Tenth Dems interns with US Sen. Mark Begich

Highland Park, IL. – The Tenth Congressional District Democrats (“Tenth Dems”) is now accepting applications for its Summer Internship Program. Internships are available to high school juniors and seniors, college undergraduates, and graduate or law students. Numerous former interns have gone on to professional political careers in Washington, D.C., or currently staff national nonprofit organizations.

The 2012 campaign makes this the perfect time to complete a political internship. General assignments include door-to-door canvassing with candidates, work in campaign offices, and staffing of events and issue forums. Specialized assignments are also available in the areas of research, new media, IT management, and political outreach. In the past, interns have staffed Tenth Dems events featuring then-state legislator, and now President, Barack Obama, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, former Presidential nominee George McGovern, Governor and Presidential candidate Howard Dean, and Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, as well as numerous Illinois state and local elected officials. The program offers interns a great degree of flexibility to tailor their responsibilities to their interests.

Acceptance into the program is selective and generally contingent upon an interview. Applicants should submit a brief paragraph explaining why they are seeking the internship, along with a resume outlining their educational background and activities. (Neither need be formal.) Although the internships are unpaid educational volunteer positions, course credit is readily available with cooperating high schools and colleges. Summer interns are expected to commit sixteen to twenty hours per week. The organization is particularly interested in applicants with web administration and/or data management skills.

The work that interns do has long been appreciated and recognized. At a recent fundraiser, keynote speaker Senator Mark Begich of Alaska noted with pleasure the presence of 2011 summer interns. Naming the event as one of the most well-organized functions he had ever attended, he called their presence particularly exciting “because the future rests not with us but with young people, especially those here.”

The Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats is a volunteer group with members from all parts of the 10th Congressional District. The 10th District contains portions of both Cook and Lake Counties stretching from Winnetka through Zion and from Lake Michigan west through Round Lake. The District includes all or part of the following townships: Avon, Benton, Deerfield, Grant, Libertyville, Moraine, Shields, Waukegan, West Deerfield, Vernon, Zion and parts of Fremont, Lake Villa, Maine, New Trier, Newport, Northfield, Warren, and Wheeling. Inquiries may be directed to Rian Watt, Intern Coordinator, at rianwatt@tenthdems.org or Lauren Beth Gash, Chair, at laurenbethgash@gmail.com.

Internship deadline approaching is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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Time: 7:00 pm

Location: College of Lake County Lakeshore Campus, Room 008
One N Genesee St, Waukegan

Contact: To RSVP go online, call 847-266-VOTE (8693) or send an email.

Join us to celebrate the writing efforts of high school students from Waukegan, Zion, Gurnee and North Chicago. Prize winners will be announced. There will be an open mic for all student poets and writers. Light refreshments will be served.

Tenth Dems Community Connection Poetry and Prose Slam in Waukegan is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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Jeremy Zilber’s Why Mommy is a Democrat is an illustrated, full-color paperback about Democratic values. You can find it, along with Obama 2012 pins and bumper stickers, crystal pins and earrings, and more, at Tenth Dems’ new online store.

Click here to visit the new online store!

Some of the items in Tenth Dems' new online store

We are not forgetting Democratic fathers, so plan ahead and order Why Daddy Is a Democrat at the same time.

Want to help sell merchandise? To purchase items in bulk, or to learn more about the Merchandise Fundraising Team, email us or call (847) 266-VOTE.

Mother’s Day is May 13 is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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Tenth Dems Community Connection – Writing Contest – This year’s theme – Belongings – no charge to enter – open to High School Students – Gurnee, North Chicago, Waukegan, Zion – Deadline April 20, 2012 – Prizes in Poetry – $200, $100, 50 – Prizes in Prose – $200, $100, $50. Submit your application or for more information call – 847 – 266 – VOTE!

Community Connection – Writing Contest – This Year’s Theme – Belongings is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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Ilya Sheyman (from left), Vivek Bavda, John Tree, and Brad Schneider show unity.

Join all four candidates who ran in the 10th Congressional District race—Vivek Bavda, Brad Schneider, Ilya Sheyman, and John Tree—at the free Democratic Unity 2012 Party on Thursday, March 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at The Cubby Bear North, 21661 N. Milwaukee Ave., Lincolnshire. Joining us will be Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, 9th District.

Electing Democrats to all levels of government in the 10th Congressional District is the mission of the Tenth Congressional District Democrats (Tenth Dems for short). The Democratic Unity Party has become a biennial tradition for Tenth Dems. After every primary, Tenth Dems brings together participants from all the Democratic campaigns in the 10th to focus our sights on victory in November.

Uniting our efforts will be critical in the 2012 general election. The term “too extreme” fits many of the Republican opponents on the ballot “to a tea.”

Who: All Democrats
What: Democratic Unity 2012 Party … free!
Where: The Cubby Bear North, 21661 N. Milwaukee Ave., Lincolnshire, IL 60069
When: Thursday, March 22, 2012, 5:30 -7:30 p.m.

Contact: RSVP to Tenth Dems online, for more information and/or to volunteer, call us at 847-266-VOTE (8683) or send an email. When you call or write, please give your contact information (name, address, phone number).

We’ve worked hard for the primary candidates of our choice. Let’s celebrate as Democrats together and move forward to victory in November!

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Join All Four—Sheyman, Bavda, Tree, and Schneider—at Unity Party Tonight is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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“The primary energizes the momentum for the general election. All our nominees have worked very hard at developing strong organizations that are ready to move on to November,” said Lauren Beth Gash, Tenth Dems Chairperson. “Voters are enthusiastic about our Democratic candidates.”

The hotly contested race for the U.S. 10^th District House seat resulted in Brad Schneider earning the nomination. Gash added, “Brad, who is not a newcomer to the political process, built a strong, dedicated and effective organization which moved today into general election mode, and will have the structure and experience to defeat Bob Dold in the fall.”

The three other congressional candidates who ran, Ilya Sheyman, Vivek Bavda, and John Tree, promised to support Schneider in the general election against Republican Robert Dold (Kenilworth), the incumbent who no longer lives in the newly drawn 10th District.

“The candidates for that race fought very hard and were terrific,” continued Gash. “There is no question that Ilya built an amazingly solid, local grassroots movement, deeply devoted to working for causes that matter to people in our area. All the candidates did well.  Newcomers to the political process rarely poll as high as John Tree and Vivek Bavda did — a testament to their strength.”

“We need a new representative in Congress who will fight for the values of 10th District residents, not an obstructionist who undermines our President’s agenda and tries to eliminate the social programs necessary to strengthen our economy.  We need to work for progress, not against progress, as incumbent Congressman Dold seems to be doing.”

In regard to the overall election process, Gash added, “The primary significantly strengthened every last candidate, and we are proud of them all.”

To open a new fresh chapter in the 2012 Illinois election season, the Tenth Dems will host a Democratic Unity party on Thursday, March 22, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the CubbyBear North, 21661 N. Milwaukee Avenue, Lincolnshire.

This party is a celebration of all the hard work by candidates, their families and friends, and their supporters.

10th District Democratic Campaigns Herald November Excitement is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.

—Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Brad Schneider (middle, with the tie) with supporters at the Tenth Dems Debate.

The primary competition is over. It was useful, but cooperation is the thing we must strive for today. We must unite behind Brad Schneider and work for Democrats throughout the 10th District, because we have a shared vision for the community, for the state, and for the country.

Economically, America is moving in the right direction, but Americans face many challenges. We need to elect a leader to Congress like Brad, who will work to improve the economy and to increase the number of jobs.

America needs to invest in its infrastructure—and one of Brad’s key issues includes creating public and private partnerships to reinvest and  rebuild our national infrastructure—by repairing roads and bridges, modernizing mass transit, adequately funding clean energy research and development, and improving the electric grid system.

Illinois is in a prime position to be a leader when it comes to creating high-quality, 21st century jobs. This issue is not about the last 25 months, it is about the next 25 years. The state and our communities are home to innovative, dynamic businesses both large and small; great research universities, community colleges, and high schools; and plenty of additional institutions and leaders that can help propagate investment in job training and education. To move forward, we must stop unfairly castigating teachers and instead provide the resources needed so that these passionate professionals can do their jobs.

And to keep the country moving forward, Brad agrees that we need to continue to ensure healthcare coverage for all Americans. We need to protect funding for Medicare, because the system as it is now works quite well while saving the country money. Any effort to herd the sick and needy seniors into a separate but unequal government program while the well-off are able to get vouchers for private care is a recipe for failure.

In 2010, Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. It ensures insurance coverage to 30 million more Americans, including those with pre-existing conditions. As the result of many, many compromises, it is not a piece that of legislation that pleases everyone, for the understatement of the year. Called by the right “Obamacare,” the ACA has been unfairly, almost comically derided. But the Heritage Foundation and Milton Friedman, among others, were for individual mandates before they were against it. And a similar statewide program is by and large working in Massachusetts. We need to save the ACA from those that would repeal it with no alternative in sight.

And, incredibly, it being 2012 and all, there are those who would repeal a women’s right to complete access to healthcare, and they need to be stopped. A woman and her doctor should make important medical decisions together … not a woman and her employer. Brad will oppose any legislation that limits women’s access to full and comprehensive healthcare.

As a nation with a burgeoning deficit, how can we pay for all of this? One side thinks that if we just continue more tax cuts on the wealthy, the subsequent boom will cure everything, although that theory was debunked from 2000 to 2008. Brad is someone who can responsibly address spending and revenues. He is for tax fairness, but he is keen on sustaining the job growth and economic gains that America has made recently.

Brad Schneider has been a strategic management consultant for more than 25 years, after receiving his received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 1983 and his MBA in 1988 from Northwestern University. A small businessman, he also owned and managed a life insurance agency from 1997 to  2003. He has the experience and vision to help the 10th Congressional District and America move forward.

Cooperation: Unite Behind Brad is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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Electing Democrats to all levels of government in the 10th Congressional District is the mission of Tenth Dems. One next fun step toward the general election is the free Democratic Unity 2012 Party on Thursday, March 22, from 5:30 to 7:30, at The Cubby Bear North, 21661 N. Milwaukee Ave., Lincolnshire.

The Democratic Unity Party has become a biennial tradition for Tenth Dems. After the last two primaries, Tenth Dems brought together participants from all the Democratic campaigns in the 10th to focus our sights on victory in November.

Uniting our efforts will be critical in the 2012 general election. The term “too extreme” fits many of the Republican opponents on the ballot “to a tea.”

What: Democratic Unity 2012 Party … free!
Where: The Cubby Bear North, 21661 N. Milwaukee Ave., Lincolnshire, IL 60069
When: Thursday, March 22, 2012, 5:30 -7:30 p.m.

The Tenth Congressional District Democrats, or Tenth Dems for short, is a group of grassroots political volunteers who formed the organization in late 2003 to help elect Democrats to all levels of government throughout the 10th District.

Contact: RSVP to Tenth Dems online, for more information and/or to volunteer, call us at 847-266-VOTE (8683) or send an email. When you call or write, please give your contact information (name, address, phone number).

We’ve worked hard for the primary candidates of our choice. Let’s celebrate as Democrats together and move forward to victory in November!

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All Together: PARTY!!! is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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The convention was hosted by the Tenth Congressional District Democrats, or Tenth Dems. Candidates running for election at all levels of government from all parts of the district were able to meet active and passionate Democrats and interested independents.

The Tenth Dems members conducted a straw poll for their favorite congressional candidate in the March 20 primary, with Vivek Bavda receiving 1 percent, Brad Schneider getting 6 percent, John Tree getting 20 percent, and Ilya Sheyman garnering 73 percent. While the convention was open to the public, only Tenth Dems members were eligible to vote.

The keynote speaker was Fay Hartog-Levin, the 65th Ambassador to the Netherlands. Ambassador Levin’s speech reminded everyone what the task at hand is—getting out the vote and sending Democrats to Washington, to Springfield, and to the many local offices in the district. “The country needs Barack Obama,” Levin said. “But the world needs him even more.

“There was a generation in the world that only saw America through George W. Bush’s eyes,” Ambassador Levin added. “The international community needed to see America through President Obama’s eyes. The Dutch and the international community never understood, for example, how a country with the wealth and influence of the United States did not allow many of its citizens access to health care.”

Ambassador Levin was a senior consultant at Res Publica Group from 2006 to 2009, was Vice President for External Affairs at Chicago’s Field Museum from 1997 to 2005, and was an attorney in private practice and at Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather and Geraldson. Ambassador Levin’s parents were Dutch citizens who left the Netherlands during WWII, and immigrated to the U.S. thereafter.

Other speakers at the convention vowed to unify after the primary to change the direction of the country and the district. “The rally was a fun event and a great way to energize voters,” said Northfield Trustee Karen McCormick. Other speakers spoke in amazement at the number and the energy of the attendees.

The chair of the event was John Hmurovic, who has been the vice chair of Tenth Dems since 2003 and is a recognized expert in area politics. Hmurovic has been chair of Tenth Dems since 2006, he served as precinct committeeman in Libertyville, and he was the campaign manager for State Rep. Karen May in 2006, 2008, 2010, and for Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering in 2009.

This good old-fashioned political convention was headlined by most of the local candidates running in any precinct within the geographic boundaries of the 10th District, and it featured rousing music, sign-waving to support Democratic candidates, and more.

The Tenth Congressional District Democrats, or Tenth Dems for short, is a group of grassroots political volunteers who formed the organization in late 2003 to help elect Democrats to all levels of government throughout the 10th District.

For more information or to volunteer, go to www.tenthdems.org, contact us, or call 847-266-VOTE (8683).

http://www.tenthdems.org/

More than 300 Democrats Rally at Tenth Dems Convention is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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Tenth Dems drew a crowd for the 10th Congressional District Debate

The convention is an outstanding opportunity for candidates to meet active and passionate Democrats and interested Independents. Invited candidates are running for election at all levels of government from all parts of the district. The straw poll will give participants a chance to cast votes for their favorite congressional candidate in the March 20 primary.

This will be a good old-fashioned political convention with a chairperson, prominent speakers, rousing music, sign-waving to support Democratic candidates, balloons, and more. The event is free and open to the public; however, only Tenth Dems members may vote in our straw poll.

Tenth Dems expects a good-sized crowd Over 500 people attended our first convention in 2008. The 10th District Democratic Convention will be a fun event and a great way to energize area Democrats and Independents. The Tenth Congressional District Democrats, or Tenth Dems for short, is a group of grassroots political volunteers who formed the organization in late 2003 to help elect Democrats to all levels of government throughout the 10th District.

For more information, go to www.tenthdems.org, email info@tenthdems.org, or call 847-266-VOTE (8683).

http://www.tenthdems.org/

The Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats is a volunteer group with members from all parts of the 10th Congressional District. The 10th District contains portions of both Cook and Lake Counties stretching from Winnetka through Waukegan and from Lake Michigan west through Round Lake. The District includes all or part of the following townships: Avon, Benton, Deerfield, Grant, Libertyville, Moraine, Shields, Waukegan, West Deerfield, Vernon, Zion and parts of Fremont, Lake Villa, Maine, New Trier, Newport, Northfield, Warren, and Wheeling

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Tenth Dems To Throw a Good Old-Fashioned Political Convention is a post from Illinois Tenth Congressional District Democrats

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