Roll call?

[ColesCountyDem]

Kinda curious about y'all, so I'll go first:

Born and raised WAYYYYYY downstate near Benton ( Franklin County ); currently live in east-central IL in Charleston ( Coles County ). Third-generation Democrat on both sides of the family; all four grandparents were off-the-boat immigrants. Dad was a general practitioner ( M.D.) and Mom was a stay-at-home mom until we had all graduated high school, at which point she finished her Master's degree and became a L.C.S.W. .

Me: A.B. and J.D. both. Single/never married, retired now, but have held a variety of jobs over the years, including substitute teaching, law-enforcement, restaurant owner and retail management. Almost 30 years as a precinct committeeman and have held some elected local offices.

How about y'all?

:hi:

[mopinko]

1. cook county dem

from the fighting 49th ward, the progressive heart of cook county. 55 yo, artist, mother of 5, board member of 49th dems.
born and raised in the burbs, lived in chicago for 30 years.

[ColesCountyDem]

2. Nice to meetcha!

:hi:

[mopinko]

3. back atcha

:hi:

[whathehell]

36. Hey Mo....Do you think anyone would be up for a DU get together somewhere in these parts? n/t

[mopinko]

37. hey, i just now saw this. i will put up a separate thread.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

4. Born in Chicago (Austin), as a kid moved to Bellwood then Elmhurst.

Spent 2nd and 3rd worst years of my life in Bloomington-Normal (ISU) before transferring to SIU-Carbondale so I have experienced other parts of the state. MSEd from NIU. Current and longtime resident of Il-6th.

[ColesCountyDem]

8. Nice!

:hi:

[murielm99]

5. Rural Democrat, Ogle County, where they can't get the red out.

I have been a precinct committeeman for years, and have been treasurer and chairman of our central committee. Never again. I have sworn off central committee politics, unless I leave this county. There are too many women here who dabble in politics because they don't have anything better to do. They act like high school "mean girls." I think it is a problem with this county, and not necessarily with all central committees. But I will be looking for other ways, in the near future, to be a good Democrat.

I was a librarian for most of my life, then a teacher and substitute teacher. I may go back to subbing. My parents were politically active Democrats. My grown children are also politically active Democrats.

[mopinko]

6. didn't your son get elected to something?

sorry to hear you are giving up. i love visiting that part of the state, but i sure get the hairy eyeball a lot. even when i am not driving my truck.

[murielm99]

7. My son was appointed to the Plan Commission in Naperville.

He ran for city council. Eight people ran, and the top two were elected. He came in fourth, and it was very close.

It is interesting that the very Republican mayor of Naperville appointed him to the Plan Commission. But his resume is impeccable. The unions love him, and so does the press. He is the youngest person ever to serve on the Plan Commission. He is twenty-eight.

At first, he was getting crap from the Republicans because he did not own property in Naperville. He just bought a house. He is also on the board of a group working for affordable housing in Naperville. Affordable housing is a big part of his reason for being active in local government.

I would not say that I am giving up. I am still a precinct committeeman, and I will continue to do that. I will not run for any of the offices on the county central committee's board. I will not attend any of their meetings, or raise money for them, as I have done in the past. I always said that I liked most of the people I met doing this political work. That is no longer true of the Ogle County central committee. Many of them have no redeeming social value. I may work on someone's campaign. I may do fund raising for another county, or do support work for a nearby county. Maybe I will run for a local office. I have some health issues to get under control, then I will find a new approach to being a good Democrat.

[ColesCountyDem]

9. I don't know how 'red' your county is, but I live in a marginally red one, too.

I've also served on our central committee, but the only major problem we've ever had had more to do with competence than with personalities. We have also struggled to overcome what I've called our 'inferiority complex': this county was SO 'red' for SO many ears that we had a hard time getting qualified people to run for office; few people enjoy the experience of devoting time and money to a losing cause, obviously. It's taken decades, but we FINALLY succeeded in running and electing competent candidates for coroner, state's attorney, sheriff and county board; although we still hold the SA's office, we've won some and lost some over the last two decades. We currently hold only the SA's office and one county board seat, although we hold MANY township-level posts, including supervisors, clerks, road commissioners and trustees.

Although I'm retired, too, I will still occasionally substitute teach, normally in government, history or social studies.

:hi:

[greatauntoftriplets]

10. Near western suburbs here.

10 miles west of downtown Chicago, I can see the Sears Tower from the main street in my small suburb. Grew up in Edgewater on the Far North Side of the city.

I miss living near the lake.

:hi:

[ColesCountyDem]

11. Howdy!

Triplets, eh? I am the great-UNCLE of triplets, myself.

:hi:

[greatauntoftriplets]

12. Congratulations on the triplets.

In my case, it's two boys and one girl. They are nine years old.

:hi:

[ColesCountyDem]

13. Mine are 11 now.

Three boys.

:)

[greatauntoftriplets]

14. Triplets are amazing, aren't they?

They are each other's best friend. And are likely to stay that way. Each has their own interests and talents, and they make decisions via committee. It is so interesting to watch them interact with each other. And since they don't have any other siblings, they are always at front and center. And each is very different in personality and appearance.

:D

[ColesCountyDem]

15. Exactly!

:)

[greatauntoftriplets]

16. Are your triplets identical?

I know a woman is is almost 60 and is a triplet. Her parents conceived twins -- one boy and one girl -- and the girl embryo split and Carey had an identical sister. Very rare back then. My niece's children are the result of in vitro fertilization.

:D

[ColesCountyDem]

18. Yes, mine are identical.

There are some small, subtle physical differences between the three, but 99.9% of people wouldn't pick up on them. Socially, all 3 are are quite distinct: one is very athletic, one is more artistically inclined and the third is very much a 'politician'.

:)

[greatauntoftriplets]

20. That's amazing that they are identical....and that happens rarely.

I am sure that you can tell them apart. I doubt that I would be able to without a lot of contact.

[ColesCountyDem]

21. It's takes exposure to them.

I have no trouble telling who's who-- now-- but I used to.

:P

[WCIL]

17. I'm in Adams county

My town generally goes Democrat for city government but votes red with a vengeance in state/national elections. My late father in law was an alderman for 30+ years, and my BIL has held that seat for the last 20ish. My children both got to vote for the first time in 08 and were proud to cast their votes for President Obama. We are most likely the only people in our county to subscribe to The Nation.

Our local tea party likes to think they started the whole thing. It is hard to live here, but my husband's family has been here since the 1860's and we are not likely to move.

[ColesCountyDem]

19. River counties can be.... interesting.

The area I grew up in-- Franklin County-- has elected one Republican countywide since the Civil War, but has a disturbing tendency to go with red-meat conservative types on the national level. I'm assuming that you're old enough to actually know what a 'Southern Democrat' was, so that's the term that would come closest to describing them ( minus the bigotry and pro-union ).

[surrealAmerican]

22. I'm another Chicago area resident.

I've lived in the area for about 26 years, in Evanston for the last 20. I like this town!

[nickinSTL]

23. Madison County

Collinsville, in the St Louis Metro East.

Born in Morris (Grundy County), spent most of my childhood that wasn't in Germany in Henry County near Orion (Quad Cities Area).

Moved to St Louis a couple years after college for a job, and then over to Madison County, IL for another job.

MS in Information Studies, married, moved from being a librarian by title to working in my library system's IT department. Have never run for or held office - worked for Obama a bit in '08 and been a Dem since I knew anything at all about politics.

[davsand]

24. Still here, still in Champaign County.

Kevsand and I are both still at DU and we both still live here in Champaign County. Kev is a member of the Central Committee as well as the Executive Committee, and we still work selected campaigns for candidates we like.



Laura

[Peregrine Took]

25. Also retired. LIved half my life on the south side of Chicago and the other

half on the north side.

I'm an amateur writer, environmentalist and animal rights advocate. My parents were Irish immigrants and my dad was an Irish freedom fighter.

I had two careers,retired from the first and un-employed in the second. Lifelong Dem but 'am disgusted and thinking about becoming a Greenie.

[stevebreeze]

26. far western suburbia

grew up in Milwaukee. Moved to St Chuck 28 years ago. Active in local democratic politics. Been a precinct person for 15 years? Maybe more. Running for county board right now. I don't post all that often. Married 2 daughters 2 grand daughters.

[frazzled]

27. Downtown Chicago

Grew up in Indiana and moved to New York as a young adult, then to Chicago for grad school, up to Buffalo, NY, then 15 years in Minneapolis, 5 in Boston, and now back to Chicago (for the last 5 years). Age? Let's just say old enough to know better.

I live in the western part of the 42nd Ward, and have found it pretty hard to get involved in politics here. I worked on my local alderman's campaign, but I've found it hard to figure out how to be as involved as I was in Boston or even Mpls. In MA I was on the Democratic Town Committee, served as a delegate to the state convention, and did campaign work (mostly canvassing and phone banking) in both New Hampshire (for presidential primaries) and in MA (for local and state offices). I also served as a founding member of my local chapter of Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts.

Here, I've tried to get a little involved through OFA. I canvassed in Michigan during the '08 election; phone banked (to no avail) back to MA for Martha Coakley, and stood out in front of Rep. Melissa Bean's office to get her to vote for health care. But it's really hard to do anything in the downtown area: you can't really canvass in high rises. And the machine is pretty well oiled here. That said, I'm active in my local neighborhood association, and I do talk to Alderman Reilly from time to time.

[mopinko]

28. join northside dfa

they have a great group, very active and hard working. i wish i could do more with them, but evening meetings are hard for me. i mostly just write them a check when they have a fundraiser.

[tropicanarose]

29. Cook County Democrat here!

New to DU, but I have been reading here for some time.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

30. Freeport, Illinois

Located west of Rockford, we're 15 minutes shy of the Wisconsin border, and 30 minutes east of the Mississippi.

[edgrosvenor]

31. Since it's my first time posting...

I was born and raised in the north suburbs of Chicago, spend a good portion of my life in Central IL where I still maintain a home. I currently live on the west side of Chicago (E. Garfield Park) where I run a web development firm. When I'm not running around the city meeting clients, I'm busy building a system to facilitate the work of non-profit organizations across Chicago.

Politically I'm very independent. I'm dismissive of partisan rhetoric whichever side is spewing it. I want common sense solutions to our problems. I am extremely dedicated to doing whatever I can to get the city of Chicago back on track. I love this city and I have a 4-year-old son who spends half his time with me here. I want him to grow up to love this city too and not be afraid to walk the streets.


So when you see me here, it will be mostly talking about local Chicago issues. I think that all change has to come from the local level and with apologies to anyone who's a fan of the Daley administration, I think Chicago's ready for a big change.

[LSK]

32. checking in from Roselle

:hi:

[orleans]

33. i'm still here--dupage county

sorry about my present unwillingness to want to say more (or "share") i'm tired. and i just learned how to check the date a tire was made and that we should be replacing them 6 years after they are made regardless of the tread. i saw a news piece on cbs tonight--apparently some stores sell 2 and 3 year old tires. so...i'm really looking forward to checking the dates as to when mine were made. (not!)

and in case anyone is interested: there are the letters "DOT" and then a series of numbers. the last four numbers will tell you the week and the year the tire was made (0407 means the tire was made the fourth week of 2007)

best of luck to everyone with your tires.

[mucifer]

34. Hi all. I like this thread.

I grew up in Wilmette. Now I live in Chicago, wicker park. My parents and grandparents are all dems. I'm a pediatric palliative care and hospice nurse so I get around much of Cook county visiting people in their homes.

[whathehell]

35. Lake County Dem who lives "part time" in Chicago

wish I could be in the city all the time!

Originally from Philadelphia with some years lived in Jersey.

Also lived about a year and a half in San Francicso...Love Chicago, but still miss some aspects of the "coasts", especially family and friends.