Democrats in the Illinois 8th District

The links below are to Democratic campaign, county, township, and other organizations in the Illinois 8th Congressional District may be helpful for voters who want to research or meet Democratic candidates in the 2010 election.  Some of these websites are actively maintained, including calendars of upcoming events,, while others seem to be relatively dormant at this time.  If you become aware of other useful websites, Facebook pages, MeetUp groups, or other social networking sites related to the Democratic Party in this area, please share the links.  There are also campaign websites for Democratic candidates in this district (state, county, and local), which may have more active content such as relevant upcoming events such as speeches, fundraisers, and other public appearances as well as press releases, promotional videos, social networking links, or statements about current issues.

Note that the Democratic National Committee (DNC) also maintains the Organizing for America website on a national basis as developed through the Barack Obama campaign organization in 2008.  The Illinois HQ of OFA also maintains a blog and an Organizing for America Illinois Facebook page.  This national website may list some local party organizing initiatives, such as "canvassing" efforts aimed particularly at persuading first-time voters from 2008 to support Democratic candidates again in the 2010 election.  Similarly, the Democratic Party of Illinois website maintains some statewide information at www.ILdems.com .

Eighth District Democrats and Independents (EDDI)  http://www.illinoiseddi.com/   (in Lake Zurich)

• Cook County Democrats     http://www.cookcountydems.com/
• Lake County Democrats   http://www.lakedems.org/ 
• McHenry County Democrats   http://www.mchenrydems.org/

Note that all 3 counties above are only partially in the 8th District, so their content covers many other areas.  Similarly, gerrymandering causes various townships in the 8th District to be divided with other districts.

• Antioch Township Democrats  http://www.antiochdems.net/   (content seems obsolete and dubious)
• Avon Township Democrats    http://marcfeldstein.tripod.com   ? (Grayslake, Hainesville, Round Lake)
• Hanover Democratic Township Voters - obsolete link remains on EDDI site
• Hanover Township Democrats & Independents (HanDI)    http://handionline.org/   
• Lake Villa Township Democrats and Independents - obsolete link on EDDI site
• Libertyville Township Democrats    http://libertyvilledems.org/   (only partially in the 8th District)
• Palatine Township Democratic Organization     http://www.palatinedemocrats.com/  (in Arlington Heights)
• Schaumburg Area Democratic Organization      http://www.schdem.org/   (in Hoffman Estates)
• Warren Township Democrats          http://www.warrentwpdemocrats.org/index.html     (Gurnee area)

No websites identified yet for these Democratic township organizations

• Benton Township Dems
• Cuba Township Dems
• Ela Township Dems
• Fremont Township Dems
• Grant Township Dems
• Gurnee Township Dems (see Warren Township, above)
• Lake Villa Township Dems
• Newport Township Dems
• Wauconda Township Dems
• Waukegan Township Dems
• Zion Township Dems

Other Democratic organizations in the 8th District

• Lake County Democratic Women - on Facebook

ARCHIVED INFORMATION - from campaign2010 election

Official, campaign and informational websites for Democratic candidates in the IL 8th Congressional District

• Melissa Bean for Congress - campaign website  http://melissabean.com/ 
• Melissa Bean - on Facebook   http://www.facebook.com/Rep.Melissa.Bean 
• Melissa Bean - US Representative IL 8th District - official website  http://bean.house.gov/ 
• Sunlight Foundation blog for transparency and accountability about Melissa Bean's record in office
• Roll call votes for the 111th Congress - for 2009  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/index.asp 
• Roll call votes for the 111th Congress - for 2010  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2010/index.asp 
• Project Vote Smart - profile for Melissa Bean  http://www.votesmart.org/summary.php?can_id=33448 
• Huffington Post - Crony Capitalism: Wall Street's Favorite Politicians  Sept 28, 2010 article which singles out Melissa Bean for criticism
• Daily Herald - Bean not worried about tea parties - Feb 18, 2010 - soon after the primary
• McHenry County Blog - Will November see working Democrats voting against who run the party?
• The Blue Dog Pound - FreedomWorks profile for Melissa Bean - hasn't been updated recently
• CQ Politics profile - for Melissa Bean  
• Open Secrets summary for Melissa Bean - fundraising, etc.
• Bill Moyers Journal - video (December 18, 2009) about money in politics, including the role of the New Democrats and Melissa Bean on the House Financial Services Committee as a "corporate Democrat".  Skip forward to 15:13 in the video for an interesting part of the discussion related to Melissa Bean.  Note the role of Rahm Emanuel, and the responsibility to "shake down Wall Street" for the Democratic Party.
• Roll call vote for the DISCLOSE Act (June 24, 2010) - Bean voted against it, but it passed anyway
• Roll call vote for the auto industry bailout (Dec 8, 2008)
• "Cap and Trade" HR 2454 - roll call vote for "American Clean Energy & Security Act" (June 26, 2009)
• Stimulus 2 - "The thing we have to consider is the risk to not doing it,” said Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.).  quoted in Politico on July 7, 2009
• Members-only presentation at Lake Zurich Chamber on healthcare - Daily Herald article from Sept 2, 2009 and the Lake County Tea Party report and photos, video links - after no open town hall in August recess
• Politico interview about Melissa Bean and Barack Obama from June 6, 2008.  As friends who came to Congress together in 2004, she had apparently helped to organize "superdelegates" for his nomination victory in 2008, and he had called to thank her.  Note the advice from Senator Durbin after her first loss to Phil Crane.
• Cong. Bean games the debate sponsors and the media - October 14, 2008 history of avoiding debates
• Bean, Greenberg to debate Saturday - but you're not invited - Daily Herald, October 8, 2008
• Bean Counter - The New Republic, July 11, 2006 about union opposition in the primary to Melissa Bean, led by Andy Stern of SEIU, as retaliation by progressive leaders on the hard left for supporting CAFTA after they thought that she had agreed to support their agenda when they backed her 2004 campaign.
• Melissa Bean received support for her 2004 race from MoveOn.org and DailyKos, among others
• August 2004 - extensive Melissa Bean interview with Jeff Berkowitz on the Public Affairs blog during her race against Phil Crane, including an earlier August 17 post about her challenging Crane to open debates
• September 3, 2004 New York Times article about the race against Phil Crane. "Some critics of Mr. Crane say that as he has risen through the ranks in Washington, he has lost touch with his district, coming home rarely and failing to focus on local issues."  Some now say this of Bean after only 6 years in Washington.
• Bean raises less than 6% of campaign cash in district - second quarter 2010 FEC results per Joe Walsh PR
• Boot Bean - blog with many critical comments about Melissa Bean since 2009
• Melissa Bean has picked up some media endorsements - the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, and the Northwest Herald.  Of course, the local media have virtually ignored this race and her real record, and have just given a few superficial  remarks to rationalize their endorsements, for whatever they are worth - which is about as much as an endorsement by Democratic Party leaders.  Draw your own conclusions.