Ascot makes the case for change

If other candidates have a succinct message for Proviso voters, contact me, RadioNyberg circled "a" Yahoo spot com.

Ascot and Dixon respond to questions about running for Congress

Jim Ascot (campaign website) and Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (campaign website) are two (of eight) of the candidates running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Representative in Illinois Seventh Congressional District. The district is currently represented by Rep. Danny Davis.

I asked the following questions of all the candidates. So far, only Ascot and Dixon have responded. I spoke to Darlena Williams Burnett on Thursday and she expressed intent to respond, but indicated she's been inundated with questionnaires since filing to run.

* Are you withdrawing your name from the ballot? Will you be actively campaigning for election as U.S. Representative?
* What is your reaction to Davis' announcement?
* What are three things voters should know about you?
* Are you willing to answer a more detailed questionnaire in writing?
* Are you willing to respond to questions posed by Proviso Probe's audience?
* Will you give an interview on video tape to me (Carl Nyberg)? I will post the entire video on Google videos. I will post an excerpted version on You Tube.
* What is the phone number and email address I should use to contact your campaign? What is the URL for your website?

Ascot:

"Are you withdrawing your name from the ballot? Will you be actively campaigning for election as U.S. Representative?"

No, I'm not withdrawing my name from the ballot and we are actively campaigning for election. I announced my candidacy for this position months ago and my growing support is evidence of the urgency of this campaign.

"What is your reaction to Davis' announcement?"

I was disappointed by Danny Davis' announcement. A congressional seat should not be treated as an entitlement, something to fall back on when your other plans don't work out. Representation is a sacred trust, not a consolation prize. This kind of political game is evidence that my opponent is just another career politician. The people of the 7th District should expect more from their representative.

"What are three things voters should know about you?"

The three things I want voters to know about me: First, I'm not a career politician. I'm a small business owner who has benefited from this community and wants to give back. I believe I know what we need in a representative. We need someone who understands the problems our District faces and knows what needs to be done. Second, service to community is an important aspect of my life. From Rotary One of Chicago to the Chicago Composers Forum, serving as President of the Lane Tech High School Alumni Association to Chairing the Illinois Election Day Registration Commision, you can see that community service is an integral part of who I am. Third, the most important issue to me, the thing I will start working on the day I open my Washington office, is bringing jobs and financial security to the District. We must do this now by securing federal stimulus funding for the 7th District to build a viable economy.

"Are you willing to answer a more detailed questionnaire in writing?"

"Will you give an interview on video tape to me (Carl Nyberg)? I will post the entire video on Google videos. I will post an excerpted version on You Tube."

"What is the phone number and email address I should use to contact your campaign? What is the URL for your website?"

I would be happy to respond to any further questions, whether by uestionnaire or interview. Please contact me at ... jascot circled "a" ascotforcongress.com. Our campaign website iswww.ascotforcongress.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Dixon:

"Are you withdrawing your name from the ballot?"

No

"Will you be actively campaigning for election as U.S. Representative?"

Yes

"What is your reaction to Davis' announcement?"

Rep. Danny Davis has twice indicated that he would prefer to be President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners than U.S. Representative of the 7th Congressional District--the frst time when John Stroger resigned and now. he is also showing that he has lost interest in representing the 7th CDC by missing 71 votes so far in the 1st Session of the 111th Congress. I think it's time that the voters elect someon wh wants to represent the people of the 7th CD and that's what I want to do.

"What are three things voters should know about you?"

(a) I'm serious and a hard worker;
(b) I'm a fighter ans when I go to Congress I will be focused like a laser beam on legislation to create jobs; and
(c) In politics I've discovered that before voters care about what you know they want to know that you care--and I'm someone who cares deeply.

"Are you willing to answer a more detailed questionnaire in writing?"

Yes (See enclosed Q & As from various organizations.)

"Are you willing to respond to questions posed by Proviso Probe's audience?"

Yes, I'm even willing to come to Proviso Township and appear before your voters personally and to answer their questions and engage in dialogue.

"Will you give an interview on video tape to me (Carl Nyberg)? I will post the entire video on Google videos. I will post an excerpted version on You Tube."

Yes, at a time and place of mutual agreement.

The email for Dixon's campaign is DixonFourCongress circled "a" Gmail.

Jim Ascot draws attention to Danny Davis' BS

Davis circulating petitions for two offices?

I received a phone call tonight from someone who had previously said Rep. Danny K. Davis (D-IL07) was only circulating nominating petitions for Cook County Board President. S/he said that a minor paper (unknown which one) reported Davis is circulating nominating petitions for both President and U.S. Representative (Congress).

S/he followed the information with a question about whether I would still blog through February. I responded that I would. Besides the IL-07 race, I am interested in the race for the Cook County Board's First District, currently represented by Earlean Collins. I am also interested in the race for President of the Cook County Board and potentially Proviso Township Committeeman.

BTW, I was discussing various candidates for President of the Cook County Board.

• Dorothy Brown
• Danny Davis
• Terry O'Brien
• Toni Preckwinkle
• Todd Stroger
• Larry Suffredin

Comments:

Brown ran against Mayor Richard M. Daley and she's still in politics. If Brown doesn't get on board with supporting Stroger, what further punishment is she going to incur? Brown is probably annoyed at various Black ministers who are aligned with the Democratic Machine. She figures if they backed Daley against her; she can mess-up their situation by splitting the Black vote against Stroger.

Brown also has a winning move in that she can wait until it becomes clear who is the strongest candidate and throw her support behind him/her.

I expect Davis to either file for re-election to Congress or to fold his tent completely and retire from elected politics. According to people in the meeting of the Cook County Democrats in 2006 (when the party needed a candidate to replace John Stroger on the ballot) Davis made a pitch that he was tired of commuting to Washington, DC.

I don't think "I'm tired of commuting to DC" is the pitch that inspires people to stick out their necks for you. "Don't make no waves; don't back no losers," still applies in Chicago. I don't see committeemen taking a risk with someone who doesn't want to work hard. Politics may not reward virtue, but the game doesn't reward sloth and resting on yesteryear's accomplishments.

Davis is running to reconnect with people he met during his 1991 campaign for Mayor of Chicago. He gets to be in the media. And he gets to be important when he endorses Preckwinkle.

O'Brien is hoping that multiple Black candidates stay in the race and he wins based on consolidating the "White" vote. The Democratic Party presumably doesn't want an overly Irish ticket. So there are big picture factors that work against O'Brien.

Preckwinkle has made the greatest inroads into the activist community and has impressive fundraising. Being from Hyde Park is sexier than it was before Obama.

Stroger will have the support of some of the Machine and some Black voters. But the Machine values some level of competency. Stroger may reliably defend the perks and privileges of the Machine, he brings more trouble than he's worth. County government will get more scrutiny with Stroger at the helm.

Suffredin will switch to either running for re-election to the County Board or running for Cook County Assessor against Joe Berrios. Suffredin may know more about county government than the other candidates. But he doesn't connect with voters well on the campaign trail compared to more formidable politicians.

[UPDATE: A reader sent a link to the Pioneer Press (Patrick Butler) article on Davis.

"He is definitely running" for Todd Stroger's spot and will also be getting petition signatures for a race for a seventh Congressional term.

"While he can't run for both jobs at the same time, he has until Oct. 26 -- the last day for filing petitions -- to decide" which office he'll go for, [campaign spokesperson Tumia] Romero said.

[This is typical of Danny Davis. He's obviously slinging bullshit and he thinks that because he's a member of Congress we're supposed to ignore it's bullshit.

[The one angle that sorta makes sense is if Davis is trying to bluff candidates out of the IL-07 race. By circulating petitions Davis is making it difficult for most candidates to organize and raise money. Jim Ascot is the one candidate that will plow ahead whether Davis is running or not.]