Politics is much more sophisticated than this analysis shows. In simple terms, it is true that Claypool won the ward. If he had done that everywhere he would be the County Board President Elect. Unfortunately for him he didn’t win. Sometimes the role we play is to deliver as many votes as possible and to keep it as close as possible. But that said it is only one race of 15 we were working on.
You claiming credit for the Claypool victory because you put out yard signs on Election Day is claiming far too much credit for the effort you put into the campaign. If you think that is how victory is won on Election Day you can join those who have their old posters in their basements from the time they tried to run for office. Furthermore, readers only need to ask themselves how many times they have voted for someone just because they had a sign at the polling place to test this theory. I spoke with Jim Ginderske briefly and he felt that we had done a good job. I believe for a couple or three guys driving around on Election Day you and Jim did a good job, but I also know that you didn’t turn the tide to Claypool with your yard signs. It is like saying you turned your fan on during a tornado and therefore caused the destruction. Claypool’s TV ads and the newspaper endorsements portraying him as a “reformer” (which many people in the 49th incorrectly perceived also meant progressive and liberal) carried the 49th Ward for him.
My (volunteer) job as Committeeman isn’t to blindly follow public opinion polls. My job is to lead. If you believe that I failed to lead because of the results of one race, take a look at the bigger picture. Our endorsed candidates won 13 of the 15 races we endorsed in; most by sizable margins. Deb Shore, a highly qualified woman and Joy Cunningham, an excellent judge, are great examples of leading unknown candidates to victories we will all be proud of. In contrast, the Cook County Democratic Party carried 8 of the 15 candidates it endorsed.
In the two instances where we failed to win, our candidates still had reasonably strong showings. We were able to contribute a significant amount of votes to their overall vote total. If you think that carrying 87% of our candidates shows weakness in our organization we will be happy to demonstrate for you in November and next February just how weak we are.
Posted by David Fagus : 12:10 AM
11 comments:
while i appreciate mr. fagus' response, i thought the point of the original post and the objections most people had to the reference to race, unfortunately has not been addressed.
I don't see any threats or excuses in his reply.
--rpgf (not related at all to gf)
> My job is to lead.
Hey Fagus, do you enjoy your posting privileges here? Why don't you show some leadership and let us post on YOUR bog? What's the matter, you're not afraid of a little feedback from those you lead, are you?
> My (volunteer) job as Committeeman ...
Hey Fagus, when you characterize your Committeeman job as volunteer work, are you not counting your salary from Stroger?
Are you not counting your taxpayer funded office space as income?
David,
If John Stoger is not able to run for election, and you have to vote for who should replace him on the balot, will you vote for Claypool? That is who the people of the 49th ward voted for. Or, was that primary election just an "opinion poll?"
Let's see, Fagus. Yourr patron as County Board President (John Stroger) who gave you that cushy job will either be pushed out by his fellow Democrats over the next few months or be thrashed by Tony Peraica in November. Meanwhile, the end of the George Ryan trial has freed up a whole slew of federal investigators and prosecutors, who can now look into the dealings of you and Alderman Moore.
Let's face it... you have no real allies outside of your little cabal, and no one in the Democratic Party (outside of a few nut cases who can't read vote totals) would shed a tear if you and Moore were to end up rotting in prison. So I humbly suggest that you look into a LONG vacation somewhere, where there is no extradiction agreement with the United States, and bring an end to the 13 years of suffering the 49th Ward has endured since you replaced Lee Preston as Comitteeman.
> ... take a look at the bigger picture. Our endorsed candidates won 13 of the 15 races we endorsed in; most by sizable margins.
If I were you I would prefer people look County-wide and not at the 49th ward numbers, either
> “reformer” (which many people in the 49th incorrectly perceived also meant progressive and liberal)
Hey Fagus, please educate us, what are the correct meanings of "reformer" and "progressive" and "liberal"? Give examples from your own work. Thank you in advance for your reply.
sorry, but that sounds like bullying to me. Just because a bully wins a fight doesn't mean people are cheering him. Perhaps this was taken out of context though, but it came across petty to me.
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