Chicago Reader

Thursday, January 4, 2007

"Help Mayor Daley keep moving forward"

Posted by Mick Dumke on Thu, Jan 4, 2007 at 5:12 PM

662.jpg

The other night I met up with a friend of mine at a bar a few blocks south of the Skyway and just west of the state line, in what was once Eddie Vrdolyak territory and more recently was the nerve center for Al Sanchez’s Hispanic Democratic Organization Southeast. (My friend Dan Mihalopoulos recently wrote a fine Tribune piece about politics in the neighborhood, starting with the mood at a another favorite spot, the Crow Bar.) As usual, the talk moved to politics generally, and Mayor Daley specifically. My friend, a former city employee and lifelong resident of the southeast side, agreed that while Daley is the clear favorite to win the February election, he may have to work for it this time.

“Yeah,” she said, “I’m looking forward to seeing some Daley campaign signs for the first time in my life.” 

It’s been a long time since the mayor had to run anything resembling a conventional campaign. In the last two elections, Daley was calm and almost quiet while coasting to victory on the strength of campaign workers provided by the HDO, endorsements help from prominent black clergy, and ever-longer periods of silence from would-be critics who knew they faced political extinction if they spoke out. 

While I haven’t seen any signs up yet, Daley’s 2007 campaign team has sent out its first mailing. “Keep Chicago Moving Forward,” it declares. It refers to the mayor by his youthful nickname, Rich, and its cover is dominated by pictures of green trees, children at play, quiet neighborhoods—and a Chicago Police Department security camera. Inside, there are three shots of Daley surrounded by people of color, including some of his biggest clerical supporters (Johnny Miller of Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Arthur Brazier of the Apostolic Church of God), his newly appointed city clerk, Miguel del Valle, and city treasurer Stephanie Neely.  

Most interesting, though, is the detachable response card: “Volunteer TODAY!” it invites. Respondents can check boxes indicating how they’d like to help. Options include registering voters, making phone calls, walking door-to-door, working on election day, hosting a coffee or party, putting a sign in the front window or yard, or volunteering “Wherever I’m needed.” 

The campaign office’s phone number is also listed. I called and asked spokeswoman Michele Jones to confirm that Daley's never made a similar open appeal for volunteers . “I don’t know,” she said. “It’s my first time working with the campaign.”

Tags: , ,

Comments (4) RSS

Showing 1-4 of 4

Add a comment

Generic user icon

iam a dialysis patient but i will like to work for mayor daley again.he tookna pic with me on his last campaing.thanks for daley am still living so his campaing address and phone number.

Posted by daniel kiobel on January 18, 2007 at 11:04 PM | Report this comment
Generic user icon

mayor daley i voted for you last time but you did not help my friend daniel kiobel who is on dialysis,have no job,could not get ss,and a place to live,he dosent get any help from the govt, mayor you have to help him this time otherwise me and my family will not vote for you

Posted by latonya sloan on January 19, 2007 at 11:29 AM | Report this comment
Generic user icon

==PROPOSAL FOR AN ELECTION EXPERIMENT== This may not be the proper forum for this, but I will state my 'idea'/'proposal' anyway, and see if anyone is intrigued by my reasoning. I hold the opinion that it has been a very, very long time since we, the citizens of these United States, have truly and honestly been represented by our so-called 'public servants'. While it can be said that a certain small percentage of any given area's population is well and generously served by their elected officials,(at the financial and social expense of the area's 'common', politically unconnected citizens),for the most part, our elected officials are motivated by three basic principles: get power, keep power and use that power to gain wealth, for themselves and for those of like mind. I assert that the vast majority of voters are poorly served by the 'powers that be', in all areas of their daily lives. It is obvious that many 'public servants' define themselves as being those individuals who are served BY the public. This sad state of affairs is the result of simple mathematics. If one determines, in any given area,(ie. city, county, state and federal),the total number of citizens who are qualified to cast a vote, one finds that perhaps 50%, more or less, of that number are actually registered to vote; further,in any given election, one finds that typically between 50% - 60% of those registered don't even bother to make the effort to actually cast their vote(s). Thus, all that is required to win a 2 person race is 51% of the votes actually cast, effectively meaning that a mere 26% of the total number of citizens qualified to vote are determining who is elected. In a race of more than 2 contestants, the percentage needed to win becomes even lower than 26%. It is a puzzling mystery why the 2 major political parties, the Dumbocrats and the Retardicans, continue to strongly resist the establishment of additional political parties, though one sees occasional use of 'shill' candidates by both major parties. So, I propose a little experiment, to be conducted in both the smallest, local level elections, (ie. town, city, county, township, village,etc.), as well as in the larger level elections, (ie. state and federal), an experiment which is designed to accomplish several goals and answer several questions,(besides the obvious one, of seeing if enough people/voters will get off their butts and choose to participate in this experiment!). Basically, my question is this: what would happen if enough voters choose, in every election, both primary and general, to cast their votes by adhering to the following rules, completely disregarding all factors commonly used by voters to make their decisions on who to vote for, and simply casting their vote(s) by applying these rules/formula: * 1) Determine which candidates are the INCUMBENTS and DO NOT vote for any of them. * 2) If there are only two candidates running for any given office, all that the voter MUST know is which one is the INCUMBENT, then vote for the CHALLENGER candidate. * 3) If there are MORE than two candidates vying for a given office, determine if the incumbent is listed FIRST, and IF THIS IS SO, then vote for the challenger candidate who is listed LAST. * 4) If the incumbent is NOT listed FIRST, then vote for the challenger candidate who IS listed FIRST. * 5) If no incumbent is running for office, always vote for the LAST candidate listed. Remember to COMPLETELY DISREGARD all impulses to concern yourself with the specific persons who you are voting for and/or the specific persons you are not voting for and/or the specific incumbents who will, should enough voters in any given election participate in this experiment, be losing their jobs. Remember,also,that the issues don't matter, policies don't matter, individual candidates' personal charm/attractiveness does not matter..................... nothing matters other than adhering to the 5 rules stated above. If enough voters in any given election participate in this experiment, the result should be that a whole lot of incumbents will be voted out of office. What reaction(s), on the part of politicians and their cronies, will this stimulate? If enough voters CONTINUE to participate in this experiment during the next several election cycles, thus keeping any specific person from holding office for more than a single term, will those non-politically connected individuals who would like to sincerely serve their fellow citizens by holding public office, but have determined that their chances of being elected are slim-to-none, now find that they have a reasonably decent chance of succeeding in holding public office? Will the 'professional politicians' eventually find other lines of work and abandon trying to gain and hold power over their fellow citizens, (since it's difficult to establish power,influence and control in just a single term in office)? Will the majority of those citizens who do gain public office now be honest, ethical, hard-working and intelligent individuals, who seek office to actually serve the electorate, (since the traditional motivations of power, influence and wealth will effectively no longer be available)? Will these new, honest candidates, now encouraged to run for office, alter the usual dynamics of 'campaigning'? And in what ways? As the reader may surmise, this experiment is designed to disrupt the decades-old flow of bullshit, which has passed for so long as democracy; bullshit both by the politicians and bullshit by the voting public's failure to effectively participate in their own governing. The above experiment should be conducted in all political contests; Administrative, Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The rule to remember is: WHEN IN DOUBT, VOTE THEM OUT. The 5 rules above are designed to mathematically ensure that the maximum number of votes are cast in such a way as to be effective in denying all elected officials more than one term in office; to prove, by the only means those smugly in power ever understand, that the voters actually determine who holds public office, and that those presently holding said office(s) have, for way too long, held the vast majority of their constituents in contempt, evidenced not by their words, but by their deeds. Keep in mind that this experiment I am proposing is not meant to be a solution to our present social, economic and political disparities, but more as a catalyst for positive change in the attitudes of those who claim to represent ALL citizens' best interests, instead of the present predominance of their representing only the interests of the chosen few. To paraphrase one of our past presidents, who once said: * You may fool SOME of the people ALL of the time * You may fool ALL of the people SOME of the time * But you cannot fool ALL of the people, ALL of the time The sad reality is that you need only to fool just the right number of people, at just the right time, to attain power and control over the many.

Posted by spock on March 5, 2007 at 1:18 PM | Report this comment
Generic user icon

Just..Get your affairs in order for the next election David E. Neeley!

Posted by Columbo Sherlock on March 9, 2007 at 5:25 PM | Report this comment

Add a comment

Latest in The Blog

Author Archives

  • Questions, Questions

    Tough times--especially on the south side--have led to some rare tough questioning in the City Council.
    • Sep 30, 2009
  • Climate change legislation: if the big-money guys want it, it's probably going to happen

    Yesterday JPMorgan Chase moved to increase its presence in the carbon trading and carbon offsets business, another sign that Congress is sure to pass some kind of climate change legislation.
    • Sep 15, 2009
  • The Shadow Budget

    The Daley administration commands an off-the-books kitty of taxpayer money equivalent to a sixth of the official city budget. Now we’ve got documents that show what they want to do with it.
    • Oct 22, 2009
  • More»

Recent Comments

©2009 Creative Loafing Media
All Rights Reserved.