Lisa Madigan Wants You!

Photo courtesy of www.lisamadigan.org

It was great to see the Lisa Madigan campaign for Attorney General at our Mikva Kick-Off event this past weekend. This is a young and fun campaign that is always excited to get students involved in campaigning and action civics. They would love to put some students to work on the phones or canvassing. Stop by the office at 500 N. Dearborn Suite 510 or contact their volunteer coordinator, kellan@lisamadigan.org or 312-670-0606.  I have not gotten a chance to visit their campaign office yet so I have no fun personal photos, but hopefully the one above will give you the idea that it's a friendly happy place (I know this to be true).

Truthish or Falsey

www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room

NBC Chicago Ward Room blog has a  new series "Truthish or Falsey in which we judge politicians tenuous grasp of hard facts and tendency to cast unfounded aspersions".  Ted McClelland examines campaign claims and judges them as "truthish","kinda truthish", or "way falsey". The best part is the accompanying cartoon profile which renders a politician's nose in proportion to the "truthishness" of the claim. This series is an excellent resource for students  to accompany our Action Guide "Your Message Matters".
 
Via http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Truthish-or-Falsey-Giannoulias-new-Obama-ad-102446694.html

Project Vote Smart

This website is so much fun! Using great graphics Project Vote Smart has created a 2010-2011 voting guide. Based on your address, VS displays your candidates and tells you how each one feels about several issues. Not only does it use great graphics to display where each candidate 'stands' (literally), it also allows you to input how you feel about the issue and gives you a best match candidate. This is such an important way to learn about candidates. Often times we endorse a candidate because of a particular party affiliation without knowing exactly where they stand on the issues. Candidates do not always line up along  party lines on all issues. So navigate to this site and have fun while you learn (caution, there is a barking dog in the background noise so do not visit the site while in a quiet place i.e., a classroom).

DIY Local Voter's Guides - www.theballot.org

Guide-Havin' States, Guide Needin' States. www.theballot.org

This week WBEZ's Eight-Forty-Eight played an interview with Billy Wimsatt an author, youth activist, and former graffitti artist. The guy has tons of energy and while he is a tad partisan, the bigger message is youth activisim. Listen to the interview here . He has many big ideas; how vital youth involvement in politics is, how his generation (he is 37) needs to lead, how local communities can make a difference. Right now he is leading a nation-wide movement to have local communities make their own voter guides.  Check out the website www.theballot.org to see how you, yes YOU, can make a guide.  He is currently on a book tour promoting his book "Please Don't Bomb the Suburbs" (we like the title of this book more than his first one, "Bomb the Suburbs"). The book outlines his vision for a new youth movement and continued political involvement. You can order it through Amazon or BN or give an independent bookstore a chance.  Now go make a voter's guide!

Green Party LeAlan Jones for Senate

LeAlan Jones answered 5 questions  for the Huffington Post this summer. The Green Party in both the Senate and Governors race are getting a lot of attention. Voters are looking for other candidates besides the standard Democratic and Republican brand. Some are protest voters, angry at other parties, but many are voters who are researching and deciding that the Green Party would represent them best.  In such a close race, Republicans and Democrats worry that enough votes diverted to the Green Party could make a big difference. Research all the Green Party candidates in our upcoming elections at www.ilgp.org .



via Huffington Post

Visetop

Last week my old laptop had a hardware malfunction. Seems 2 of those teeny tiny metric screws in the ULHS of the plastic frame had been loose and finally gave way. I took it into the really nice guys at my local Ace Hardware and asked them to help me find replacement screws. Turns out it's an impossible repair for the non-expert since the anchors(?) where the screws fit have been stripped bare of threads...therefore my new screws will not hold. So instead of sending this fine old friend to the repair shop I scrounged around the garage for a solution. Here it is, vise grips.  I carried my visetop around like this all last week and while a tad bit heavier, I think it's a fine affordable solution. I know it has nothing to do with politics, but then I wouldn't be blogging without the story or the vise grips.

Today - Rudy Giuliani in Town

For those students who love to rub elbows with the big names in the political world...you need to catch up with former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani today. He was downstate this morning, raising cash for Bill Brady but this afternoon he is headed up to the Union League Club in Chicago from 4:00- 5:30 to help Robert Dold out.  I know we have some student Dold volunteers out there...how about a last minute field trip?

Campaign Office Visit - Dan Seals 10th Congressional District

Outside of Seals's Office in Arlington Heights

Boo! On Wednesday I dropped by the Illinois Victory Office at 73 W Rand Rd (Rte 12) in Arlington Heights(just north of Trader Joes and Pet Smart) to visit the Dan Seals field office. Not only does Dan have a great and welcoming office staff, he has the absolute best location for the Nov 2 election. Why you ask? Because he is right next door to Halloween City! So the best idea is to stop at the Halloween store, grab yourself a mask or complete costume (some great ones here ) then walk down to the Dan Seals office and have a little fun while doing some phone banking.  You can also use your mask for Trick or Vote which is an awesome event we will be posting about soon.  Ram and Matt are a happy to have a slew of high school volunteers and will make you feel right at home. Monday night they have PIZZA and on WEDNESDAY night it is potluck dinners. Contact Ram Villivalam at 312-933-4131 or ram.villivalam@ilvictory2010.org .  If you want more info on the Dan Seals campaign go to http://www.dansealsforcongress.com. Don't forget to tell them 'Mikva Challenge' sent you.

Great Halloween Shopping Right Next Door!

Matt (L) and Ram (R) Will Welcome You to the Office.

Campaign Office Visit - Mark Kirk for Senate

Last week I visited the Mark Kirk campaign office. They are located at 3100 Dundee Rd in Northbrook, Suite 108.  This is an office building complex. Suite 108 is located on the east end of the complex.There is not much signage out front. Look for a Kirk bumper sticker on the door. You can see it in the picture on the door to the right.  Megan Toal is a great contact there. If you want to volunteer at this campaign you must first submit you information on the internet. Visit their website at www.kirkforsenate.com to fill out a form. There are also internship possibilities. This is a very exciting race and would be a good office to work for.

Outside of Kirk Campaign Office

Kirk Campaign Office in Northbrook

Ballotpedia

Another Wiki mob-rule monument?
I find it useful.

List of Candidates, Issues, and Funds

One week ago the Illinois Board of Elections decided who would be on the Nov 2 ballot.
Here is a link to a summary of the big races on the ballot along with links for each campaign on what the big issues are and where the campaign funds are coming from. It's a good tool for your classroom when discussing the upcoming election.

via WBEZ, The Election File

Fundraising Caps Doubled in Senate Race

Lynn Sweet has a lot of information in her blog about local fundraisers with many many big names coming to our state to raise funds for our high profile elections.  Interesting note about why ticket prices are so high to many of the senate race events,
"That Nov. 2 special election for Senate in Illinois--to fill the few weeks that will be left to President Obama's term, in addition to a vote for the full six year term also on Nov. 2-means that Giannoulias, the state treasurer and GOP rival Rep. Mark Kirk (D-Ill.) can fund-raise for both contests at the same time"

via Lynn Sweet "Chicago Sun-Times"

GetOutCampaigning- GOC Good Idea #1, Scavenger Hunt

We all know that sometimes it takes some creative ideas to get students to visit a campaign office for the first time. We try to provide students will all the information they need to take that first step; the address, phone number, and most importantly, a contact name or two. Also, we always remind them to tell the volunteer coordinator that "Mikva Challenge sent me". All of these things help.  But one of the best GOC Good Ideas came from Carrie Kelso at Morgan Park High School.  Carrie sends her students out on 'scavenger hunts'. She encourages her class to collect unique campaign paraphernalia from each office...you know, bumper stickers, signage, pencils. These items are displayed in her classroom and often there is some sort of reward for the most diverse (showing they went to many different offices) collection. Sometimes it's that little sense of competition that gets the students motivated. I wonder what type of reward this ginormous sign would get....

Campaign Office Vist - Robert Dold, 10th Congressional District

Yesterday I had a great visit with the Robert Dold campaign in Winnetka. They are a young, energized campaign with a couple of  fun ideas for working off the stress of campaign work...a ping pong table AND cupcakes! Seriously, these are a bunch of hardworking people and I think any high school student would have a great experience spending some time working at this office. The office is not hard to find, with great signage outside and inside they have fabulous blown-up photos covering the walls. I even recognized some of our Mikva students from last fall! This office is open 7 days a week from now until the election. If you have any questions, please contact Phillipe Melin pmelin@doldforcongress.com or Mick Paskiewicz at michael@robertdoldforcongress.com and tell them Mika Challenge sent you. The address is 511 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka. Office phone # is 847-251-3653 and the website is www.doldforcongress.com.

Working out a Little Stress at the Ping Pong Table

Amazing Dold Cupcakes. Yum.

Front of Dold Headquarters in Winnetka