DeKALB | John Laesch, democratic candidate for U.S. Congress, spoke to the College Democrats Tuesday about his feelings on the war in Iraq and outing and end to corruption in Washington, D.C.

Laesch is challenging incumbent Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert in the November elections. Only once has a sitting Speaker of the House been defeated, and that was in 1994, Laesch said. He believes the same symptoms that lead to that upturn are present today. Throughout his speaking Laesch described his dislike for Hastert and his politics.

“Hastert is in charge of all the other little Republicans,” Laesch said. “He’s like the big, fat queen bee. It’s a fitting description.”

Laesch also didn’t shy away from voicing his anti-Iraq War policies, using them as a cornerstone of his political platform.

“This whole war was about putting a permanent U.S. presence in the Middle East and nothing else … except maybe oil,” Laesch said.

Pulling out of Iraq should be top priority, and the U.S. has no business being there, he said.

“Hastert is going to jail along with President Bush and Dick Cheney for the crimes that they have committed,” Laesch said. “These guys have been breaking the laws and the first one they are going to go after is President Bush. The Supreme Court already found him guilty of breaking 31 constitutional laws.”

Laesch’s speech drew a packed house for the College Democrats. Several DeKalb residents also came to hear what he had to say.

“We wanted our first meeting to be memorable,” said Kevin Chambliss, graduate political science major and vice president of membership for the College Democrats. “Most of us have been working on [Laesch’s] campaign.”

Kristen Lash, senior child development major, is one of the students on campus working with Laesch’s campaign.

“I saw him during his primary race,” Lash said. “He spoke at a war rally here on campus and I was just really impressed, so I volunteered.”

Rachel Gorr is a Campus/City/Sports Reporter for the Northern Star.