This afternoon, the big news had been streaming through that my city's long-time Mayor, Richard M. Daley, will not seek re-election. With Daley's announcement, this could be how President Obama jettisons his Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.
I remember when Richard M. Daley became Mayor of Chicago. It had been after the moribund Eugene Sawyer administration and the groundbreaking mayorship of Harold Washington, who was our city's first African American mayor. Well Chicago politics can be something of a circus, one need only look up our "council wars". In the end, then-Cook County State's Attorney Richard M. Daley had managed to get the support he needed to run and then win what would be the first of a twenty-plus year reign of the city. Now it's over, just like that, he announced that he wasn't going to run. Actually, one could have almost expected that me have made this announcement. His wife has been ill with cancer, and the man's had his run. There had always been contenders, but no one could ever break his organization. But like I said, now it's over, and the question begs who will be next?
Over the past few years, Rahm Emanuel's name, along with others like Jessie Jackson Jr. or Tom Dart, along with the usual city council suspects have been talked about as a successor to Daley. This past year or so Rahm's name had been coming up more and more. Of course he has said he wouldn't run if the Mayor decided to run again. Given that this isn't happening, the largest barrier that the President's Chief of Staff had given is now gone.
Now file this under conjecture at this point, but this announcement could be the opening that many inside the White House had been waiting for the remove Rahm Emanuel. It's no secret that he hasn't been a darling of late the progressive base of the party. The man is looked on as more Wall Street's man than Main Street's.
Perhaps this could be how the President can begin to clean house. I have been saying he should get rid of him, along with Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner, but even one out of three is good at this point. Who could replace Rahm? Well I'll be honest and admit that I don't have a clue, though I'm sure you good folks have a few good ideas.
But what about us Chicagoans? What would Rahm Emanuel's run (support from the White House) and perhaps eventual election as mayor mean for us? Like I said, the man's more in league with the business folk than the working folk, could he bring in fresh capital? What does he bring? So far, when I hear of him, we hear of the man's temperament. I brought up the Council Wars of past, could we see a repeat? The man's no diplomat. Look, he's a smart guy, and he's got connections that can help the city. But if he becomes mayor, it may refresh the White House, but we in the Windy City could be in for one wild ride!