Is Duckworth Ready to Fight Back?

I never commented again on the big Bush/Denny Hastert lovefest in Chicago last week. The Prez stood up and basically said he supports Denny in the House speakership today, tomorrow, and forever:

I am proud to be standing with the current Speaker of the House who is going to be the future Speaker Speaker Denny Hastert has a long record of accomplishment. You know, he's not one of these Washington politicians who spews a lot of hot air. He just gets the job done. . . . . He has delivered results for the people; this country is better off with Denny Hastert as the Speaker, and it will be better off when he's the Speaker in the next legislative session.

It was almost heartwarming to see two of the most unpopular Republicans today huddling with each other for warmth and comfort.

But let's don't forget the ostensible reason for the event, raising over a million dollars for congressional candidates Peter Roskam and David McSweeney. Roskam realized he was there for the cash rather than the camaraderie and made quick appearance and left to a debate Dem candidate Tammy Duckworth in their district. I'm reliably told that Duckworth took the fight straight to Roskam and displayed the feistiness necessary for Dems not only to win but to govern effectively in whatever house they recapture.

Unfortunately, Duckworth is running low on campaign cash at the moment. Although she's raised a lot, she spent a lot on TV last month to maker her competitive in this race. That did the trick, but her TV advertising has dried up lately. At the end of last month, she had $200,000, compared to $1.5 million for Roskam, and that was before the Bush/Hastert fundraising windfall. If you're in the Chicago market, you've no doubt seen see the Roskam ads misrepresenting Duckworth's position on illegal aliens. Duckworth's defense has so far been very noticeable by its absence. But the situation might not be quite as dire as it seems. According to the Chicago Tribune, things may be looking up. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is "committed to spending $2.3 million in the race, and Democratic committee ads were expected to begin Tuesday." Further, the Trib reports that Bill Clinton will drop by for a fundraiser with Duckworth next week. And it's only a fitting match to the former president to have, according to ABC7's Andy Shaw, Time magazine's potential next president, as well. Shaw reports that Barak Obama has completed an ad that takes direct aim at the Roskam immigration spots. Those are due to start airing tomorrow (actually, it will be today by the time I post this).

From what I've seen, Duckworth supporters have been feeling somewhat dejected lately, but is there reason for them to start looking up again? Let's all hope so. Of course, no matter what kind of star power comes out to shine for Duckworth, it never hurts to keep the grassroots going. Jump in by making your own donation, either at her own contribution site or at her page at ActBlue. And to keep up with this race more closely, you could do worse than checking out Mark Garritys Subdomain at TPMCafe.