The more things change, the more they stay the same. We are seeing no vast improvement in Chicago politics, let alone federal politics, and why should we. We have a mayor who rules with an iron fist, he is a good person, a talented politician, but not the less, not the best, in my opinion, at giving a clear answer to any question. A recent article I came across does a great job of explaining and illustrating some of this. I'll include my favorite excerpt and a link to the full article.
Illinois has had a 150-year history of public corruption. Three former governors have ended up in federal prison. The impeached governor, Rod Blagojevich, was recently arrested by the FBI, and is awaiting a formal indictment from the U.S. Attorney's office. Over the past 30 years, at least 25 aldermen, two city clerks and a host of lobbyists, judges, contractors and city employees were arrested, convicted and sentenced to federal prison for public corruption.
More than 40 government employees and trucking owners alone were indicted in the "Hired Truck Program Scandal," a scam by which private trucking firms bribed elected officials to place their service vehicles on the city payroll. One major political hiring scandal that took place in Chicago resulted in Daley's patronage chief, Robert Sorich, being sent to a federal penitentiary. Through it all, the Chicago political machine has survived. Despite some adjustments, it's still business as usual.
The Chicago system is the same one Obama used when he decided to run for a state Senate seat. He didn't court a local civic league group, or consult with his pastor, or his neighbors. Instead, he did things the old-fashioned Chicago way; he went to his alderman, an influential politician and told her he wanted that seat. He also mastered the talent of challenging petitions, knocked every opponent off the ballot and ran unopposed in his first election. This tactic has long been a real art form in Chicago politics.
The architect of that system is our country's most powerful mayor, Richard M. Daley. His style of running a political machine with an iron fist, a political army, and a huge war chest is second to none in this country. It was the inner circle in Daley's office that dispatched hundreds of workers and thousands of fundraising dollars to guarantee Rahm Emanuel would win his congressional seat in 2002 (his first political race). This is the same Rahm Emanuel who is now Obama's chief of staff, and who was privy to some of the same fundraising dollars from the tainted "Hired Truck Program".
Another member of the Obama team and inner circle is David Axelrod. The top political strategist in Chicago, he has also been Mayor Daley's chief consultant for a number of years and is a brilliant tactician. Axelrod also handled multiple campaigns for the Democratic National Committee and its most influential member, Rahm Emanuel.
Also adding to the Chicago flavor is Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama's senior policy advisors. A former Chicago Habitat Company CEO, she is a past cabinet member of Mayor Daley, and has worked with Bill Daley, the mayor's brother, who served on the Obama transition team.
The persons mentioned so far do not take into account all of the ancillary figures from Chicago that will also take up residence in D.C. as part of the Obama patronage army.
Although Obama professes to be a political outsider, he has certainly learned the ropes of fundraising the Chicago way. The Obama presidential campaign raised over $600 million, shattering all records. When Obama first ran for the state Senate, Chicago businessman "Tony" Rezko, who is currently awaiting sentencing for public corruption, funded a portion of that first campaign. Our president, "outsider" though he still claims, has openly acknowledged his own maturation in the Chicago political arena.
The rest of the article can be found here: http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/feb/06/james-laski-obama-brings-chicago-politics-to/
As you can see, Obama has learned and studied from the best. I just hope, for all of our sakes, he is Like Daley in that he tries to do the best for the city and its people.
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