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Yesterday I had breakfast at Drury Lane Banquets. Normally my breakfast habits don’t merit discussion, but this was a unity breakfast for DuPage Democrats - and we had something to talk about.

Perhaps there have been DuPage unity breakfasts before - I don’t remember - and they likely were not very memorable. Unity in the past in DuPage has meant showing up. Not this time. Yesterday showed DuPage Democrats were growing. You have to have contested primaries to care about unity - and we had them in all three congressional districts.

I’ve written before about the transformation happening in DuPage - what I didn’t think about much until now was how that affects the picture smaller scale, at the personal level. Each of the three DuPage congressional races, the 6th, 13th and 14th, were quite different - but none of them was without passionate feelings and, to be honest, some hard feelings among supporters. It was time to acknowledge where people are - and figure out what moving forward means for local progressives. The breakfast was a start.

In reverse numerical order, which was the order at the breakfast, here’s some of what happened.

14th Congressional District

Ruben Zamora was out of town because of family reasons, but thanked his supporters and wished primary winner John Laesch good luck. He also said that he expected to see John become the next Congressman for the 14th Congressional district. The remarks, read by DuPage County Democratic Party Chair Gayl Ferraro were brief, but positive and respectful. It was a tough campaign that at times got personal, and it is clear that John Laesch, going up against House Speaker Dennis Hastert, needs as much help as he can get.

John Laesch thanked his supporters, Ruben Zamora and all the Democrats, and pointed out that it was now time for the next campaign. Borrowing rhetorically from a recent, post-primary email he sent to supporters, John energized the crowd by emphasizing what Democrats are about - issues like affordable healthcare access, a solution to the Iraq problem and good jobs for Americans - and why we need to vote Democratic in November:

“If you want change, vote Democratic in 2006.

If you want honesty, vote Democratic in 2006

If you want fairness in government and our society, vote Democratic in 2006.”

John also pointed out that you have until (what is now) midnight tonight to vote for John as one of Russ Feingold’s Progressive Patriots - John’s the only one from Illinois going for the distinction and the $5,000 campaign donation that goes with it - so vote!

13th Congressional District

Bill Reedy had the difficult, and unenviable task of being the first defeated primary candidate to speak. One of the challenges all of the candidates in DuPage face is a lack of prior history. Contested Democratic primaries in DuPage are extremely rare in modern times, and congressional campaigns that include basics like campaign staff and money are only slightly more common. While Reedy suffered from a lack of money, he did have two staffers - that he acknowledged - and it was not an easy race for them. Reedy also gave a heartfelt thanks to his supporters. Bill left open what the future might bring politically for him, and wished his former opponent, Joe Shannon, good luck.

Joe Shannon took the stage thanking his supporters and Bill Reedy and his supporters for a good race. Joe’s message, emphasizing the need for Democrats to have a positive, forward-thinking agenda that includes being strong on American security, was well received by the crowd. He mentioned that he would work hard to move America forward with a number of key achievements, including offering every American affordable healthcare, becoming an energy independent nation, raising the minimum wage, making sure that America educates more engineers and scientists for our economic future and “reestablish[ing] our country as the role model for the world.”

6th Congressional District
[You can read Bridget Dooley, a Cegelis activist’s personal experience at the breakfast here.]

Lindy Scott started things off for the Congressional 6th - offering a very understanding, gracious and well received talk about the healing that was necessary in this race - and the need to recognize the hurt first. He drew on his pastoral experience counseling marriages and conflicts in families to explain the political hurt in the 6th Congressional Democratic family. From today’s Daily Herald:

“’[We are a family, a Democratic family, and blood is thicker than water,’ Scott said. ‘The bad news is that in our Democratic family, like any family, there are hurt feelings. There’s a lot of pain.’

But, he added, that can be overcome with patience and time and an outstretched hand.”

Scott went on to say that those who can work for Tammy Duckworth, some now and others after having more time to deal with the pain of their preferred candidate losing, should. And those who cannot should contribute by helping other candidates including State Representative Candidate Rob Bisceglie (45th District), who has a district within the 6th Congressional, County Board Candidate Rita Gonzales (1st District), who has a district with parts of the 6th Congressional and County Board Candidate Rich Dunn (4th District), who has a district with parts of the 6th Congressional. [I can’t remember if Lindy also mentioned State Representative Candidate Joe Vosicky (46th District), but Joe also has a district with parts in the 6th Congressional District as does County Board Candidate Robert Peickert (1st District).]

Jane Heckman is a plain spoken, but sharp social worker who has lived for many decades in the 6th district and supported Christine Cegelis. With Christine unable to attend because of a family commitment, Jane was asked to speak on behalf of the Cegelis campaign by Gayl Ferraro, Chair of the DuPage Democratic Party. Describing herself as a “grassy root,” Jane started by looking directly at Tammy in the audience and saying, “I’ve been trying to avoid you,” but that she would come over and shake her hand after speaking. Jane asked a number of questions of Tammy that included questions about contact with district voters (will you locate your office close by, visit with constituents regularly and come back to the district regularly on weekends?) and questions about policy (will you support renewable energy and find ways to employ the large number of light industrial workers in the district?). Jane also told Tammy that she was a warrior, but what the district needed (in foreign policy, and one could say domestic relations was no doubt on most minds) was a peacemaker. She asked Tammy to be that peacemaker.

Tammy Duckworth was quick to acknowledge the Cegelis campaign, saying that her communications director wouldn’t like her departure, but the Cegelis campaign came close to kicking her butt in the election. While recognizing the need for healing and reconciliation, she later said that she hoped to be able to call Christine a friend in the future. Offering apologies to Guy “Red” Brownson, a local fixture in the Party (and quite a character) who official serves as Sergeant at Arms, Duckworth said that during the campaign she had often felt like she was joining a family as a teenage red-headed stepchild - and she recognized the need to better connect with members of the party moving forward.

I’ll have more to say in a post about the Congressional Democratic Primary winners and the Republican opponents they face in the general election - but the basic message is a simple one: the Democratic candidates all deserve your vote based on the issues - and they deserve your more active support depending on how good a ‘fit’ you are with their campaign, and whether you are ready and able to join it. Not every campaign is right for every volunteer. Work for the campaign and race that’s right for you. You do the best you can moving forward. You find the place you can make the most, best difference. Anyone following politics even casually since 2000 knows that there is serious work still to be done.