Get the Feed
Tammy Duckworth: The Winning Narrative
Turning attention more to politics for a moment, the Illinois primaries were held yesterday. Though questions concerning uncounted ballots and malfunctioning voting equipment keep the Cook County Board President race in suspense, another close race decided early this morning has made the DCCC extremely happy: Tammy Duckworth defeated Christine Cegalis in Illinois’ 6th Congressional District.
NPR described the race by saying, ?An Iraq war veteran won in suburban Cook County,? without even mentioning Duckworth by name.
I?m sure party officials don?t mind. Democrats have a more solid chance this year to win this traditionally Republican district ? thanks to the retirement of Rep. Henry Hyde and changing county demographics ? and Iraq veterans are believed to be the winning ticket in Republican strongholds.
Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both her legs and nearly lost the use of an arm when a rocket-propelled grenade exploded at her feet in November 2004, was hand-picked by party seniors like Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Rahm Emanuel. The money rolled in, and Duckworth became ?the most prominent and best-financed of nearly a dozen veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars attempting to launch careers in Congress,? according to the Washington Post.
The fact that Cegalis was severely underfunded and yet still came within 3 percentage points of defeating Duckworth is a testament to her ability to win over voters ? one coffee klatch at a time. The DCCC ignored Cegalis after her early fundraising efforts were deemed unimpressive, even though she won 44 percent of the vote against Hyde in 2004 and built a smart, organized, grassroots campaign. But her narrative as a businesswoman, mother and neighbor, along with her progressive politics, wasn?t in vogue.
It?s somewhat ironic that Democrats couldn?t get war veteran John Kerry to successfully access the cowboy/tough guy/war hero narrative that they?re now getting mileage from ? and with a woman no less ? but then again there?s a big difference between successfully casting Bush as a war dodger 30 years ago and blaming him for the current quagmire, particularly with Bush?s approval rating at an all-time low and charges that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war.
And Duckworth is a formidable candidate, even though she lives three miles outside the district ? a sticking point for those who prefer their candidates be neighbors.
Duckworth’s willpower and sense of humor strikes awe in those who meet her. She talks with great conviction on issues like healthcare and war. The general election will be an uphill battle, but Duckworth is well positioned financially and she has the support of prominent money-raising Democrats like Hilary Clinton.
The Democrats may win this battle, but the message the party sent to voters ? don?t call us with a candidate, we?ll call you ? doesn?t do much to build a united front. Why pit Duckworth and Cegalis ? two very strong candidates ? against each other in the first place?
Last night, before all the votes were in but with the numbers showing Duckworth with a slight lead, the political novice greeted her cheering supporters and smartly applauded Cegalis for her substantial effort. Duckworth knows that she?ll need Cegalis? troops to pull out all stops for her as they did for the homegrown candidate. The DCCC can bring the money, and the candidate has the narrative, but the voters still have to turn up at the polls.
Plus: Cegalis’ campaign manager Kevin Spidel notes the difference $1 million makes: a mere 721 votes, or roughly 1.4 votes per precinct. [via Roni]
Posted at 12:03 PM | Permalink | | 
Email
| 
Print
March 22, 2006 at 6:19 pm
We have to change the faces of our state and local representative “one face” at a time so that it accurate reflect the voice of their constitients. Barack and now Duckworth……Illinos is leading by their votes!!! They also have some very “nontamper proof” voting processes and officials. Implementation of their processes should be nation wide - Arizona has manual ballots with pencils or marking pens………very scary.
March 23, 2006 at 4:41 am
Iraq war veteran wins primary
CHICAGO — Tammy Duckworth, a former Army helicopter pilot who lost both legs in a grenade atta
March 24, 2006 at 2:23 pm
I am appaled that anyone, especially a former military officer, would use his or her injuries as a “platform” in an election. What does being wounded in combat have to do with the ability to govern? Does the severity of the injury increase one’s qualifications? Being a U.S. Representative is supposed to be about more than being used by a political party to forward an agenda. Would Ms. Duckworth have been recruited to run if she had not been wounded? What are her capabilities as far as budget and finance, interstate commerce, international relations, FDA regulations, judicial issues, and the litany of other issues that a U.S. Representatives must deal with on a regular basis? It seems to me that a person seeking such an important and influential office should have more to say about their qualifications than, “Hey, I am injured veteran, vote for me.” Also, I feel that the sudden, unceremonious dropping of an experienced candidate that nearly unseated a 30-year veteran of Congress, to support a novice, running on a single, questionable platform, says more about a political party and its motives than anything that Ms. Duckworth ever could. My hope is that Ms. Duckworth will have something substantive about the many other issues that effect her district and the nation. I also hope that she will take a good look at the reasons she was recruited and consider the driving forces that led to her campaign. Will the support still be there when the war is over? Or, will she, like Ms. Cegalis before her, freefall into political pergatory when a new, more compelling issue leads party decision makers to divert their attention?