A BAD DEMOCRAT SHOULD BE TREATED THE SAME EXACT WAY AS A BAD REPUBLICAN-- MEET LIPINSKI, JR.

You may have heard me grousing about reactionary Democrat Daniel Lipinski (IL-03) from time to time. He's the Daley Machine's congressman from the South Side of Chicago. Lipinski inherited the district from his reactionary father in 2004, although he hadn't lived in Illinois for 15 years. Lipinksi Sr was the most conservative Democrat in the Illinois delegation; Jr may be worse-- opposed to progressive health care... homophobic, anti-Choice, he has a voting record that no representative from a solidly blue district should have. He won against meaningless Republican opposition with 77% of the vote last November. The only way to stop the Lipinski dynasty is with a primary. And this year there will be one, featuring Mark Pera.

A week from today, July 5, Mark, an environmental crimes prosecutor in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office and president of the Lyons Township School Board, will be speaking at an Edgewater/Rogers Park Democracy for America meeting. A DfA member describes the current occupant of the seat as someone who is

     •     anti-choice (has a 0% rating from Planned Parenthood and a 100% rating from the National Life to Right Committee)
     •     anti-stem cell research
     •     supported government intervention in the Terri Schaivo case
     •     supports a constitutional amendment against flag burning
     •     voted against a bill that would have set a withdrawal deadline in Iraq and voted for the Iraq war supplemental

Details of the meeting are here. If I were in Chicago next week, I'd be there. Knocking off Lipinski won't be easy, but if Pera is a fighter, it's worth giving him a hand. Many in Chicago will.