A story that has been circulating in Chicago for the last several days is that Rahm Emanuel is looking for a "placeholder" to take his Congressional seat, one that would be willing to step aside when Emanuel is ready to resume this ascent to the Speaker of the House position. Emanuel's seat was once held by Rostenkowski.
Emanuel won't take back seat in this race
November 24, 2008
You can take U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel out of the 5th Congressional District, but you can't take him out of the race.
Rahmbo's hulking presence is hovering over the scrum for his seat. The political minions are muttering that when Emanuel goes East to the West Wing he'll merely be taking a sabbatical in Obamaland.
Emanuel, who first gained national attention as a hard-knuckled operative in the Clinton White House, is headed back to the White House as President-elect Barack Obama's chief of staff. He promptly dove into the action and is helping Obama construct a decidedly Clintonesque cabinet.
The dizzily striving congressional enforcer had been on a mighty trajectory to become speaker of the House, so goes the theory, and he may not be ready to forgo that post. Emanuel might want to engineer a "placeholder" candidate for the job, then return in a couple of years to reclaim the seat with freshly burnished White House credentials in tow.
His replacement must be selected in a special election 120 days after Emanuel resigns the post. Emanuel is as wily and shrewd as they come. His arms may be too short to box with God, but he is sure to reach out from Washington to manipulate Chicago's political chessboard.
Then there is Chicago's Boss, Mayor Richard M. Daley. Obama's elevation has made Daley stronger than ever. In 2002, Daley clouted Emanuel, then a relative Chicago political newcomer, into the 5th District seat. In return, he acquired a blue-ribbon go-to guy. Daley is not about to let a potential rival or (gasp) an independent operator scoop up that plum.
The other day the mayor was demure when asked about his preference.
In classic Daley-speak, he told the Chicago Sun-Times: "There's about 25 candidates. First of all, Rahm Emanuel has not resigned. So there could be more candidates any day. There's more candidates to come. People have even called me and talked to me about running. How can you say you're for a candidate and the field is not full yet?"
If the field gets any bigger, they'll have to call in the accountants. A recent Sun-Times report handicapped 16 bright-eyed prospects. The rainbow of hopefuls reflects the diverse Northwest Side district: Mexican, Polish, Irish, Asian, Italian and Jewish Americans, Catholics and a blue blood or two. In that crowd, a winner could take it with only 20 percent of the vote.
The sticky bun king is not biting. The ambitious 44th Ward Ald. Tom Tunney, the city's only openly gay alderman and Ann Sather's proprietor, says he thought about it, but "I just don't think the time is right."
He's more concerned that "two very credible candidates" and 44th Ward allies, Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley and State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, are both in the hunt.
Indeed, their dual candidacies could wipe out any independent hopes for the 5th. Quigley and Feigenholtz share a base that is GLBT, green and decidedly lakefront liberal.
Today Quigley is filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to launch his congressional fund-raising committee. Feigenholtz is already out of the box and showing her money. She claims she raised $100,000 in one week alone.
An impressive start, but in a short turnaround, low turnout contest like this one, serious candidates might need to take in $1 million to $1.5 million to win. Even more important -- a solid nod from the Daley/Emanuel combine.
In this era of "change," there is one thing that will never change in Daley City.
Only loyal Democratic Party soldiers get to kiss the ring, and the mayor already has plenty of those to choose from.
suntimes.com |
