The Capitol Fax Blog » Duckworth still waiting

Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005

And Roskam no longer has a primary opponent.

Iraq war veteran Ladda â€œTammyâ€ Duckworth is ready to run for the congressional seat held by retiring Republican U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde. The question remains: will she be able to?

As of Monday afternoon, the Hoffman Estates helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs and severely injured her right arm in an insurgent attack, had not been released from active duty in the Army. And that means Duckworth canâ€™t engage in any political activity or she risks a potential dishonorable discharge and loss of benefits.

With less than a week remaining to file for a spot on the March 21 Democratic primary ballot, Duckworthâ€™s supporters do not appear worried yet. […]

On the Republican side of the 6th Congressional District race, state Sen. Peter Roskam of Wheaton found out he wonâ€™t have a primary opponent after all. John Vivoda, president of the Glen Ellyn Elementary District 41 school board, dropped out Monday.

~~UPDATE: It appears that Duckworth will be cleared tonight. She plans an announcement Sunday on ABC’s This Week.~~

Turns out, the Hotline story that this was based on was wrong and has been amended (in my haste to get this up and get out the door to do some Christmas shopping, I neglected to include the link).

UPDATE: Sources clarify that it’s possible she will make her campaign announcement before the show’s taping, so the “This Week’ interview would not be an exclusive.

Update 2: A campaign source adds that while Duckworth will be on This Week she will not be volunteering a campaign announcement on the show. She is running for the seat, and will be making an announcement before Monday’s filing deadline.

- posted by Rich Miller

27 Comments

- Billyclinton - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 3:07 pm:
I am sure Rahm is working with Murtha to get her release … Murtha’s got great connections at the Pentagon.

- Black Libertarian - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 3:45 pm:
Why don’t they let her out as soon as she wants to? It’s not like she can fly any more missions?

- MDP - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 3:46 pm:
Could Rahm be reconsidering? Doesn’t working with a candidate who got 44% last time around seem much easier than starting from scratch?

- grand old partisan - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 3:50 pm:
Maybe someone can explain this to me: Duckworth’s spokesperson says that “In the meantime, sheâ€™s got friends collecting signatures in the district.” Those same friends could also file the petitions on her behalf. So, having people circulating petitions on your behalf does not violate the Army code of conduct, but having someone file them does? I don’t understand, is there really a difference? And if not, then either she can go ahead and file (in which case, I’m not sure why the Rahm and the DCCC don’t already know this - unless they are using this as a red herring to keep the focus on her military career) or she is already in violation.

Can anyone clear this up for me?

- bored now - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:00 pm:
as i understand this, duckworth was released by her commanding officer to circulate petitions. her release was limited to that.

- inish - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:11 pm:
A servicemember may not run for political office. It is a directive of the Dept. of Defense 1344.10

Until Duckworth has been discharged, she can not be a candidate. Discharge papers are “misplaced” all the time. I am the wife of a retired servicemember. It took almost two years for our retirment to be approved.

4.1.2. A member on active duty shall not:

4.1.2.1. Use his or her official authority or influence for interfering with an election; affecting the course or outcome of an election; soliciting votes for a particular candidate or issue; or requiring or soliciting political contributions from others.

4.1.2.2. Be a candidate for, hold, or exercise the functions of civil office except as authorized in paragraphs 4.2. and 4.3., below.

4.1.2.3. Participate in partisan political management, campaigns, or conventions (unless attending a convention as a spectator when not in uniform).

4.1.2.4. Make campaign contributions to another member of the Armed Forces or an employee of the Federal Government.

- bored now - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:24 pm:
correct. i have long held (within the pro-cegelis community) that it was no sure thing that duckworth would be released in time to run. the question is: will rahm file her petitions in the expectation that she will be released? it is, after all, rahm!

(rahm has been collecting petitions for her. i am told that he — and madigan — had 50 people out “gathering” signatures for duckworth at one cook county train station a week or so ago. commuters felt like they were running a gauntlet, and i doubt very many of them refused to sign! given where it was, though, one has to wonder how many signatures were valid…)

- jaylee - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 4:59 pm:
hopefully she will get on the ballot. Finally two strong women democrats in a district like this….as a young woman it is absolutely amazing to see the strength and courage of both. Keep on fightin the fight ladies!!!

- MaL - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 5:11 pm:
She’s got my vote!

- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 5:26 pm:
Black Libertarian, please post that again, only this time without the childish insult of Shaw.

- Coloradem - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 5:40 pm:
Looks like she’s going to announce on This Week with George Stephanoupolis.

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2005/12/duckworth_expec.html

- WAY DOWNSTATE - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:22 pm:
My neihbor has been back from Iraq for almost a year and right before he came home he messed a shoulder up.He has went thru therapy he is doing o.k..As a matter of fact he has went back to work and is remodeling his house and they still have not discharged him.He keeps asking and they keep saying it is in the process.Maybe since it is political hers will be quicker.

- So it begins - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:31 pm:
That works out well, Rahm gets his candidate interviewed by his friend and former co-worker at the White House…must be nice.

- why - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 7:32 pm:
Why does she have your vote MaL?

Pingback IllinoisPundit » Blog Archive » Tammy Duckworth to run in IL-6 - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 8:15 pm:
[…] (Hat Tip: Capitol Fax) […]

- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 8:33 pm:
GOP, this might clear it up:

Circulating petitions and/or filing them is only part of the dance required in Illinois to get a name on the ballot. The critical step in this case is the statement of candidacy, which is usually filed with the petitions, and is required. Signing that statement would amount to “engaging in political activity,” but if others circulate petitions on her behalf, that’s not a violation. And as we know, until she has clearance from the Army, she can’t sign a statement of candidacy.

That’s all this is about. I’m sure she’ll have the proper paperwork completed once she is officially able to do so. She’s following the law and so are her friends, there is no conspiracy. Just the inner workings of campaigns and election law.

- MaL - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 9:52 pm:
Rahm is backing her. Which means there is going to be big money and out of state aid brought in to get her elected.

To me, the candidate and the issues are secondary. Rahm controlling the seat with a candidate that will march to his tune is important to me.

- patch - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 10:53 pm:
Take a look a number three â€” wait, maybe George Bush should take a closer look at number three …

A servicemember may not run for political office. It is a directive of the Dept. of Defense 1344.10

Until Duckworth has been discharged, she can not be a candidate. Discharge papers are â€œmisplacedâ€ all the time. I am the wife of a retired servicemember. It took almost two years for our retirment to be approved.

4.1.2. A member on active duty shall not:

4.1.2.1. Use his or her official authority or influence for interfering with an election; affecting the course or outcome of an election; soliciting votes for a particular candidate or issue; or requiring or soliciting political contributions from others.

4.1.2.2. Be a candidate for, hold, or exercise the functions of civil office except as authorized in paragraphs 4.2. and 4.3., below.

4.1.2.3. Participate in partisan political management, campaigns, or conventions (unless attending a convention as a spectator when not in uniform).

4.1.2.4. Make campaign contributions to another member of the Armed Forces or an employee of the Federal Government.

- Anon - Tuesday, Dec 13, 05 @ 11:01 pm:
Hmm. Perhaps Christine would have amazing fundraising by now and we could have saved the money which will be wasted in this primary battle if only Rahm had his buddies get Cegelis on National TV. For my part I’m going to do what I can to elect Christine. And Ms. Duckworth, if you’re listening, we’d love to have you running in the 10th.

- goodbye napoleon - Wednesday, Dec 14, 05 @ 12:00 am:
ABC 7 did a short story on Duckworth tonight with some b-roll of her with Pat Quinn and a short comment from Rahm.

- Black Libertarian - Wednesday, Dec 14, 05 @ 12:46 am:
Here is the online link to the text of the Andy Shaw report:

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=local&id=3722455

The text says that she’ll be released this week, although he had said at 5 PM after the report that she would be released later that night (Tuesday)

(As per Andy Shaw’s appearance, I come from the school of thought that if you’re voluntarily a public figure of any kind, any comment, however immature is completely acceptable and appropriate, but it’s Rich’s blog, so I’ll play by the rules from now on)

- Philosophe Forum - Wednesday, Dec 14, 05 @ 1:24 am:
Let’s recap — Emanuel has vowed to fight against Ms. Cegelis & every other progressive Dem. with every means available to him. Although Maj. Duckworth cannot be a political candidate & campaign until her formal release, he’s bankrolled her with $1M & provided her with a Chicago Hilton fundraiser. Sen. Durbin has re-assigned one of his staff to be campaign manager assigning 50 “volunteers” to circulate her petitions. Both incumbents have the MSM providing free media copy every chance possible, & she’s scheduled to be on ABC News: This Week with George Stephanopoulos (note: JUST Maj. Duckworth — not all 3 Dem candidates & not her surviving flight crew or other injured military) so she can formally announce. To add further insult to injury, the Chicago ABC affiliate has the nerve to say that Illinois Democrats want Major Tammy Duckworth to enter the race. — Guess again! The journalist has to stop using â€œRongâ€ Emanuel as his source.

So much support for ONE non-candidate while IL remains 50/50 Dem/Rep. & after Ms. Cegelis received 110,000+ votes a year ago & submitted 5 times the signatures required to be on the March ballot. All because Emanuelâ€™s telling the voters who they should vote for

Bill Reedy (IL-13) & Zane Smith (IL-10) would’ve happily moved aside & supported Maj. Duckworth if Emanuel was interested in her winning. That strategy would deliver 2 seats to the Dems since both women should be in Congress. If Ms. Cegelis loses in March, the majority of the Dem voters supporting her (& probably Scott) will stay home in Nov. That hands IL-06 to Roskam on a silver platter with a pretty red bow. Emanuel will continue to withhold support for the other IL Dem candidates so both Reedy & Smith (& the rest of the candidates) are long shots. IL remains 50/50 Dem/Rep. Fundraising is always the moldy stand-by justification that conveniently provides a self-fulfilling prophecy:

1. Emanuel doesn’t support a candidate because millionaire donors don’t contribute literally thousands.
2. Emanuel doesn’t sponsor DC fundraisers with PACs (like the RNCC) so candidate exposure is minimized.
3. Candidates are poor fundraisers as a result of #1 & #2.
4. Candidates don’t deserve the votes as a result of #1, #2, & #3.

Emanuel’s deal with Hastert keeps Kirk (IL-10), Biggert (IL13), Johnson (IL-15), Weller (IL-11), & Shimkus (IL-19) in office. Even if the Dem. candidate like Dan Stover (IL-19) would have $100,000 in the campaing war chest (i.e., meeting the minimum amount required for DCCC support), the DCCC will not provide even the smallest amount of non-monetary support. Itâ€™s not allowed.

Weller (IL-11) couldnâ€™t get more vulnerable if he tried. Hastert (IL-14) is close to getting indicted along with his buddies. Biggert (IL-13) gives women a bad name & is nothing but vulnerable. Costello (IL-12) votes Rep more often than not. Shimkus (IL-19) is campaign money & a vote for the GOP & shouldâ€™ve never been in office in the first place.
With a GOP line-up like this, IL doesnâ€™t need Roskam to join them & keep giving IL a bad name. Like the rest of IL residents, we need Ms. Cegelis to win in March.

- Saluki - Wednesday, Dec 14, 05 @ 1:42 am:
So, what would be your plan if you ran the DCCC?

I know it’s 1:40 in the am but I’m in college and it’s finals week.

- bored now - Wednesday, Dec 14, 05 @ 7:06 am:
saluki asked, “So, what would be your plan if you ran the DCCC?”

well *my* plan would not be to burn through 77 percent of my budget each month (and then have the gall to criticize other people who have a smaller burn rate), and save some of that money to support the eight or so democratic incumbents who are vulnerable.

the fact is that rahm doesn’t have a rational plan for winning back the house, and there’s almost no chance of doing that while rahm is head of the dccc (he’s much more interested in electing hillary than in electing democrats) since he has gone out of his way to alienate democratic activists all over the country.

good democrats don’t line up republicans to run for democratic seats.

rahm hasn’t learned the lessons of 2004, he’s stuck back in 1992…

- Stone Hack - Wednesday, Dec 14, 05 @ 5:23 pm:
Elections are all about VALUES. 6th District please choose one: Kucinich peacenik, Tom Delay chicken hawk clone, or female combat veteran.

- bored now - Thursday, Dec 15, 05 @ 8:24 am:
i completely agree with stone hack that it’s all about values! the *real* question is, will the il 6th voters elect someone who serves only one master (the people of the il 6th) or two masters (rahm and/or the people).

obviously, if they gamble by choosing the candidate hand-picked by the chicago machine, we’ll have to wait to see which master she obeys (although i think we all suspect that her loyalty will be to rahm rather than to the people)…

- NancyZ - Friday, Dec 23, 05 @ 12:18 am:
I am disappointed in the Democratic leadership outside of the 6th District. Give us a level playing field to see which candidate, Scott, Cegelis or Duckworth is the strongest of the three. Let them debate the issues and let the district voters make up their minds. I still believe that the Democrats stand for the common people. Voters of the 6th: You have the election in yours hands!

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