over and over,” said Dr. Victor Forys, M.D. “That is what you can expect from a career, recycled, politician like Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley,” said Dr. Victor Forys.

Bad taste, and low, Victor.  By the way, do you remember the Polish Chicago man who desecrated the Jewish cemetery on the Northwest Side?  Hello?!

Best Ads Barely Anyone Saw

I was super-impressed with Charlie Wheelan’s three TV ads – Underwater, Upside Down and the Dark Knight.  Those ads showed a level of creativity and uniqueness that I have never seen in a political advertisement.

The ironic thing is that few people saw them.  The Wheelan campaign just didn’t have enough money to buy any kind of airtime to get traction and their online promotion fell somewhat flat.  I think if this race was longer and they had a chance to raise more money, the viewership would have been a different story.  Still, I think campaigns will be influenced in the future to create ads that don’t always follow a formulaic method.  That’s a good thing.

Big Ideas and Netroots Champion

This goes to, of course, Tom Geoghegan.  Disagree with him or not, I have never heard a better, clearer explanation of single payer health care before.  Tom brought huge amounts of energy to really enhance the substantive debate about issues in this campaign.  I don’t think he’ll win, but I would bet he’ll be the one person who gathers a nice following after the race that could put him in office one day.  Thank you, Tom Geoghegan for challenging traditional thinking and making political leadership about improving lives and the health of our country.

Worst Stunt

Several weeks ago Mike Quigley’s campaign launched moretransit.com.  I blogged about it, arguing that stunts can be good thing when they’re thought through.  But this one was not, especially given that a day or so after it was launched the Senate voted on the bailout making the site irrelevant.

Biggest Need for a Twitter Lesson

This one also goes to Mike Quigley’s campaign.  The campaign’s Twitter profile teetered the line between badgering and annoying, prompting many complaints.  I had a conversation with Quigley’s campaign manager about this issue.  In the end, there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to use Twitter.  At its best, Twitter is a conversational and community building tool that are a real asset to campaigns.  At worst, it’s a tool to stalk, offend and turn people away.

Social Media Champ

If Geoghegan won over bloggers, Feigenholtz was the most popular at engaging people on Facebook and Twitter.  She leads her opponents with the most supporters on Facebook, at nearly a thousand, and as the WindyCitizen’s Twitter Tracker shows, she also is the big leader in conversations about the IL-5 race.

Feel free to add to this list…and make sure to vote tomorrow!

IL-5 Race Goes National

The race for Rahm Emanuel’s open seat is starting to get national attention just five days before election day.

It’s taken a few days, but Charlie Wheelan’s Dark Knight political short is gaining headway with the creative professionals community and national marketing insider trade magazine, AdAge.  TimeOut Chicago mentioned it.  But the video has been viewed just over 4,000 times on YouTube – hardly viral.  Can Wheelan do better?

Photo Credit: Liz Bernunzio

Meanwhile, Tom Geoghegan continues to score big outside the district.  He received public support from Washington Post columnist Harold Meyerson, Slate’s Mickey Kraus and a blog post from U.S. News and World Report.  Had this race been run over a normal period, Geoghegan might have seen some of this national popularity manifest into greater contribution levels.  As it is, peering at his last few 48-hour file contributions, most of his contributors are out of state (ActBlue, where most Geoghegan supporters are giving, doesn’t report individuals.  Those records will be made public by the candidate at a later date).

And, Geoghegan wrote an article featured in the nation’s most-read political blog, the Huffington Post.

Glaringly absent from national media coverage was much of a focus on the actual favorites – Sara Feigenholtz, John Fritchey and Mike Quigley.  To me, that says a few things.  First, Wheelan and Geoghegan have done a lot to either take risks or be so different from the rest of the field, that they’re candidacy has become a story.  And second, the national media just doesn’t get Chicago politics, its personalities, supporters and political organizations that will help determine the winner.  I think the answer is a little of both.

Entering the Home Stretch: Who has Momentum?

Last week’s IL-5 race went out with a flurry of activity.  With several candidate forums coming up, the big question is which candidate, if any, is moving ahead of the pack?

I think the answer is not clear.  That’s no knock against any candidate.  It’s simply by virtue that this is a competitive race pitting talented elected officials, each with their own constituencies, voting histories and fundraising machines, coupled with two major upstart candidates with good ideas dedication to take smart, calculated risks to win over voters.  Here’s a quick rundown of where the last week took us.

Sara Feigenholtz

The Feigenholtz Campaign has led the field in fundraising since day one.  With over $550K raised, she’s in a good position vis-a-vis her opponents.  But, as David Ormsby points out, it appears as though the rate at which the campaign had been fundraising has slowed down.

Still, the hard early work is paying off.  The campaign launched its first paid advertising effort – featuring a TV ad with buys on major networks.  The Capital Fax provided some good

Photo Credit: Flickr Emily's List

insight into the details of the ad buy.

Feigenholtz was also able to hold off attacks this week by the Mike Quigley for Congress campaign accusing her of missing a crucial ethics vote in Springfield.  The mud-slinging hasn’t stuck though and Feigenholtz’s recent endorsement by SEIU last week and the launch of her TV ad really overshadowed the attacks against her.

Overall, the campaign has demonstrated a high level of organization with lots of paid staffers and multiple campaign offices.  The campaign’s commitment to its “ground game” will bode well moving forward.

John Fritchey

Fritchey, I would argue, has raised his profile significantly over the last week.  His campaign, which entered the race late, has the most momentum on the fundraising end.  The campaign has the second largest war chest behind Feigenholtz, raising more money than the latter since January 1.

Fritchey also held a notable conference call for bloggers last Tuesday.  He used the forum to answer questions for bloggers that have been covering the race.  The highlight of that exchange really came at the end of the call when asked about his comment that Rahm Emanuel told him he wanted the 5th District seat back after serving President Obama as Chief of Staff.  To me it proved Fritchey’s biggest asset, his frankness and ability to communicate in a no BS fashion, could hurt him if he’s not careful.  With only a few weeks until primary day, traditional media will surely be waiting for Fritchey to put his foot in his mouth.  Plus, he’s got baggage that other’s do not.  It will be up to him and his campaign to navigate communications carefully.

Tom Geoghegan

Geoghegan’s campaign seems to finally be able to bring home his netroots popularity to the 5th District.  Geoghegan’s popular interview at the Hideout on the Interview Show two weeks ago along with the another interview on Air America seemed to push him in the right direction.

Indeed Geoghegan picked up his biggest local endorsements last week, from the Greater Chicago Caucus and Teamster Local 743 (victims of the U of Chicago Hospital layoff).  Blogger and Geoghegan campaign volunteer Kathy G notes the endorsements are the latest, to go along with Progressive Democrats for America, Teamsters Local 743, Nation, Students for a New American Politics and  the CNA/National Nurses Organizing Committee.

The campaign has shown an adeptness to capitalize on Geoghegan’s netroots popularity.  The advantage here comes in the fact that this community understands each interview opportunity can be recorded and shared.  The netroots is effective because it shares.  And this creates the snowball effect of creating buzz which leads to more opportunities for Geoghegan to drive home his message. Certainly this has helped him.  But he’ll need more of these to continue gaining momentum.

Mike Quigley

Among the three elected officials vying for the congressional seat, Quigley brings the name recognition and reputation that early polls said led the field.  Two weeks ago and even the earlier part of this week, the campaign had been pretty quiet.

It even tried to gain quick attention and firm up Quigley’s position as reformer with the moretransit.com effort.  Problem was that the effort came too late, as the Senate voted on the stimulus package that day.

After ramping up with public criticism of Sara Feigenholtz for missing an ethics vote in Springfield last week, Quigley scored the first Chicago media endorsement when the Chicago Sun Times announced its endorsement.

That positions Mike Quigley very competitively in this coming week, with multiple  forums  scheduled and the endorsement by Chicago’s other major daily expected soon.

And while Sara Feigenholtz has notched the largest media buy, Geoghegan’s continued goodwill coming online and Charlie Wheelan’s openness to embrace unconventional and memorable TV ads, Mike Quigley has invested heavily in direct mail.  His direct mail campaign leads the field.  I would love to see the research behind the campaign’s direct strategy.  They’re clearly working on some solid evidence telling them direct mail is most effective at turning out voters on primary day.

Charlie Wheelan

Wheelan’s aforementioned TV advertising strategy helped get bloggers talking early.  Plus, Wheelan’s message and work as a professor at the University of Chicago has brought him new support coming from outside the district – support he’ll need to stay competitive in this race.

Unfortunately for Wheelan, his follow up TV advertisement, which was equally catchy as his first ad, came out at a time of too much campaign news and at the end of the week.  The story got buried.

He’ll have to remain aggressive and risque to bring some momentum back.  If he can pick up some endorsements this week – and possibly get the Tribune’s endorsement, which is not far fetched – Wheelan could find himself neck and neck with the field.

Watch for Prarie State Blue and Progress Illinois to follow the next forum at Access Living tomorrow.

Quigley’s Twitter Problems and IL-5 Updates

Questionable Twitter ethics got me following the IL-5 race.  Now several weeks later, I see the question of how candidates interact with the public on Twitter is one of the interesting side stories in this campaign.

My earlier Twitter experience in the IL-5 race happened when John Fritchey’s campaign started to follow me on Twitter only moments after one of his opponents, Sara Feigenholtz, followed me.  I could see that one campaign was watching the other campaign’s Twitter followers and then going right to those people.  It just represented a left-to-be desired method to quickly build a Twitter following.

Lately, I’ve observed an interesting pattern from Mike Quigley’s campaign.  It seems the campaign manager is aiming to attack  Sara Feigenholtz’s campaign on Twitter.  Here’s a sampling of his Tweets:

So @saraforcongress, didn’t see you raising awareness, saw you missing an ethics vote and attending fundraisers. http://tinyurl.com/betu3t 6:23 PM Feb 5th from TweetDeck

My buddy @SaraforCongress is twittering again. The great thing about campaigning today is no votes to miss! http://tinyurl.com/c4d6ju 7:31 PM Feb 8th from TweetDeck

@jessegreenberg you’re not going to get an invite from MQ4Cong. cause you’re right, there are better things to do than campaign tweets 6:01 PM Jan 20th from TweetDeck in reply to jessegreenberg

Done with petitions. If somebody wants to stop Quigley from getting on, better kidnap me now. Paging @saraforcongress 8:54 PM Jan 18th from TweetDeck

I point this out because it’s just a low form of mudslinging politics that I think a lot of us are tired of.  Twitter and Facebook should really be about using the tools to communicate real issues to people.  It’s hard to build relationships and built trust in a candidate when the subject matter is petty jibes at an opponent.  I know more about Quigley’s opponents in this race – Geoghegan, Feigenholtz, Fritchey and Wheelan – because their campaign’s outreach has been an invitation for people to learn about their candidacy (for the most part).

It also appears Quigley had more Twitter trouble.  The Rogers Park Bench blog posted a funny situation involving a Tweet he received from Quigley’s Twitter account.  It just shows that Twitter is a forum for actual people and it is very hard to skate because people do listen.

*The Quigley campaign attacks were also picked up by Rich Miller over at Capital Fax.  He provided the IL-5 day’s roundup that I encourage you to check out.

*The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board has begun to interview the IL-5 candidates, so it can presumably make an endorsement.

*Access Living in River North will also be hosting a candidate forum next week.

IL-5 Twitter Stats

I started to follow this race regularly because of Twitter.  Now, several weeks later, I thought it would be a good idea to look at Twitter use from the leading campaigns and see what we can learn.

Overall

We see varying levels of Twitter use by the IL-5 candidates.  Sara Feigenholtz leads in all categories, followed by Mike Quigley, John Fritchey, Charlie Wheelan and Tom Geoghegan.

Twitter is a powerful tool to communicate news, updates and drive users to relevant web pages.  Thus far, it has been an underused tool.  Some might argue that because this is a congessional and therefore a localized race, Twitter will have limited impact.  That is true in some sense.  The larger the electoral geography, the greater Twitter can capture scale and impact.  However, we also know that the 5th District has significant levels of online access and use, particularly in the lakefront portion of the District, which happens to be very politically active.

Taking an integrated marketing view, which inherently a political campaign practices (includes word of mouth, online, voter contact, TV, print, etc.), Twitter plays a powerful role in reinforce brand messages, build community and activate supporters.  Especially in a short race like this one, Twitter can assist candidates in getting members of the 5th district excited about the election and move them to volunteer for their candidate.

Feigenholtz

At 918 followers and 145 Tweets, Sara Feigenholtz’s campaign holds the leg up in Twitter use.  She benefits from being an existing Twitter and Facebook user where she was able to migrate followers to her SaraForCongress Twitter profile.  Feigenholtz also benefited from jumping in this race early and getting a head-start in building up her Twitter presence.

The campaign averages three to five Tweets per day (by my unofficial count), which I would argue is relatively inactive for a political campaign.  In addition to Tweeting more, Feigenholtz’s Tweets should include links to drive traffic to major campaign news, like endorsements and events.  What we see is a lot of generic updates.  That’s ok, but content really is king to an effective Twitter use.

Where the campaign does succeed is replying @ Twitter users regularly and capturing a voice that is consistent while coming off as if the candidate herself is communicating.  That’s a powerful message being sent to the Twitter community that the campaign is trying to pay attention to what people are saying and then communicating like Sara was talking to them.

John Fritchey

John Fritchey is the third most active Twitter user, with 23 updates and 122 followers.  That is somewhat disappointing considering Fritchey has maintained a blog for some time and therefore has proven adept at using new media to communicate to the public.

For the Fritchey Campaign, Twitter could prove to be a much more powerful tool to drive traffic to that blog and announce campaign updates.  For a leading candidate in this race, Twitter really has significant growth potential.

For example, taking the Midway and labor issues that have put Fritchey at the middle of traditional media coverage, he could use Twitter and his blog to answer major questions posed by journalists and bloggers.

Tom Geoghegan

The Geoghegan Campaign’s Twitter use is this race’s biggest social media anomaly.  Geoghegan has arguably the largest national following – spending time during the campaign recently in LA and DC – and could really benefit by scaling this national support via Twitter.  Those followers could help stimulate local word of mouth and drive online fundraising in particular.  For an upstart candidate like Geoghegan, Twitter really has to be a more integral part of the campaign’s communication toolkit.

Geoghegan’s Twitter efforts are used primarily to communicate campaign news.  That’s a good start.  The next step has to be to build up the network and then personalize the profile.  That would include communications with people rather than at people.  Again, for the candidate that has become the “blogosphere darling” it is surprising that Twitter is not used very effectively.

Mike Quigley

The Quigley campaign has the second largest following on Twitter amongst the IL-5 candidates.  However, 19 updates is really unacceptable for an early leader, according to one poll.  A candidate’s reputation will carry them only so far.  All communications stops have to be pulled and Twitter is really lacking.

The campaign only began Tweeting regularly on January 30th.  Clearly, some important moments earlier in this race were missed.  Quigley’s Tweets are used primarily to drive web traffic to Quigley’s website and to share campaign news.  Those are both commendable uses.  Now, the activity level has be increased and like Geoghegan and Fritchey, Quigley needs to increase the size of his network and start communicating with people.

Charlie Wheelan

The Wheelan campaign has the third most updates but the smallest amount of followers amongst the surveyed candidates.  There are two reasons the lack of Twitter uses leaves me scratching my head.  First, Wheelan’s popularity with the younger voter and relationships with university students as a lecturer at the University of Chicago, should give Wheelan a pretty sizable and active built-in following.  Secondly, as the other major upstart candidate in this race, he needs every communications vehicle to make an impression with voters as possible.  Every communications point matters, especially for Wheelan.

Recommendations are essentially the same for the Wheelan campaign as the others.

Understanding Labor’s Endorsement in IL-5

Labor represents an important constituency in this special election for the 5th Congressional District seat.  Sure, labor is always important in an election because of their monetary contributions and ability to turn out voters and volunteers.  But in this election, labor is going to take on an even greater importance because the post-2008 election hangover will mean low voter turnout.  The exception of course is labor, who promises to turn out its members because their ability to influence elections are one its core strengths.  Therefore labor votes will be extremely influential.

Yesterday’s endorsement of John Fritchey by the Illinois Federation of Teachers, AFSCME and the Teamsters was therefore a significant moment in the campaign but also very curious.

John Fritchey is not the most “labor-friendly” candidate in the race.  In fact, I could name several others who do meet that bill – Tom Geoghegan, who jumps to the top of my mind, has built a career as an attorney fighting for labor.  Now, I’ll point to two items that make me question labor’s support of Fritchey.

First, Fritchey supported altering the way state pensions are supported in Illinois.  The current pension model is known as a defined benefit plan, where employees pay into a pension fund and then get a percentage of that when they retire.  However, Fritchey backed a defined contribution program, which is akin to 401Ks where the amount one receives at retirement is based on their contribution, not the level and pay grade they reach during their career.  For organized labor, this very position is a red-line politically.  Labor has long supported the current defined benefit program and decried the defined contribution program.  See Fritchey’s letter to Crain’s elaborating in his support of defined contribution programs re-posted on his blog.

Second, Fritchey voted twice in 1999 in support of school vouchers.  This is a major political issue for teachers unions, who as David Ormsby said,  are leading the charge against the voucher effort.  For teachers’ unions, they see vouchers as a way to override collective bargaining contracts, end job security for (bad) teachers and fund private/religious schools.  It seems Fritchey’s record on this matter runs counter to the long-held positions of organized labor and teachers’ unions in particular.

So the question is how come major unions moved to endorse Mr. Fritchey?

I believe the answer is self-interest.  In short, labor wants to be on the winning side of the election and their bet is on Fritchey.  Why Fritchey?   Because the 5th District, as Don Rose points out,  is one of the most machine-heavy and least independent districts in the state.  Local ward bosses who can usher votes for candidates have tremendous power to help secure their winner and clearly  Fritchey has sought their support.  Though falling short of the necessary votes in a machine meeting to receive the overall endorsement, Fritchey did tally the most votes.  There is no doubt he felt it was important to go and get these ward boss’ support.  And if they can turn out winner, then labor wants to be on winning sides.

Political allies sometimes make strange bedfellows or in this case, calls into question why labor, who follows political records like hawks, seems to have overlooked some of the most important issues running against their longstanding positions.

At the very least, I believe labor has some responsibility to clarify their endoresements with detailed explainations.

Clobbering Each Other Makes Room for Others

The grumblings this week from John Fritchey and Mike Quigley over Sara Feigenholtz’s questionable polling ethics has caught the attention of traditional media.  The Sun-Times reported today that Fritchey is fighting back, calling out Feigenholtz, whose name appeared on “clout lists” in an attempt to secure jobs for two women.

Photo Credit: Flickr http://flickr.com/photos/byjuice/2539595500/

The latest in this sullying saga points to two interesting facets of this campaign.  First, traditional media seems less interested in covering the issues and candidates in this race, despite a crowded and talented field.  Rather, traditional media is regularly focusing on the bickering and political insidership between the leading candidates.

This has started a probably unwelcome situation for the likes of Feigenholtz, Fritchey and Quigley.  Every time traditional media comes to their campaigns for reactions to  attacks that one candidate made on the other, the ensuing stories run in contrast to the images these three are trying to put out – Feigenholtz as a progressive, and Fritchey and Quigley as good government reformers.  Instead, the constant attacks and low-balling are a reminder that Chicago-style politics is guiding this election game.

While the candidates with the most name recognition clobber each other and diminish their arguments that they are different than the Blagojeviches and Strogers of Illinois politics, candidates like Charlie Wheelan, Victor Forys and Tom Geoghegan stand in a good position to benefit.  Those three candidates are out of the political “mainstream.” And, if the 2008 Presidential Election proved anything, it was that the non-entrenched politicians can move the grassroots enough to propel their campaign to victory.

The big question remains, which unsung candidate is going to benefit from the early front-runners’ cut-throat tactics?

So far, Wheelan, Forys and Geoghegan are filling the traditional media void intelligently by using new media they create and sharing it with those interested in the race.  Wheelan is pushing a clever video that has garnered over 4,800 views in three days, while Geoghegan’s popularity with a narrowly liberal online community has created plenty of digital good-will, as reported by Illinoize.  By the way be sure to check out Illinoize excellent coverage of the week in IL-5 action.

Why is new media and self-publishing so important?  Because candidates have complete control over the content and messages they share without traditional media doing it for them.  Again, it is crucial that these candidates define themselves, especially in light of the leading candidates drawing attention away from their own strengths.

Tomorrow will be a big day for candidates as they gather for the first Democratic debate at the DePaul Student Center.  I’ll be live blogging starting at 1:00 PM, so stay tuned.

Becoming Unique in the IL-5 Bid for Congress: Part II

Illinois 5th Congressional District Democratic Candidate Charlie Wheelan is working hard to brand himself as the political outsider and reform candidate.  While other candidates are running on the “reform” and “progressive” message, it is Wheelan who seems to be “walking the talk” right now.

Wheelan is truly this race’s political outsider.  His most recent political ad, supposedly set to be aired during the SuperBowl (according to Politico) shows how far Wheelan is going to drive home the message that he represents the alternative to Chicago-style politics as usual.

Wheelan is counting on the fact that John Fritchey, through his connection to local ward bosses and as son-in-law to Ald. Banks’ brother, can’t possibly get voters to buy the message that he is the reformer.

Sara Feigenholtz is also hard-pressed to make make that message stick by virtue that she has been a long-serving member of the Illinois General Assembly.  Her association in Illinois politics could actually be harmful here, despite her record.  Plus, her main issues – women’s issue, civil rights – are not exactly reform issues.

That leaves Mike Quigley and Tom Geoghegan.  Quigley has the reputation as a reformer through his years in Cook County.  But, how far is he willing to go to get peoples’ attention in what will be an apathetic turnout?  It looks like Wheelan is ready to take on more risk that comes with a bigger payback.  That may be what is needed in a short race.

In sum, while building his brand, Wheelan seems to have grasped connecting his big idea (reform and economics) to his message better than most of his competitors.  That will serve him well in this race.  As the political climate seems to be looking for new voices, Wheelan is positioning himself as the public servant voters can trust and someone with the skill to take on the current set of challenges Congress is facing.