A good win, and in the best British tradition, a "bielection" that does not hold good portents for the GOP in the Fall.

But a few caveats for those ready to pop the corks on the "tidal wave":

Oberweis has run three statewide campaigns in the past, but never did well. This is his fourth loss in six years.

This area of Chicago has been trending Democratic, as have many suburban areas in American cities. This is good news for the Democrats in the long run--the GOP lock on the suburbs looks to be over.

Turnout was very low--around 20%.

This is a good sign for November, but there is a lot of work to be done from now to then.

our wee Kari's wee company Mandate Media built the Foster website. with our own election about 2 lightyears in the future, it's nice to see Oregon still playing a role in moving forward the progressive program. all the campaigns and others here in Oregon who've helped Mandate grow have no had a role in this terrific win.

congrats, Kari -- and Bill Foster.

Man, give the guy a break on this one. This is GREAT news; the idea that they'd drop so much cash they don't have into a race and LOSE it...now they've dropped both DeLay and Hastert's seats, the symbolism is huge. Watch for a bunch more "retirements" in the next couple weeks as more state's deadlines come around.

He's not exactly going to caucus with the left; he's apparently committed to the Blue Dogs if I heard correctly, so he's kind of bound to disappoint in some key areas. But the win for the district goes well beyond who's occupying the seat.

Congrats, and great news. It's going to be a sweeping year if this keeps up. Keep the engagement high!

My brother lives in the District and I grew up just east in the Suburbs of Chicago. Believe me this is BIG! This is is Republican territory and has been so for many, many years. One can only hope this continues in November.

Peter, this site--and I think Kari has a vague sense of its purpose--is about what's interesting to Oregon progressives. If you think this news isn't of interest or note, fine, but don't lecture us about what's appropriate to post. We put up two or three dozen posts every week, and one about a key race elsewhere isn't going to hurt anything.

I'd like to add some kudos for Kari, who designed Foster's website. There's that old saying about judging someone by the company they keep--in this case, judging Kari by the clients he has tells a lot. Impressive work!

Well said, Jeff.

Peter is one of the self-appointed (as far as i know) Defenders of Hillary; i'm not sure why he thinks his charge extends to setting editorial policy at BlueOregon. if he desperately must have local news, the fact that Mandate was part of this victory ought to suffice.

and if Peter can't see how important this win is for Oregon, he's got as much vision and clarity of thought as a candidate who thinks it makes political sense to endorse the nominee of the GOP over a fellow Democrat.

This is great news for Democrats! Congratulations to Foster and his team.

Peter, you should spend less time worrying about our blog and more time focusing on the accuracy of your own. Your coverage of Measure 49 did a disservice to the campaign, and not just because you predicted its defeat. The speculation that Measure 49 wouldn't be on the ballot -- and I believe you wrote that it was "75-percent" likely or some -- was pretty irresponsible.

One more thing: my post wasn't "bumped." It was -- and still is -- on our front page. Among our readers many skills is the ability to navigate an entire home page! It's amazing what people can accomplish by simply scrolling down on the screen.

Call it the miracle of the modern keyboard!

If this site had wanted to retain its value, and any semblance of real journalism, Chisholm would have long ago stopped making posts about his own clients. Moreover, his fellow editors would have demanded such.

That his fellow editors, one of whom clearly supports a different candidate and isn't shy about writing posts to that effect, haven't done as you suggest speaks volumes.

Throwing a temper tantrum because a blog doesn't write what you want when you want it doesn't do anything to lend credibility to you or your favored candidates/causes.

It seems that your real beef is that Blue Oregon continues to be a very widely read blog despite not doing things as you would have them done. There's more than likely a whole series of good reasons why that is and continues to be the case.

Peter's ah, let's see, how shall I say, quirks aside, this is such awesome news. Thanks for sharing it, Kari.

There are a few stories floating around that have been talking about how we're on the brink of a new, progressive age in which so many of our problems, from global warming to the war to the health care crisis, will be addressed. This is perhaps one of the first pieces of news that proves that these speculations just might be true.

I'm reminded of the controversy about Jerome Armstrong's blog posts in support of Mark Warner while taking consulting payments from him. Finally with that race over Kari can stop the incessant blathering about his client Bill Foster. We are all sick to death of the daily diatribes, Bill Foster this, Bill Foster that, and th--- what? Only like the second time? Really? My bad. OK new topic, how does this relate to our efforts to defeat Smith and Walden? Discuss!

Hey everybody... Thanks to all for the kudos. I played a very, very small role in this. Just the website guy. The credit for the win goes to Bill Foster, his campaign team, and the hundreds of volunteers who hit the streets and the phones on election day.

And, for those asking, yes, Bill Foster has endorsed Barack Obama - and will be a superdelegate for him. That will be official when his election is certified and he's sworn in on the House floor.

As for our self-appointed editorial watchdogs, I'll simply refer you to our original mission statement from July 2004:

It'll be progressive; it'll be smart; it'll be funny; it'll be compelling; it'll be provocative; it'll be unpredictable. It'll be political, but not narrowly so. It'll be a free-ranging social and cultural critique. It'll be by Oregonians and for Oregonians, but not always about Oregon. Above all else, BlueOregon will not be boring.

It's a blog, not the New York Times. Get over it. If you don't like it, don't read it. There are millions of other blogs - and many of them are quite excellent!

p.s. If I were to follow Peter's rule, and not post about my clients, I wouldn't be able to post much of anything related to politics in Oregon.

After all, my clients include or have included Ron Wyden, Ted Kulongoski, Bill Bradbury, Earl Blumenauer, Darlene Hooley, Jeff Merkley, John Kitzhaber, David Bragdon, Greg Macpherson, Kate Brown, a majority of the Portland City Council (Adams, Sten, Saltzman), the House Democrats, the Senate Democrats, about a dozen individual members of the Oregon House, several state Senators, and a raft of interest groups and ballot measure campaigns.

Instead, my approach is to disclose whenever I write about one of my clients - and in general, to follow Jeff Alworth's guidelines for ethical political blogging.

Hey, this is GREAT BIG NEWS and we should all be totally stoked about it. Speaking as someone who actually sent Bill Foster money (even if it was only $100), I even feel a tiny piece of ownership of this outcome.

Lord knows Kari and I have busted each other's chops from time to time, but I'm with him on this. We should all be celebrating.

Kari, does he have debt? How much money does he need to raise between now and November?

Not sure about debt. I know that in the last few days they were looking under couch cushions for spare change to to squeeze out every last impression of the amazing Obama for Foster ad.

As for the fall, we'll see. There are rumors that Oberweis will be forced out by the GOP. If it's a weaker candidate, we'll need less. If it's a stronger one, we'll need more. Stay tuned!

Well put, Kari. We'll have to hold on until we're certain who's the nominee in November. Oberweis is, technically, but indeed he might be forced out. Although he said that he's going to be going forward and running, so we wait...