I know. I am a progressive and a liberal and I believe in good government. And it is expected that I support this insurgent candidacy of Forrest Claypool for Cook County Assessor. Forgetaboutit.
A little background here, Joseph Berrios ran for the Democratic nomination for Cook County Assessor and won the Democratic primary fair and square. Meanwhile, Forrest Claypool was once again, indecisive. And that is being kind.
Claypool couldn't decide if he wanted to run for President of the Cook County Board. Again. This time against another Stroger. This time son Todd. When he passed on that race, the indecisive one thought about running for Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. Here is what Laura Washington of the Chicago Sun Times wrote this morning.
Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool is starting to resemble one of those "hard-to-cash checks" that currency exchanges specialize in. Voters may wonder: Is he a health-care executive? A county commissioner? Lieutenant governor aspirant? Daleyite? Barack Obama insider? Progressive reformer? A very white knight in search of a damsel in distress?
So who is Forrest Claypool and why are people saying these not so kind things about him, including 4th Ward Alderman Toni Preckwinkle and the next Cook County Board President who told Laura Washington the following.
"Yeah," she said, "but they're not printable."
And of course, one could make a very strong argument about his chief opponent, Joseph Berrios. That he is a party insider and that he supports special interest over the interests of ordinary people. And that Berrios is in Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan's back pocket.
Great arguments, I must say.
But the fact is, I just don't like Forrest Claypool.
It dates back in the 2006 election when Claypool could have and should have easily defeated Cook County Board President John Stroger. And after losing Claypool blamed so many people including then Senator Barack Obama.
But of all the people Claypool blamed for his loss, his left out one name.
Forrest Claypool.
During the 2006 primary campaign season, my own political group was working closely with helping to elect Debra Shore to the Water Reclamation Commission and elect Alexi Giannoulias to become the youngest Illinois State Treasurer against a candidate supported by Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan. And I will tell you, as I detail in my book Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots, Debra Shore and Alexi Giannoulias are two of the hardest working people I have ever met. And they get it.
Forrest Claypool is the laziest politician in Cook County. His campaign never crossed south of Roosevelt Avenue. Maybe he doesn't know where that is. And he doesn't get it.
Shore and Giannoulias went everywhere and anywhere to campaign. They met with many, many small groups. Those small groups added up to one big victory.
Claypool only met with the big guys because that is all he thought he needed. It isn't.
I received an email around that time period that said I should "reach out to Claypool."
What? I should "reach out to him." I am not the one running for office.
The fact is both Shore and Giannoulias called me personally and asked for my support. And neither did not know me prior to that call. It was a cold call. And they called dozens and dozens and dozens of others.
But the number one obstacle Claypool faces is actually collecting the 25,000 required signatures to get placement on the ballot. Try collecting 25,000 of anything. It is a big number. And there is little enthusiasm out there to help Claypool. Maybe we can all "reach out to Claypool" to ask him if we can please collect his signatures for him. He is so desperate to collect signatures, he even recently approached the Tea Party for help collecting names.
His campaign was at yesterday's Tea Party protest at Daley Plaza, asking the 1,000 or so people there to support his bid.
It makes sense for Claypool - disenfranchised with Machine politics - to seek support from Tea Partiers, who are disenfranchised with high taxes and the government, in general.
But Democrats, who are backing Board of Review Commissioner and party chairman Joseph Berrios, were quick to condemn the move this morning.
Scott Cisek, political director for the county's Democratic party (and the campaign manager for the highly successful campaign of Alderman Toni Preckwinkle), called Claypool a "Mad Hatter" on Facebook, and others questioned if aligning himself with the controversial Tea Party is the best move.
I've got a more effective idea and some free advice to Claypool. Why don't you pick up the phone and do the "reaching out." All they can so is no.
But don't bother with me. I'll save you the minutes. The answer is no.
As Laura Washington said in closing her article, "They can't see the real Forrest for the trees."
Chicago City Hall Examiner and The Chicago Grassroots Political Examiner.
John is the author of a book published by The Elevator Group Mr. and Mrs. Grassroots: How Barack Obama, two Bookstore Owners, and 300 Volunteers did it. Also available an eBook on Amazon.