William Pitt email about Illinois 6th - Duckworth v. Cegalis

[pberq]

Here's part of an email that Will Pitt sent out from PDA:

"Thomas Paine wrote about days that try our souls. He'd probably be repeating himself if he'd been in the Illinois 6th this week. Schakowsky, Durbin, Obama, Kerry, Pelosi and indeed the entire DCCC decided that this was the week to throw their weight behind party-anointed candidate Tammy Duckworth, this was the week to throw Christine Cegalis under the bus, this was the week to shut these pesky progressives up and elect a candidate whose sole qualification for office is her ability to follow orders.

Right about now, you all are probably thinking about hanging it up, about the futility of fighting the national party, about where and how you could better put in time and effort that didn't leave you feeling like you've been kicked in the head. Nobody can blame you; hell, it takes an extraordinarily devoted person to roll the rock up the hill full in the knowledge that it will probably roll back down over you.

Here's the thing, though: this is good news. If Christine Cegalis was no threat to the DCCC's desire to manage things from soup to nuts, they wouldn't bother lining up all these heavies against her. If Christine Cegalis didn't bring so much to the table - her talent, her experience, her desire to affect real change, her progressive values - the DCCC and all these heavies wouldn't be looking this way.

They are looking this way. You have all their attention. You are doing amazing work, historic work, and the fact that they have thrown all this mess against the wall (hoping it will stick) is proof positive that you are having an effect."