More congressional endorsements

6th district: Cegelis President Bush said it: You can run, but you can’t Hyde. It’s always hard to tell, but I think he means Hyde has been in Congress too long. Thirty years, in fact. It’s time for new blood. Cegelis is a smart, motivated, successful person who can take a fresh approach and start doing the work of the next 30 years. Cegelis is endorsed. 7th district: Davis Davis does an okay job. And I really tried to get into Davis-Fairman’s vision for his district but it’s kind of tricky when it’s expressed like this (from Davis-Fairman’s web site): “I, Antonio Davis-Fairman have crafted over 10 legislative ideas to help get the 7th Congressional District off the treadmill of no persistent action, off the treadmill of economic & race separation, and off the treadmill of no uplifting constituent goals.” I really don’t know what any of that means, but I think he’s saying his constituents need to exercise more. Davis is endorsed. 8th district: Bean Even people in his own party like Hastert and LaHood admit publicly that Crane went to Washington and never looked back. The man is famous for neglecting his district. Bean, on the other hand, like Cegelis, is young, smart, dynamic, and will serve her district well in the years to come. 9th district: Schakowsky Nothing against Mr. Eckhardt, who I first met at a community meeting where the local Nazi community group was trying to close down a liquor store in Rogers Park so the neighborhood could be gentrified and those people in the community group could cash in on their investment real estate. The whole thing was wrong, and Eckhardt came to that meeting and stood by the businessman, who had done nothing to deserve this attack. Nevertheless, I think Schakowsky is doing a great job. And she’s my congresswoman, so I can say that I had the distinct pleasure of having already voted for her on my absentee ballot. 10th district: Kirk I like Mark Kirk. He has a pretty good environmental record and is an all around upstanding congressman. 11th district: Renner I don’t fault Weller for falling in love with the daughter of a Guatemalan dictator. She is not responsible for the actions of her father. Some people think this is somehow a betrayal of U.S. security because she serves in another country’s legislature. Again, I don’t see it. She’s not the one running for Congress. The one who is running for Congress, however, is pretty lackluster, and that is reason enough to deny Weller another trip to Washington. Renner would be a change for the better. 12th district: Costello Costello is okay, but Zweigart could be interesting, partially because her ability, judging by the photos on her site, to make any Republican look ridiculously big and awkward (or in the case of Karl Rove, sleazy) standing next to her. But Costello is the safe bet. 13th district: Biggert Still pissed at her for that crazy overtime legislation, but other than that, she seems to be doing a decent job. 14th district: Hastert Having the Speaker of the House in your state is a pretty big deal. It means that, while the Republican Congress is going on a record-breaking spending binge, at least Illinois is getting a decent cut of the action. If the GOP loses control of the House, Hastert will probably retire, so Zamora’s time may yet come.