By Kathy G.
It's been a long day for me today, and it will be an especially long day tomorrow, election day. I don't have time to do a proper post, but I will post some links to some of the best things that have been written Tom Geoghegan and the campaign over the past couple of days.
Digby has contributed not one, but two posts, and her co-blogger DDay has weighed in with a post of his own. Tom recently made this interesting appearance on Laura Flanders' GRITtv. Todd Beeton of MyDD gives us his thoughts about the race. John Nichols of The Nation writes about Tom's campaign as a paradigm for progressive politics.
And here's Tom's 30-second sound bite about why he's running. As Progress Illinois notes, Chicago Public Radio posted a 30-second clip from each of the candidates in the race, including the Republican and Green Party candidates, and Daniel Strauss of Gapers Block rated Tom's as the best.
All of those links, posts, and articles are well worth your while, but to me, there are three additional recent pieces that stand out as particularly noteworthy.
First, there's this piece about Geoghegan by veteran journalist David Moberg of In These Times. It's titled "The Anti-Blago," and among other things, it looks at the labor politics of the race -- a subject that Moberg, a distinguished labor reporter, is especially well-qualified to cover.
Secondly, as Mickey Kaus has noted, the latest endorsement of Tom's candidacy comes from a most unexpected source -- that Wicker Park hipster hang-out, the Hideout Bar:
In the above-mentioned post, here's what Tim Tuten, Geoghegan supporter and owner of the Hideout, had to say:
The Hideout has been a
bar since 1934. It's located in a Manufacturing District on the
Chicago's North Side. It has always been a place for steelworkers,
construction workers and other working people. In the last few years,
as our factories have closed and "down-sized," the Hideout has become a
new home for hardworking musicians, artists and writers. Through all
these years though the conversations at the Hideout have remained
incredibly true to our history, a history that celebrates the
hard-working spirit of Chicago.
For 30 years, Tom Geoghegan has fought on behalf of these very
steelworkers, nurses, taxi drivers and immigrants, union workers and
those trying to unionize. He has fought for lost wages due to plant
closings and for health care for the uninsured. As a regular who became
an owner of the Hideout, I wholeheartedly support Tom Geoghegan for Congress and ask that you do the same.
It's a wonderful post, and I strongly urge you to read the whole thing. Earlier in the campaign, Tom did a live interview at the Hideout, which you can view here.
One thing this campaign has not lacked is a plethora of wonderful writing by people who have supported Tom. There have been so many excellent articles, posts, and editorials written about Tom and his campaign that it's hard to point to any single one as being especially memorable, because there have been so many that have been outstanding. We could publish a book made of these damn things.
But of the recent pieces about Tom, it was Joe Conason's article in Salon that moved me the most.
First of all, I loved the pic that accompanied the article:
Photo credit: Shelley Anderson
Secondly, I appreciated the fact that Joe emphasizes that behind Tom's soft-spoken exterior, he is actually pretty tough:
In personal terms, Tom could scarcely be more different from the man he
has set out to succeed. He is polite, thoughtful, usually soft-spoken
and almost painfully principled -- in short, not much like the
stereotype of a Chicago pol, except that for a nice guy he is also
exceptionally tough. He has grit that is rare among intellectuals and
academics but not so rare in labor, where the going is hard for anybody
who doesn't just go along.
Thirdly, I'm glad Joe is telling this story:
Without breaking a confidence, I can offer an example from my own
knowledge of Tom's work. Not so long ago, he took the case of a group
of workers who, like so many others in the declining industrial
companies of the Midwest, had been screwed out of their pensions and
healthcare in a corporate takeover. What made the case different is
that among the new owners, there happened to be a very prominent
Democratic investor who is accustomed to having liberals smooch his
ring (or some other place). Tom had very little to gain by taking on
those obscure workers as his clients, not only because they probably
couldn't pay him much, if anything, and weren't at all likely to win
against a phalanx of expensive corporate attorneys, but also because he
might well make a very powerful enemy for himself. He didn't care at
all, any more than he worried when he fought the local Teamster
chieftains who sent goons around to intimidate him from time to time
(but never did). He didn't court publicity, didn't call any
grandstanding press conference; he just fulfilled what he saw as his
commitment to people who are forgotten or unrepresented or screwed over.
I know the case Joe is describing, and believe me, you have heard of the "prominent Democratic investor" to whom he refers. In fact, when I talk about Tom to other people, I've sometimes mentioned this case as a shining example of how Tom's deepest motivation is to do the right thing -- not the most expedient, or the easiest, or the most self-serving thing. As I've written before, comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable is what Tom is all about.
Finally, and most importantly, I was touched by what Joe has to say here:
But there is another reason I am compelled to say a few words about
Tom. It feels as though someone is looking over my shoulder. That would
be Maria Leavey, my late friend who was also da close friend of
Geoghegan's and spoke about him often to me. Like him, she was a
believer against all odds, a fighter who dedicated herself to the long,
hard, grinding and often unrewarding work of progressive politics. If
she were still here, Maria would not have let a single day go by
without hectoring me to write something about Tom, and she would have
been right, as she almost always was. He will fight like crazy for the
universal health insurance that just
might have saved her life.
I never met Maria Leavey, but I felt that I knew her. She was a member of a listserv I am on, was a friend of Tom and other friends of mine, was a well-known figure in the netroots, and lived her life as a tireless activist for the progressive cause. She was also one of Tom's biggest fans in the whole world. I have little doubt that, were she were alive today, she would be moving heaven and earth to get him elected.
About two years ago, Maria Leavey died suddenly on the day before her 53rd birthday. Tragically, she did not have health insurance. It's virtually certain that, if she had, she would have lived.
Whenever I think of Maria Leavey, it strengthens and deepens my support of Tom Geoghegan in this election.
First of all, obviously, there's the personal aspect of it. There is little doubt that, had she lived, Tom would have been Maria's top choice in this race. And since she's not around to do the hundred million things, big and small, that she would have done to promote Tom's candidacy, I've pushed myself to do just a bit more, work just a tiny bit harder. Her absence is a huge loss for this campaign. We all need to do our best to help make up for it.
And secondly, and even more importantly, there is Maria Leavey as the tragic symbol of our profoundly dysfunctional and viciously inhumane health care system. In a country this rich and an economy this advanced, there is no reason why anyone should go without health care. And so help me God, I never again want to be faced with the death of someone, and be haunted by the sickening question -- but what if they had had health care?
And that's why it's imperative that we elect not just Tom Geoghegan, but many more like him. Tom's uncompromising vision is a national health insurance system that provides quality care for all, regardless of income or physical condition, with all costs picked up by the government. And he won't rest until that dream becomes a reality.
If you're a registered voter in Illinois's Fifth District, please be sure to go out tomorrow, and vote for Tom Geoghegan in the primary. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 7 p.m.To find your polling place, visit this site. To check your registration, visit this page (under the heading, "Not sure if you're registered?"). And if you need a ride to the polls, call (773) 853-0687.
You can volunteer for the all-important Election Day and get out the vote effort here. Alternatively, you can just show up tomorrow at the field office at 4419 West Irving Park Road. There will be plenty for you to do.
Please do vote, if you're eligible, and volunteer, if you can.
Do it for Maria Leavey.