From the January 2010 Advocate...

Next up...

Candidates recommended by the political action arm of the Illinois Education Association - IPACE.

The first link below takes you to a page that provides everything you would ever want to know about the entire process.

Below that is a link to a "bottom line" generic list of recommended candidates for state-wide offices, the Senatorial seats up for election, and all 118 Representative seats up for election.

Not all Senatorial seats are up for election this year...including the 59th District in which Cairo is located. I shall spare you my "Government Lecture" on why. Suffice it to say, it's more complicated than the system used by the U.S. Congress in which two-thirds of the Senators get elected each election cycle. In Illinois, depending on the year, it's one-third, two-thirds, or all. (Well, bet THAT mini-review sent shivers up and down the backs of my former students! Relax, guys and gals...there will be NO TEST! However, this is the "real world"...participating in "Voter Skip Day" carries more dire consequences!!!)

Yes, the IEA traditionally leans toward Democrats...the party that in the past has most often done good by unions. However, a review of the list readily reveals that the IEA also recommends Republican candidates when they promise to support issues favored by the IEA...and especially when incumbent Republicans have actually supported IEA-favored issues.

BOTTOM LINE: This is an important election...an election for individuals who will be called upon to make some VERY DIFFICULT CHOICES.

YOUR choice - TUESDAY - will be whether YOU help decide who will make those life-affecting decisions...or whether YOU "stay home" and let your friends and neighbors and strangers decide for you.

If you choose NOT TO VOTE, then, as I used to always tell the students in my Government class (substituting the word "complain" for the "B-word")...

"Do not bitch about the results...you had your chance!"

From the ieanea.org Website...