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TBP: Meet The Independent--my intervidiew with Jim Madigan

Last week I co-interviewed Jim Madigan with Tom Mannis of the Chicago News Bench, and the video of that interview has gone up throughout the week. With 4 out of the 5 video posted of our interview, I posted the lot of it at Bilerico.com. Jim Madigan--if you're new to my blog--is running for the State Senate seat that covers the neighborhood that Rod Blagojevich lives in. His opponent? The State Senator--and former Blagojevich fundraiser--who introduced the Illinois marriage equality bill in the Illinois Senate this spring (despite being expected to introduce the Civil Unions bill instead) and then promptly forgot about it. Heather Steans--whose drunk husband crashed a Madigan fundraiser last month!

Why is Jim Madigan's election important to anyone outside of his district? Illinois has a shot at becoming one of the next marriage equality states IF we play our cards right, and we play them before Democrats lose their power in Springfield. A constitutional amendment by ballot is impossible in Illinois, so a marriage equality win would be permanent. However, until we compel the Democratic political machine to move on their promises of securing us a relationship recognition bill, we'll go nowhere. By electing more qualified and progressive leaders to the chambers who just happen to also be gay, we'll not only assure things like improvements in healthcare and education, but we'll also have lawmakers that won't drop the marriage baton when passed to them. Consider giving to Jim.

Meet the Independent: Jim Madigan vs 'The Machine':
"Jim Madigan is taking a big risk. He's running against the infamous Chicago Democratic Machine to try to become Illinois's only openly gay state Senator.

Check this guy out, he knows his stuff. And he's got what it takes to go toe to toe with former Governor Rod Blagojevich fundraiser Heather Steans; whose husband grabbed headlines by showing up drunk and crashing a Madigan fundraiser last month.

Tom Mannis of the Chicago News Bench and I jointly interviewed Jim over Skype two weeks ago. Check out Jim and what he's offering the people of Illinois--especially marriage equality advocates nationwide, who would see a win in Illinois as a nearly irreversible victory because of the difficulty of amending the Illinois Constitution..."
To read the rest, and watch the video, please visit "Meet the Independent: Jim Madigan vs 'The Machine'" at The Bilerico Project.

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