Atanus for Congress: Schakowsky Gets Free Ride in the 9th

Anyone who has ever worked in a legislative office knows of a certain phenomenon called "nut mail."

This consists of letters from various constituents and non constituents wherein the correspondent complains of such things as their dental fillings which are really CIA radio receivers broadcasting incessantly to their brains.

Or they detail vast conspiracies, which extend back to the Opium Wars in China, in which the Koch Brothers and the Queen of England make fabulous profits distributing drugs in the US.

Nut mail can usually be recognized by red ink writing in the margins or the use of interesting ink colors to emphasize key points.

The best that local Republicans could come up in 2014 as standard bearer for Congress in the Illinois 9th district, is one Susanne Atanus and she has elevated the fine art of nut mail to the level of campaign lawn signs.

Hand made with black magic markers, they feature a photo of the fetching Ms. Atanus in front of an American flag and proclaim her to be the "Best, Greatest Leader!"

Ms. Atanus' hand made signs also promise "Daily Stock Returns", "More Jobs" and financial relief for any remaining nonagenarian holocaust victims.


To be sure, these are all vital concerns to the voters of Jan Schakowsky's 9th Congressional District.

But what we want to know is what Ms. Atanus is going to do about all those CIA radio receiver dental fillings.

And also, did the vaunted Evanston Democratic Schakowsky machine put this nut up to ensure that the ultra left wing Congresswoman gets a free ride?

Pollak Ties Down Schakowsky's Cash in the 9th

I find it genuinely amusing that ultra-liberal Congresswoman, Jan Schakowsky is actually being forced to campaign for re-election for a change.

In past election cycles, she was given a de-facto pass by the anemic local GOP organizations who fielded candidates that were woeful, at best, laughable at worst.

In 2006, the GOP opponent to Schakowsky was a clown named Michael Shannon, who said at the outset, money was an evil influence in elections, so he would not take any contributions. He spent his time, selling campaign tee shirts and totebags, and basically, agreeing with Schakowsky on most issues. He got the standard 24% GOP Congressional vote.

Then in 2008, a young, political neophyte small businessman, named Michael Younan ran. He promised to harness the massive Assyrian-American vote in the district and ride that to victory. As usual, the Assyrians were invisible politically and he too got the standard 25% GOP Congressional vote.

But this time, thirty-something, Joel Pollak, an Orthodox Jew who was born in South Africa and went to Harvard, is actually spending money and running an energetic campaign. He looks kind of like the love child that would result from a tryst between Vanessa Redgrave and Howdy Doody.

But he is actually making Schakowsky squirm a bit, and that is good fun.

As of the October 13th FEC filing, he had forced her to spend $1.2 million of her massive campaign warchest. Altho she still has about half a million cash on hand to Pollack's $450, that is money that in previous years she would have been doling out to other liberal candidates across the country.

So Pollak, is performing an admirable service by tying her resources down here, so that more conservatives can win elsewhere.

But the 9th Congressional district has been so gerrymandered that John Wayne Gacy's ghost could win on the Democratic line.

It takes in everything from nominally Republican Park Ridge to the slums of Uptown. It takes in the most liberal North Suburban communities like Skokie and Evanston and the populous gay "Boystown" around Halsted and Belmont.

Even in this promising Republican year, Pollak, despite having spent more than a half-mil and having run a colorfully energetic campaign, would need a miracle to beat Schakowsky.

He'll get more than the standard 25% knee-jerk, Republican vote. He might even break into the 40th percentile. But the aging socialist windbag, Schakowsky will return to Congress. This time, however, in the House minority.

Still it's fun to see Schakowsky squirm a bit for a change.