President Obama has been looking for an ass to kick. Former Governor Blago just escaped (at least temporarily) all of the substantive charges against him. There are hints Blago has some plans for other Chicago politicians as a result.
Mayor Daley has just announced he is not going to stand for re-election. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel holds many Obama secrets – he had said he would like to be Mayor of Chicago, but would not challenge Daley.
Given the demographics and the times we live in, I can’t imagine a Chicago mayor race not turning into a White vs Black candidate in the end. Harold Washington came close to turning the city into a clone of Detroit during his tenure. The younger Mr Daley is what has brought stability back to the city.
My favorite memory of that time was an event that hit the national news. Steve Dahl and Gary Meier at WLUP had a lot of time to kill every day, and threw out the notion that maybe someone should draw a picture of Harold Washington and see just how far the people running the city really believed in Free Speech. An art student took up their challenge and painted Harold Washington dressed up as a transvestite drag queen. When the City Council got hold of that information, they rushed over to the location where the painting was on display and demanded that the police rip the painting off the wall :)
[This was pre-internet – around 1990ish – not much about it online]
My sense is the troubles with Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Blago and Mayor Daley are all interconnected – Mayor Daley said its just a personal decision and the time is right. The suddenness of his announcement suggests that may not be entire story. Jesse Jackson Jr probably wants the job, and his fingerprints were all around the Blago case.
Boy – this brings back memories. Chicago politics is pretty close to “blood sport”. Peruse the adventures of Mayor Jane Byrne to see some of the “fun” and check her stay at Cabrini Green to understand where our current administration gets it’s playbook.
What Mayor Daley did at Meigs field also give a lot of insight. Jane Byrne was before my time there, but I know of what you speak.
For about a year (1989ish), I would shop at the Jewel store at Clark and Division street on Sunday evenings (I was living downtown). The store is midway between Cabrini Green and the Lakefront Liberals who populate the Gold Coast. It has to be one of the most interesting food stores in the country to people watch.
No matter where this election heads, it’s going to be in the headlines a lot and President Obama is going to have his hands in somewhere.