I've been campaigning for Mark Pera in the 11th Ward. It's a nearly-isolated island of the 3d Congressional District. As Yoda wrote earlier, we have seen nobody else out for this race. (I mean nobody out for the other three candidates. We have seen non-members of NDFA help us. Most Pera volunteers who aren't involved in our group campaign elsewhere.)
I've seen one states-attorney candidate's flyers and something for a guy who'w running for Republican committeeman. I've seen a mailing from a state-senate candidate in an open mailbox. I've seen nothing from Bennet or Caparelli.
I've seen nothing from Dan Lipinski, either -- but the machine has the people in place to cover the area in the last week before the election. Nobody else does.
Which leads to the question of whether Jerry Bennet really wants to win this election. (Whether Jim Capparelli has any campaign is open to debate; he certainly has no chance.) If Bennet wants to win the election, he has to cover all the district. If he just wants to split the anti-Lipinski vote, he's doing just what he needs to do. He's looking something like the anti-Lipinski candidate in the 'burbs. If he matches Pera's vote there, Lipinski will win.
He has no presence in the 11th. If he has no presence in the city -- which contains 40% of the population -- it is not a serious campaign.
