Gutierrez Un-Endorses Lipinski

All you political junkies out there may be interested to know that Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who had been a supporter of 3rd district Rep. Dan Lipinski, has officially taken a step back. Buried in this Tribune story on the Lipinski-Pera race is the word that Gutierrez has withdrawn his endorsement of Lipinski. A spokeswoman said Gutierrez "cannot look past his record on immigration." And rightly so. He voted for the horrifying Sensenbrenner immigration bill and keeps pitching border security and crackdowns on "lawbreakers" without seeming to realize that there are actually plenty of immigrants in his district who would like to see comprehensive immigration reform to bring people who've been in the country for years paying taxes and working out of the shadows and on to a path of earned citizenship.

Pera appears to be mounting a strong challenge, with help from a couple of friends of mine here in the neighborhood. Both Capitol Fax and a new-to-me blog called Down With Tyranny have more of interest on the race and on Lipiski's last-ditch, hypocritical efforts to paint himself as a friend of those tangled in immigration red tape.