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On "Launch Day" Rodriguez and his campaign team began at 9 a.m.
in Eureka. Lincoln/Logan County was the second of three stops in
what he promises will be one of the most vigorous campaigns for the
18th District seen in the history of Illinois. By campaign's end
they will have visited communities in every county in the 18th.
It was just a couple short weeks ago at a meeting in Mason City that
the Democratic Party asked Rodriguez to accept the nomination and he
accepted.
Rodriguez knows the odds are against him and it requires an
assertive campaign. He noted that in Logan County it has been over
50 years since a democrat held the 18th, but in his home county of
Woodford that record is over 100 years.
It was just this past September that Darin LaHood won the 18th seat
in a special election. It had been held for six years by Aaron
Schock who vacated mid-term.
 Stipulating, "I have no animosity toward the congressman." Rodriguez
said. "We want to challenge Congressman LaHood on specific policy
points. This is going to be a campaign based on issues. It is going
to be based on what is in the best interests of the residents that
live in the 18th Illinois District," he said.
"We want to represent the common man here in the 18th. We want to
challenge the congressman on each issue point-by-point. We hope that
he will accept our offer to debate on many occasions.
Rodriguez reflected on many of the characters and strengths from our
history and the impact.
He began with John Logan, for who Logan County is named and who was
considered one of the greatest heroes in the state of Illinois. In
his time, one of the most turbulent in our country, there was a
possible succession movement, and the Land of Lincoln might even
split over the cause of slavery. He was so respected, people waited
to see what Logan would say. Logan chose the Union, which not only
decided Illinois staying together and solid, but impacted the Union
remaining strong, he said.
Rodriguez said, "Now, Logan County has the possibility of being one
of those locations where people will be looking in November to see
if Logan (County) is willing make an important turn. "We will
compete in every county of 18th district," he said.
Today, the government has been described as broken by gridlock, he
said.
The message that we share, is that for "elected individuals of both
parties who have a willingness to work together, who have a
willingness to believe," bipartisanship is possible, Rodriguez said.
It is his belief and goal that reaching through party lines and
finding answers to issues together would result in "the rise of the
middle."
 Rodriguez said, that the last decade has seen movement of both the
liberal left and conservative right coming closer together. And,
that this movement has not been viewed as favorable by all.
He said, "I believe that there is a way that people of good faith
can come together and find a common cause. This is what the founders
intended.
"The founders did not intend that our society would be dominated by
big money and special interests, and (by) people who are career
politicians.
On that note, Rodriguez threw in that he believes in term limits.
Continuing, he said that he believes in collective knowledge, and
said that they would listen to the wisdom of what people have to
share.
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At his nomination in Mason City people began right away telling him
their needs. That day people shared:
- a thirty-year truck driver worried about his pension.
- a career teacher/coach concerned about the quality of
education.
- grandparents worried that grandchildren don't see real
career opportunities in their small towns and will move on.
- small towns don't seem to give youth the opportunities that
they can aspire to.
He said, "I believe that we can change that by:
- focusing on programs that will create jobs.
- focus on utilizing assets that we already have within the
district.
- leverage those assets to provide education and training
for those individuals who need it, so they can continue to
compete in a new economy.
- We need to do that while focusing on infrastructure
improvements and developments because this is jobs creation,
but it is also forward thinking.
"We need to be thinking not only on what is in our best
interest for the next two years, the next four years, but
what is going to be in the best interest for the next
generation.
"Government does not have all the answers to these things.
But government officials working together, working across
the isle, can find common solutions that can make our lives
better.
"The answers are going to be found on America's main
streets. They're going to be found in communities large and
small, where people of goodwill come together, share their
ideas, are willing to engage," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said that he believes that by bringing together
republicans and democrats in common causes, "This is the way
that we move forward."
"This is the rise of the middle!"
From here forward, we have an opportunity where we can make
things better, he said.
His answer to why get into politics at this time?
"I look at what is going on in the country at this time, and
I'm not satisfied. I see tremendous polarization. I see
politics today where the image has become much more than the
substance.
"Every single generation in this country has had a moral
obligation. That is to take the society that they inherited,
to do every thing that they could to make it better, and to
bequeath that to the next generation. I don't want my
generation to be the generation that failed in this effort.
 "I firmly believe that each and every one of us will come to
a point at one time in our lives where we have to stand in
judgment; both for the things that we did in our lifetime,
and for those times when we failed to act.
Rodriguez said that he believes this to be a critical time
in history when the system is said to be broken and
irreparable. "It would be surrendering to the cynicism that
only big money and political class can govern effectively."
He said, "We're going to bring a new message."
Recalling Illinois' historic strength that saw farm and coal
mine settlers; the state leading the country in movement
against slavery; and improving inequalities against women as
the first state east of the Mississippi to give the right to
vote; and now looking at today's current political climate
of cynicism, he said, "The politics of the old will no
longer suffice. The middle is rising. This is our century.
We have an opportunity to change things."
Rodriguez recognized the dozen young people who had come out
to hear him speak and credited their interest in seeing this
change happen.
[Jan Youngquist]
Dr.
Junius P. Rodriguez is Professor of History at Eureka
College. Some of his students are aiding in his campaign
team.
You can learn more about this candidate at
http://www.rodriguezcongress.com
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