Front L-R: Sen. Jim Oberweis, wife Julie, Pastor Corey Brooks, Joe Walsh and wife Helene
WAUCONDA - Radio talk show host Joe Walsh's disagreement last week with WIND 560 AM management over the appropriate use and discussion of ethnic slurs didn't affect his listeners' enthusiasm, other than to apparently ignite it.
An emotional discussion about the Washington Redskins turned sour Thursday night, but was settled when Walsh returned to the air Friday night.
Sunday afternoon, 300 folks - most wearing Walsh Freedom Fighter t-shirts - responded to Walsh's call for his audience to step up and get involved. Grassroots activists spent the day knocking on doors and making phone calls for candidates that, Walsh says, "promote freedom and limited government." Grassroots activists came from all over Illinois - including a group from Princeton Tea Party and Chicago volunteers with black community leader Pastor Corey Brooks.
Others crossed state boundaries from Wisconsin and Indiana to promote a list of candidates Walsh has vetted and endorsed, including
- IL State Senator Jim Oberweis – Candidate for US Senate
- Ramiro Juarez – Candidate for IL State Rep District 44
- Rod Drobinski – Candidate for IL State Rep District 62
- Steve Reick – Candidate for IL State Rep District 63
- Jeff Meyer – Candidate for IL State Rep District 43
- Kevin Wiley – Candidate for DuPage County Board District 6
- Don Wilson – Candidate for Illinois State Senate District 30
A glaring omission from Walsh's list of endorsed candidates is Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner and his running mate Evelyn Sanguinetti.
"The Rauner campaign did not want the Walsh Freedom army to walk with their literature yesterday," Walsh told Illinois Review Monday. "Hopefully, we will moving forward."
No official statement from the Rauner campaign was distributed as to why the campaign's strategy does not include having volunteer grassroots activists like Walsh's Freedom Army pass out their literature.
After the phone calls and literature distribution, nearly 450 joined the Walshes at their farm north of Wauconda for a barbecue.
Jim Oberweis with Romero Juarez Family Joe Walsh with supporters
