Health & Fitness
Barrington Votes - Game on!
It's game day for Republican candidates. Two upcoming events in Barrington give voters a chance to start sizing up their alternatives for the March 2012 primary.
The 2012 primary campaign season has started. Candidates and their volunteers are already starting to circulate nominating petitions, raise money, and schedule public appearances as they do the initial work to get on the ballot in March. The November 2012 election may still seem far away, but as the Republican presidential debates and the latest speeches by President Obama have shown, the pre-season action has already started.
As highlighted recently, Newt Gingrich came to Barrington for a well-attended event to launch his campaign here. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is expected to come here for a major fundraiser in a few weeks. Rep. Michele Bachmann will be in the Joliet area for an event in a few days. Illinois may be regarded as a "deep blue" state by pundits, but it will have 69 delegates at the Republican convention next year, so the candidates are already starting to compete for donors and supporters here.
This week, there are a couple of events which may interest local voters.
Find out what's happening in Barringtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
On Thursday evening, September 22, some of the local conservative Republicans and "Tea Party" folks will gather at Chessie's 111 Grille to enjoy the next presidential debate together from Orlando on Fox News.
Find out what's happening in Barringtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Rather than sit at home and watch the debate on TV, this is a chance to get together with friends and neighbors to enjoy the action and commentary, somewhat like game day at a sports bar. It's not a catered event or fundraiser, but this is a chance to get together with conservative friends for dinner, drinks, and a little friendly politics that evening. The debate starts at 8pm.
This Sunday, the Northwest Suburban Young Republicans are hosting their annual barbecue event at Citizens Park in Barrington. This family event with music, games, and food generally attracts hundreds of people from throughout the region. It's not just for "young Republicans", but they're the hosts.
http://barringtonvotes.com/events/nw-suburban-young-republicans-bbq
Speakers this time will include Congressman Peter Roskam of the 6th District, which will be the new district for Barrington after the 2012 election because of the recent redistricting process. Various other local candidates for the 2012 primary and party officials can be expected to attend, so this is an informal chance to chat with many of them while enjoying an afternoon in the park. The event will be from noon to 3pm, after which many plan to adjourn to McGonigal's downtown for the Bears game.
There will be many other events this fall. The new Barrington Votes website will list many events and links to candidate websites and other information for the benefit of voters, regardless of party preference. We're adopting a "neighborhood watch" approach to both parties and the process of holding elected officials accountable for their actions.
In other words, if you see something which you think would interest Barrington voters, such as a campaign announcement, an event, or important news related to any of the candidates or elected officials, please consider sharing it through BarringtonVotes.com so that other voters can benefit from that information.
Rather than just complain about politicians, this provides a channel to help respect, listen, empower and inform local voters as the real leaders in our society. In short, we're the ones who hire the politicians and officials to perform the public services which we agree are needed. Just as you wouldn't hire the first person who showed up to run your business, and then turn that person loose without any supervision and expect that to work out well, we need to pay attention to our own civic responsibilities if we expect to achieve better outcomes. It's not enough to just vote and then assume that any bad outcome is somebody else's fault.
The only constraint is to keep it respectful, as you would when talking to friends or neighbors or when working with your colleagues. Individuals may passionately disagree on issues, candidates, priorities, and party preferences, but as with good sportsmanship, we should be able to compete very vigorously while still acting responsibly within some common sense rules of fair conduct, such as the "golden rule" about treating others as you would wish to be treated.
In that spirit, game on! The 2012 campaign season should be exciting.
For more information about 2012 candidates and upcoming events, visit
