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Democrat Wins the Special Election to Fill Former GOP Speaker Hastert's House Seat

Posted by Paddy , Cliff Schecter's Blog at 10:12 PM on March 8, 2008.


This is a huge deal, and (fingers crossed) hopefully a harbringer of things to come!!!

HOT DAMN.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Democrat Bill Foster has snatched former House Speaker Dennis Hastert's congressional seat in a closely watched special election that gave the longtime Republican district to the Democrats.

Foster has won 52 percent of the vote compared to 48 percent for Republican Jim Oberweis with 556 of 568 precincts reporting.

From Chicago situated Georgia10-

This is a red district. Former Speaker of the House Denny Hastert represented this district since 1987, winning reelection by huge margins.

This district includes the city of Dixon, which is the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.

This is a district that President Bush won twice, and in 2004 he received 56% of the vote.

The NRCC poured over $1 million here to hold onto this seat -- nearly a third of its cash on hand.

John McCain actually took time from his presidential campaign to come to Illinois and hold a fundraiser for Oberweis and formally endorse him.

This is a huge deal, and (fingers crossed) hopefully a harbringer of things to come!!!

UPDATE- Geez, is it that Obama guy's fault?

Barack Obama also deserves a shout out, not just for cutting an ad for Foster and helping with the GOTV effort, but also for proving that his coattails can help even a political newcomer win in a red district. If Obama is the nominee in November, this will be a key element of building on a Democratic majority throughout the nation.

AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

Digg!

Paddy is a regular contributor to Cliff Schecter.com.


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bleh
Posted by: happyhermit on Mar 8, 2008 10:18 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
foster is a Blue Dog millionaire. the election was for sale. Obama and Durbin made a point to endorse Foster.

the real story is that John Laesch, an extremely progressive grassroots anti-war single-payer candidate, lost to bill foster in the primary by only several hundred votes.

good that the Dem won. now the only thing is to make the Dems become not worthless

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» RE: bleh Posted by: notinKansas
» thanks Posted by: happyhermit
Goodbye, Denny...
Posted by: hurricane hugo on Mar 9, 2008 11:00 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
don't let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya!

jdfu!

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Who photoshopped jabba's head on a normal sized human body?
Posted by: gallery on Mar 9, 2008 2:05 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Because, last I saw of Denny, he was big enough to hide three Foley's and ten, bug killing, Delay's behind him at the same time.

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Add one more
Posted by: Jeanne on Mar 9, 2008 6:17 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Democrat to the House #s. Does this make impeachment a possibility? And, forgive my ignorance, but why is Dennis Hastert leaving early? Illness? Impending criminal charges? A scandal? I wasn't aware that he'd resigned.

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» RE: Add one more Posted by: notinKansas
The good news is: Foster worked at Fermilab.
Posted by: AsteroidMiner on Mar 10, 2008 10:23 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Since Foster is a scientist, this may be a reaction to
George W. Bush's Republican War on Science.

I doubt very much that a rich person would work at Fermilab.

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