While I have supported Bill Foster in the 14th Congressional Primary it’s not because I’m against John Laesch, who I supported in 2006. I made a judgment call about the race and gave my reasons - others made a different call. My disagreement is respectful. What Delver says, minus the “don’t like John Laesch,” gets it mostly right:
“If anything the special election is inconsiquential without a matching general primary victory. To say that someone should step asside when the difference is so narrow and to fall in line behind the winner of a possible partial term is just insulting. Count the damn ballots do a quick but thourough recount. Then if you are on the short end gracefully exit and not drag it out but to say give up now is an insult to your workers and everyone who voted for you and anyone who actually thinks elections matter.”
Tomorrow John Laesch, in consultation with his campaign, will judge whether he can get enough additional votes to win. That’s his right - and I wouldn’t take it away from John - he and his campaign have more than earned it. I do hope that if John believes he lacks enough additional votes, that John concedes - that decent, difficult act is fair to ask. I have one other hope - that Democrats from all the campaigns remain engaged in the 14th District. If a single Democratic candidate emerges against Jim Oberweis, I hope that we will unite and give them our active support.
Comments 2
On the count so far, Foster scored 1.5 sigma above Laesch. That’s pretty much neck and neck - run the election again, and you might well get a Laesch win. That’s not relevant, though. We’re counting the election we’ve already had, and we have most of the votes in hand. The probability of Laesch being able to come up with an extra 300 votes is small. Get the recount done, by all means, but then concede gracefully.
It might be interesting to consider what would happen with a sensible election scheme (Condorcet with Ranked Pairs, say) rather than a plurality vote. It’s clear from the special primary result that pretty much all of Serra’s supporters went to Foster. It’s possible that the Stein voters would all prefer Laesch, which would put us back on a roughly 50-50 split. If Foster were to pick up even 20% of the Stein vote, he would be the clear winner.
Posted 09 Feb 2008 at 1:05 pm ¶“Split Illinois results could muddle Dems’ plans to take Hastert seat” The Hill - 2/11/08
The headline from the Hill spells out the reason I will never vote for Laesch and is the reason I didn’t vote for Laesch in the first place. He has grandiose plans for himself and grandiosity is a symptom of mania. Laesch is out for himself and himself only. Good ridance to Laesch - the Democratic Party will be better off without him or his supporters throwing mud around about other candidates.
Posted 11 Feb 2008 at 1:54 pm ¶Post a Comment