GROOT'S VOTER GUIDE 2004

Before we begin I want to everyone to know about two great
events happening during the upcoming election.

ELECTION NIGHT BENEFIT BLOW-OUT AT HOT HOUSE
Nov. 2nd @6PM, join Chicago Indymedia and Third Coast Press for
an Election Night Benefit at Hot House. Watch the election returns
with us and cry in your beer no matter who wins. More info here:
chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/48078/index.php

POST-ELECTION CANDLELIGHT RALLY
Whoever Wins the Election, the War on Iraq Continues!
Stop the War, End the Occupations
Nov. 3rd @ 5PM Federal Plaza. More info here:
chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/47892/index.php

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HERE WE GO!

Please go to this page:
www.audiovideoweb.tv/voter

for text & images or read text only right here to see who I'm
endorsing this time.

Election Day is Tuesday 11/2/04. Be sure to Vote!!

This is my fourth voter guide. In it I list my endorsements in a
number of national and local elections. People often ask me about
politics and elections so I have created this guide to help them
make an informed choice at the polls. In this voter guide I cover
races in Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana.

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YOU MAY BRING THIS INTO THE VOTING BOOTH WITH YOU.
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Find out how your member of Congress voted on the War on Iraq.

When the Congressional vote on the use of force in Iraq happened
in 2002 I prepared a complete list of each member of the House &
Senate and how they voted. You can look up your member of
Congress and find out whether or not they deserve re-election. It's
all here at this link:
members.aol.com/jongroot/more.html

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PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

I'm not a big fan of voting for the lesser of the two evils. I am
personally sick of moderate to right-leaning democrats being in the
running for the top job. Neither the Democrat nor Republican
candidate in the 2004 Presidential elections is against the
occupation of Iraq. Neither candidate is demanding a universal
health care system, immediate steps to stop global warming, the
racist war on drugs, or the outsourcing of jobs. What attitude
should progressives take to these "choices" in the 2004 election?

This isn't easy for someone who has long supported third party
candidates, and who voted third party in 2000, but I'm going to say
it: We progressives need to vote for John Kerry.

Voting for Kerry is only the first step. Any progressive who casts a
vote for this unprincipled, calculating, Democratic Leadership
Council member needs to simultaneously take a vow to remain
active-no, to become even more active--in pushing for a
progressive, anti-war agenda after November 2. We on the left,
also need to get involved at the grass-roots level in remaking the
Democratic Party, which we have for years left to rot in the hands
of the Democratic Leadership Council and their corporate
paymasters. The mistake that the left made in 1992, with the
election of Bill Clinton, was that we all breathed a huge sigh of
relief at being rid of the Reagan/Bush era, and went about our
business, figuring that we had a Democrat in the White House, and
so all would be well. Let's not make that mistake again.

PRESIDENT & VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:

George Bush (Republican)(Incumbent)
& Richard Cheney (Republican)(Incumbent)

John Kerry (Democrat) - United States Senator
& John Edwards (Democrat) - United States Senator

Michael Badnarik (Libertarian Party) - Consultant
& Richard Campagna (Libertarian Party) - Instructor

Ralph Nader (Independent) Consumer Advocate
& Peter Camejo (Independent) Environmentalist
(Not on the ballot in Illinois, & Indiana but write in certified in both
states)

MY ENDORSEMENT:
John Kerry (Democrat)
& John Edwards (Democrat)

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ILLINOIS


U.S. SENATOR, ILLINOIS

Senator-elect Barack Obama is going to win this race with a
landslide. One week before the election he was polling at 70%. I
like his voting record in the Illinois Senate and he will be a good
Senator if he sticks to his principles like our other Senator Dick
Durbin has. I hope the conservative Democrats don't convince him
to sell out to the special interests. The Republican candidate Alan
Keyes is a right wing pro-life wacko who was put on the ballot at
the last minute after a scandal took out the primary winner. To his
credit he isn't a globalist and believes we should impose tariffs on
countries that undercut American farmers and manufacturers with
cheap products.


U.S. SENATOR, ILLINOIS:

Barack Obama (Democrat) - Illinois State Senator
Alan Keyes (Republican) - Former Ambassador & Talk Show Host
Jerry Kohn (Libertarian Party) - High School Teacher
Albert Franzen (Independent) - Union Official

MY ENDORSEMENT:
Barack Obama (Democrat)

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OTHER ILLINOIS RACES


COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY:

Dick Devine (Democrat)(Incumbent)
Phillip Spiwak (Republican)

MY ENDORSEMENT:

I can give no endorsement for this race. I don't want to endorse a
Republican for this office, but I cannot endorse Dick Devine either.
I wish we had a third party candidate here.

The Ryan Harris murder fiasco remains a black eye for Devine's
office. That is the case in which authorities accused and confined a
7-year-old and an 8-year-old for allegedly murdering 11-year-old
Harris, charges that eventually were dropped. Prosecutors even
coerced a confession from these children. While law enforcement
spent weeks insisting on the unlikely, the real killer roamed free.
Just last week the City of Chicago settled out of court with the
family of one of the suspects. It cost the taxpayers two million
dollars.


U.S. CONGRESS, ILLINOIS:

District 1:

Bobby Rush (Democrat)(Incumbent)
Raymond G. Wardingley (Republican) - Entertainer
MY ENDORSEMENT:
Bobby Rush (Democrat)(Incumbent)


District 2:

Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (Democrat)(Incumbent)
Stephanie Sailor (Republican) Instructor
MY ENDORSEMENT:
Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (Democrat)(Incumbent)


District 5:

Rahm Emanuel (Democrat)(Incumbent)
Bruce Best (Republican) - Teacher
MY ENDORSEMENT:
Rahm Emanuel (Democrat)


District 6:

Henry Hyde (Republican)(Incumbent)
Christine Cegelis (Democrat) Marketing Specialist
MY ENDORSEMENT:
Christine Cegelis (Democrat)


District 7:

Danny K. Davis (Democrat)(Incumbent)
Antonio Davis-Fairman (Republican) - Businessman
MY ENDORSEMENT:
Danny K. Davis (Democrat)(Incumbent)


District 9:

Janice D. 'Jan' Schakowsky (Democrat)(Incumbent)
Kurt J. Eckhardt (Republican) Member, Chicago Board of Trade
MY ENDORSEMENT:
Janice D. 'Jan' Schakowsky (Democrat)


***Judges***

COOK COUNTY JUDICIAL CIRCUIT 4TH SUBCIRCUIT

Deirdre Ann McGuire (Democrat)
Bill Kunkle (Republican)
MY ENDORSEMENT:
Deirdre Ann McGuire (Democrat)


COOK COUNTY JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

Dennis James Morrissey
Retained in office? NO

Dorothy F. Jones
Retained in office? NO

William D. O'Neal
Retained in office? NO

Susan Jeanine McDunn
Retained in office? NO


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MICHIGAN

U.S. CONGRESS, MICHIGAN:

District 6:

Fred Upton (Republican)(Incumbent)
Scott Elliott (Democrat)
Randall MacPhee (Green Party)
W. Dennis FitzSimons (US Taxpayers Party)
Erwin Haas (Libertarian)

MY ENDORSEMENT:
Scott Elliott (Democrat)


MICHIGAN BALLOT MEASURES:

Proposal 04-2

A PROPOSAL TO AMEND THE STATE CONSTITUTION TO
SPECIFY WHAT CAN BE RECOGNIZED AS A "MARRIAGE OR
SIMILAR UNION" FOR ANY PURPOSE

Amend the state constitution to provide that "the union of one man
and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement
recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose."

MY ENDORSEMENT:
Vote No

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INDIANA


U.S. SENATOR, INDIANA:

B. Evan Bayh (Democrat)(Incumbent)
Marvin Bailey Scott (Republican) - University Professor
Albert Barger (Libertarian Party)

MY ENDORSEMENT:
B. Evan Bayh (Democrat)

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You can find more information about the election and any
candidates or regions I have left out of this voter guide by checking
out the following links

Project Vote Smart: www.vote-smart.org
Cook County Clerk: www.voterinfonet.com
Independent Voters of Illinois (IVI-IPO): www.iviipo.org
Michigan Voter Information Center: www.sospublius.org


========================================
Jon Groot
jmarley (at) rcn.com

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"The perfect slave thinks he's free"
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