It has been interesting to read about the response of some evangelicals to Sen. Obama being invited to speak at an AIDS conference sponsored by Pastor Rick Warren. Apparently due to the Senator's stand on abortion and some other issues some feel he should not be invited to speak.

How this helps Senator Obama.

The hardcore evangelicals who use issues like abortion as a litmus test were never going to be Sen. Obama supporters anyway.

However a larger set of American Christians I think will respond positively because I suspect that to some extent they have started to grow tired of the role of faith in public life being reduced to stands on a select number of social issues.

I really feel this is going to be the key for Democrats in reaching out to evangelicals and Christians in general, using faith to explain why people and by extension their governments have a responsibility to help others. That the role of faith and morality is not just to judge but to aid. Look at who is still a work down in the areas hit by last years storms, it's the church. Why, because they have the organizations to get the job done, yes. But also because their members have a real desire to serve. Sen. Obama speaking about how the church can and should serve to make the world a better place will be an effective message.

You don't need to get a large number of people on your side, even a small percentage can make a huge difference. I think Sen. Obama has a unique opportunity to frame the discussion on faith and public policy and it seems he realizes it.

OneMan

Fox News in Chicago is going to break in every half hour between now and 4:00 AM with weather updates.

It's Chicago, it's winter, it's snow. It happens every year. When I was a kid I don't recall everyone on TV freaking out like they do now.

OneMan

There was something right after the election about Jim Oberweis and his thoughts about committeemen that was rather interesting. It started me thinking, is the committeeman as part of the party system a thing of the past? If not, does the role need to change in a world where campaigns at all levels are driven by media, where some candidates do not even bother to make literature available to committeemen for them to hand out.

I think I may try to address this with my lame thoughts and opinions over the next few months.

Let me know what you think

OneMan

Another Natural Golf update. Had a really good day today at the range, I think I may have some of my issues figured out. I was trying to adjust my lead shoulder and I think I was adjusting to much, also my grip was a bit off (the lead hand was on the top of the grip a bit too much). Had some really nice hits and I don't think I hit a single one thin.

OneMan
tags: Natural Golf

I managed to catch a radio add for CORE (the anti electrical rate freeze folks) featuring the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. a couple of time today. Sounded like he did it in one take after climbing a flight of stairs. (can't seem to find a copy of it on CORE's web site yet).

OneMan

From The Des Moies Register It appears that Senator Obama has been droping some dimes on people in Iowa. I suggest you read the story.

After Warner decided in October that he would not run for president, Appleby got in touch with Obama's people.

"I have talked with the Obama people, and I have agreed to do some initial stuff for him, pending his making the decision to go or not to go," Appleby said.

"They tell me he will make a decision within a couple of weeks."

OneMan

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

Now for something I haven't done in a while a Natural Golf update. I was actually able to hit some balls the last few days and things went ok, not amazing but ok. I think I have a issue with my setup/grip that I am trying to figure out.

I figure some time with the DVDs and a pro should help significantly. If nothing else I am still finding the act of going to hit some balls relaxing, so I have that going for me, which is nice.

Tags: Natural Golf

I never figured I would end up the lead in a New York Times story (sub required).

OneMan

The Trib has some insight about Obama's thought process.

OneMan.

Looks like Bobbie Steele is going to make out on her Pension something fierce. A 136K pension is a nice deal to say the least. Giving one of the kids the county board seat is a nice touch as well.
CBS2 has some scoop.

Does anyone in the private sector get a 136K a year pension?

OneMan

I read Sen. Edwards explanation about the PlayStation3 thing, It makes sense but the whole situation is still kind of funny.

OneMan

The Sun Times has some more on Rezko and Patty.
I guess the question someone may want to figure out someday is what % of Patty's business over the last 4 years came from things involving Tony. That's the question I would be looking for an answer to if I was a reporter.

If nothing else when all is said and done I think the Governor's (and his family) dealings with Rezko is going to provide Obama some cover.

OneMan

Tags: blagojevich, Rezko

So Tom Cross now also has a Kjellander solution. I guess my first question is if the state central committee would in fact vote to remove him and secondly, do that many people even within the party really care?

OneMan

Tags: Kjellander, Illinois Politics, Illinois Republican

Wow,
Jury awards Bob Thomas 7 Million. I am sure this will be in appeals land for the next 100 years or so.

The three jurors said they were swayed against the newspaper early on, in large part due to the testimony of Chronicle Managing Editor Greg Rivara. The jurors felt Rivara had not done his due diligence in checking out the column.

This case has been a bit interesting for OneMan, not just because it involved a long list of Kane county area Republicans that I know, but also because I knew Greg when we were both at Northern.

OneMan

I have to give Naperville some (a lot) of credit today. I was able to catch the dedication of a new statue in downtown Naperville (next to the Y) dedicated to vets in Naperville and showing 4 men from Naperville who fought in WWII.

I have to say, Naperville does a great job honoring the people who helped build the town and lived in town when it was small. It seems to make real efforts to remember where they were, not just where they are.

OneMan

From Rich and the Daily Herald

Oberweis said it’ll take some time, but Republicans can take back their party. He said having local committeemen work hard in precincts by going door to door and welcoming fresh faces would be a good start. “We have many (committeemen) who have been around a very long time and who try to keep out new ideas, new volunteers and new candidates who will challenge the system,” Oberweis said.

I am glad after 9 months as a committeeman Jim has this all figured out. I look forward to seeing him a county central committee meetings to talk about his ideas.

Have you ever thought that all of this negative stuff does not just turn off voters but committeemen as well?

OneMan

Some of the e-mailed posts got delyed for some reason, that is why they seem out of order.

OneMan

It's only a matter of time



Vote for Billy, he colors inside the lines.

i have just seen my first

Lawyer with a nametag. He has come it with a voter.

His name tag says election monitor

Ok, now some local stuff. It looks the Oswego school referendum passed, the Aurora Township fire referendum passed and the East Aurora referendum failed.

Figured there would be stuff about all of these in the Becaon but only saw something about the Oswego referendum, I might have just missed the rest.

There is in fact a morning after... If nothing else if this is to be Hastert's last term the race to replace him begins today. Let me toss a name out for the Democrats to run. Linda Chapa-LaVia. Her ground game yesterday (I don't know how much was hers and how much was Linda Holmes') was top notch.

OneMan

Well all in all, that sucked. More on the results in the days and weeks to come.

OneMan

just about done.

Looking forward to going home.

with 9% in

Whitney is at 11 %

with 9% in

Whitney is at 11 %

closing out the early vote machines.

So the count begins.
Glad I am not doing this at the clerks office.

I was home for a bit, about to go back out. Nothing official I have heard yet about the county staying open later. Suffice to say that whole situation has been more than a bit sureal.

Stuff about the robocalls even made some IT publication in the UK.

Hopefully if they keep the poling places open tonight it will exclude the election commission poling places. Reguardless it is going to be confusing.

OneMan

I was home for a bit, about to go back out. Nothing official I have heard yet about the county staying open later. Suffice to say that whole situation has been more than a bit sureal.

Stuff about the robocalls even made some IT publication in the UK.

Hopefully if they keep the poling places open tonight it will exclude the election commission poling places. Reguardless it is going to be confusing.

OneMan

rich is reporting that

Kane county is going to ask the court to keep all of its poling places
open to 9:30.

Wow, hope that does not include the Aurora elec comm.

i have just seen my first

Lawyer with a nametag. He has come it with a voter.

His name tag says election monitor

more fun

Once a machine goes down it takes forever to catch up.

Fun, fun

third call of the day

Machine and judge issues, nothing huge just busy

starting off

got my first "can they do that" call of the day

starting off

got my first "can they do that" call of the day

starting off

got my first "can they do that" call of the day

starting off

got my first "can they do that" call of the day

Test

Seeing if e-mail posting works, so far no luck.

Well I am going to try liveblogging during the day both as I see how turnout is doing and doing the stuff I normally do during the day as well as my work during the count as a party offical after the polls close.

Might be interesting, might be stupid, who knows.

If you want Aurora Elect Comm results go here. We have a new vendor this time around vs. the primary so we will see if things go better and/or get on the net quicker.

OneMan

Was at a Kane County GOTV rally yesterday. The Speaker was there along with some protesters. I actually was 'counter' protesting (well holding up a Hastert sign while a guy with a giant 'Bush' head walked around and another guy yelled allegations about the speaker). The one guy 'Yelling Guy' was into yelling allegations about the speaker and how he was looking forward to Blagojevich naming the speakers replacement. 'Yelling Guy' was so busy screaming that he failed to see the Speaker arrive and missed his chance to yell at the Speaker.

I was tempted to ask the guy if he was from Kane county but I have found that when a guy is that into yelling trying to have a conversation is a bit a challenge anyway. When we headed inside dude called us chicken I figured it was better not so say anything than admit I was more in a mood to hear the Speaker than 'Yelling Guy'

Tags:Hastert, Illinois Politics

Now this is why Sen. Obama is smarter than Rod.
Nothing can get you out of a jam faster than explaining what happened, why it happened and what you have learned from it.

The Dr. Laura talking action figure. Sometimes even fans of the free market have to shudder.

It appears that Rod was in town yesterday at the mall.

If you want to come to town governor, I suggest you come a little deeper in that Fox Valley Mall.

OneMan

The Beacon News issues their endorsement for the local State Senate race (they endorsed Linda Holmes). Have to admit I didn't agree with the endorsement but I understood where they were coming from. It did beg a big question however.

The candidate they endorsed does freelance writing (a column unrelated to politics) for the paper.

regardless of the relationship between the editorial board and the candidate I think they should have disclosed the relationship between the paper and the candidate. I also feel by not disclosing the relationship it cheapens the endorsement some.

I suspect they thought about this before issuing the endorsement but an explanation of why they decided to endorse the candidate (or anyone in the race) even though there may have been the appearance of a conflict would have been useful and enhanced the endorsement by opening it up to "Hey doesn't she write for them, of course they would endorse her".

This isn't intended to be a slam at the Beacon, there are blogs for that. Just a friendly suggestion.

Update: -- Added from comments, thanks Hiram

The Chicago Tribune did a variant of this just today in endorsing Annie Collins for Kane County Clerk (placed at the end of the endorsement):

"(Collins is the sister of a Tribune reporter. Reporters have no role in endorsement decisions made by the editorial board.)"

Zorn comments on how if he were running for Gov. the Meeks campaign would have imploded over the "Night of Terror" haunted house at Meeks' church.

If anything I think it would have helped Meeks with social conservatives without doing much damage what would I would have suspected would have been large scale African-American support. He wasn't going to have the support of social liberals to any real extent anyway. I realize more than social liberals would have issues with the messages of "Night of Terror" just the message would have been more of a showstopper with them.

It sounds a bit like the movie Hell House about an Assemblies of God church in Texas that does the same thing. I rented the movie from Netflix a little while back, it was an interesting film. Don't agree with the theology behind it at some level. But it was an interesting film.