Preparing for the Fight in DuPage

Jake Parrillo, Giuliani supporter, took a gander at the DuPage GOP's new website and determined "It Couldn't Be Worse".

Although the sorry state of the Republican website doesn't interest me much -- the DuPage Democratic Party's website is still piggybacked on the site of the Lake County party, for pity sake -- Jake's premise is noteworthy:

We need to do better. The suburbs and DuPage County is battleground territory right now. The Turn DuPage Blue guys or whomever seizes control of the DuPage Democrats will certainly be more proactive and engaged online.

Jake's right. There's a storm brewing in DuPage and the Republicans are going to have to struggle to maintain their single-party control of the county.

And while I certainly hope that whoever runs the party organization next year retools the website, some Democrats aren't waiting till next year; Operation: Turn DuPage Blue is already very proactive and engaged -- online and on the ground.

In fact, being proactive was one of the reasons that Naperville Township Chair Tom Wronski, cited for joining the OTDB steering committee:

Their "roll-up our sleeves and get to work" approach is inspiring. Although the Naperville Township Democratic Organization adheres to a policy of "self-sufficiency" -- that is, we do not ask for help from outside organizations if at all possible -- OTDB has repeatedly reached out to the NTDO on a "proactive" basis.

Most recently, OTDB sent a large contingent to the Naperville Labor Day parade. One of our key members, Michelle Barton, is also an OTDB member. OTDB has done these things without setting pre-conditions for the assistance, and without asking for anything from NTDO in return.

That is my definition of leadership.

Proper websites are nice, and I hope my party gets one someday, but leadership -- real leadership -- will be the answer to the problems facing DuPage County.