Lots of Energy at the Seals Campaign

I have had such a great experience meeting everyone in
the office and learning about how a campaign gets things done. The
staff here constantly amazes me by their amount of dedication to the
campaign, their level of enthusiasm and friendliness never seems to
waver. Everyone seems to always be doing four things at once and the field organizers are
so patient with explaining everything to the volunteers and answering
endless questions. The volunteers too are a great group of people,
they know how to get a lot done while having fun and joking around at
the same time.  Even Dan himself is waving at everyone as he walks by
and stops to chat with people as he is leaving the office.  It is
clear that Dan has inspired many people to want to help him bring
change to Washington and make an impact!

Even at the environmental event on Saturday in Winnetka about reducing
your carbon footprint with Dan and a guest speaker from
ecohatchery.com, I saw lots of familiar faces.   At this event I
learned some new tips on how to help the environment, like cleaning
the coils on the back of your refrigerator to lower your energy bill
and that the amount of mercury in Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs
(CFLs, which use much less energy) is only the equivalent of eating
two pounds of swordfish.  I was impressed by what Dan Seals knew about
the topic, I believe Dan Seals working with the City of Chicago on
Green Projects is one of his biggest assets, because in the coming
years the environment will become any only more prevalent issue. Going
to a Dan event or an event with all of the candidates is really the
best way to learn what Dan is all about, since I saw him answering
lots of individual questions before and after.  I look forward to
coming into the office Monday through Thursdays and I am even more
excited to see him win on February 2nd!

Anna Richmond
Marquette University
Intern

College Affordability

“Thank you, have a nice evening,” I said with an automatic smile, clearing the dishes from the table and stuffing a few soggy bills in my pocket. And then it hit me: how many more times would I have to say those words? How many dirty dishes would I have to clear? Could I do this for the rest of my life?

Last year, while my peers came to school swathed in the colors of their university of choice and debated between Dartmouth and Cornell, I struggled to come to terms with the possibility that I might not be able to go to college at all. While my friends waited for acceptance letters, I waited tables and prayed that something, somehow, would come through.

I need more tips like this...

My First Day

Hello, this is Shao-Hai Guo with my first blog post of the year. Today, was my first day interning at the Dan Seals for Congress Campaign! Dan was in the office today and I actually got to shake his hand! I’m very happy right now about working for him and making a difference.  Anyway, I am going to be doing this until Dan Seals wins the election. I think he is a really great guy and his policies are sound and effective.  I look forward to having Dan Seals in as my Congressman and fighting for me.

This is Shao signing off!

Shao-Hai Guo
New Trier High School
Students for Seals, Intern

Walk, Talk, Motivate

To most people, students especially, the election might seem pretty far away. After all, that’s over a semester away, but now is the time to really get enthusiastic so that when February and next November comes around we can be sure that we have helped put Dan in the best possible position we can.

One way we can all help Dan get elected is something we’re all really good at: talking. By just talking to your friends about Dan more accomplishes more than you might think. By just telling people why you support him, you’re getting the word out.

A Young Jewish Perspective on Beth El

Besides the obvious of getting to skip my AP stats homework, the reason why I decided to spend the time to write this post for all of the visitors was to share my views on the recent Men's Club of North Suburban Synagogue Beth El candidate forum.

I attended the event last week and it was awesome. They managed to get seven of the eight candidates for Congress to come and gave them each five minutes to talk about whatever they wanted. Being that it was held a Synagogue, it was imminent that most of the candidates took their time to talk about Israel. As a person who has religious and close family ties to Israel, I was excited to hear what the candidates had to say. Instead what happened, at least in my opinion, was candidate by candidate using cheesy slogans to try to one up each other on how strong they supported Israel, without giving initiative on how they would do so.

Activate!

We are the future and we have to start acting like it.  Not only do we have to get to the polls on Election Day, we have to start talking about the issues we care about and trying to make a difference.  We are students.  We are consumers.  We are employees.  We get sick.  What we think and do matters.  Unfortunately, many people in our generation don’t care or don’t think that we count.

Let me tell you though, last year is proof that when we put our minds to something—we get the job done.  Young people came out in droves last year and worked for changed.  It paid off and we helped elect Barack Obama.

We can start right here.  Express your views.  Talk about health care, college affordability, or getting out of school and finding a job.  Dan Seals cares what we think and is a strong advocate for getting everyone involved in the political and legislative process.

A Minor Consolation

The New York State Senate voted 38-24 Wednesday against a bill to legalize gay marriage. The Huffington Post picked up the story as it was happening, and their summary reported the NY Democrats believed they finally had enough votes to pass the measure. 

I joined more than 10,000 others in watching the live stream of the debate. I was entranced by State Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson’s story of her search for an estranged brother, who was born in 1930 and fled to France as a gay adult. And I watched as State Sen. Thomas Duane rambled on for what seemed like hours, possibly allowing party members to strong-arm undecided Republicans into voting for the bill. Duane was funny, weird and sympathetic...