FAREWELL, DICK MELL…SORT OF

7/6/13

Dick Mell announced last week that he will be leaving his post as 33^rd Ward alderman after 38 years on the job.  The Chicago media, generally hostile toward guys like Dick Mell, are, predictably, falling all over themselves with accolades for the City Council’s second longest serving member and something of a living relic of a bygone era, a time depicted in my books, The Chairman and The Chairman’s Challenge.  The press’s apparent hypocrisy, though, is understandable; gentlemanliness, or gentewomanliness, is almost always to be applauded and one of its manifestations is finding something nice to say about people at such milestones in their lives.

As you might guess, yours truly has some thoughts on Dick Mell who, despite being a self-made millionaire even before entering politics and despite running one of the most effective ward machines in this most political of cities will always be known first and foremost as Rod Blagojevich’s father-in-law.  (See my 6/19/13 post MIKE MADIGAN, JOHN CULLERTON, AND PENSIONS:   SOMETIMES A CIGAR IS JUST A CIGAR? for some background on the relationship between Dick Mell and his infamous son-in-law.)

First, Mr. Mell would like his daughter Deb Mell, who is currently a state representative, to replace him.   Mayor Emanuel has instituted new procedures for selecting replacement aldermen that are made to look fair, transparent, and representative.  But one suspects that Mr. Mell would not have left without the fix being in for his daughter, so Ms. Mell will probably have no trouble ascending to the post her father has held since she was seven years old.   She does have at least nominal competition for the job, however, in the person of State Senator Iris Martinez.

Note that I used the verb “ascending” when describing a move by Deb Mell from the state legislature to the city council, and that was no mistake.  Perhaps only in Chicago would a move from state representative or state senator to alderman be considered a promotion.   But this follows a proud tradition.   For example, back in 1973, when Roman Pucinski was effectively moved from the United States Congress to alderman of the 41^st Ward, he, probably rightfully, considered it a promotion and thanked Mayor Daley, and not at all disingenuously, for moving him up the ladder.   We take our aldermen seriously in Chicago.   Sometimes one wonders why, but I digress.

Second, the Chicago Sun-Times should have been more careful in its article about Mell’s retirement (“On way out, Mell talks family ties,” 7/6/13, page 6).   Deep into the story, the Sun-Times says

Mell operated (emphasis mine) one of the strongest ward organizations in Chicago, one that relied on precinct captains even after court rulings loosened the stranglehold the Democratic Machine had on government hiring and weakened other ward organizations.

Even though he is leaving his aldermanic seat, Mr. Mell will remain Democratic committeeman of the 33^rd ward and thus will continue to operate “one of the strongest ward organizations in the city.”   The post of committeeman isn’t what it used to be for a variety of reasons, but a ward’s committeeman controls the party apparatus in that ward.  Mr. Mell is not giving that up, at least not yet.

Third, in his parting comments, Mr. Mell had a few, and one suspects as few as possible, things to say about his infamous son-in-law, to wit…

“People loved him on the campaign trail.  He was phenomenal.   But when it came to actually governing, he was a problem.”

Hear, hear, despite the understatement in the second sentence.

Mr. Mell also said that if he could do it all over again, Blagojevich

“…would have never gotten out of state rep.  He would never have went (sic) to Congress.  He would have been a state rep until he decided to quit or be a lawyer or whatever.”

That’s great sentiment in retrospect.   But you can’t tell me, or anyone remotely sentient, that Mr. Mell only discovered the deep character flaws in his son-in-law only after Blago was elected to Congress and then to the governor’s mansion, both of which would have been impossible without Dick Mell’s help.   Many of us could see what a popinjay Mr. Blagojevich was long before he got to the governor’s office.  (In a later post I will tell you of the time yours truly and then Congressman Blagojevich sparred for an hour on a talk radio program…and will especially note Blago’s parting words to yours truly.  It’s a good story, but not as good as it sounds.)  Dick Mell is no fool and he was far closer to Blago than any of us who followed Blago’s career, so he had to be aware from pretty much the get-go of the poltroonishness of his son-in-law.  Yet Mr. Mell still used all of his powers and all of his abilities to put Blago first in Congress and then in the governor’s office.  For all his hemming and hawing now, and for all his other accomplishments, Mr. Mell’s foisting his son-in-law upon the people of Illinois (And I am by no means absolving our misinformed or simply uninformed, voters; anyone who has read just about anything I’ve written knows that.) will remain his most salient “achievement.”

Fourth, Mr. Mell went out of his way to be not all that uncharacteristically sycophantic toward Mayor Emanuel:

“Of all the mayors I worked with, I really like this guy (Emanuel) because he’ll make a decision based on what he believes is right.”

Mell went on to laud the Mayor’s “courage” in reworking the parking meter deal (See RAHM EMANUEL AND THE PARKING METERS:   “GOT TO MAKE THE BEST OF…A BAD SITUATION”, 4/30/13)…

“You think if I were mayor I would have touched those parking meters?”

It could, of course, be that Mr. Mell genuinely likes Mr. Emanuel and has enjoyed working with him, or at least that he has liked working with nominal north sider Emanuel more than he liked working with south sider Rich Daley.  But one suspects that Mr. Mell is following a not so proud tradition of the supposed tough guy aldermen, committeemen, and other pols around this town:  being shameless suck-ups to whoever happens to be occupying the Fifth Floor at the time. 

Perhaps the esteemed aldermen have no choice.   Beginning with Richard I and continuing with Richard II and Rahm Emanuel, Chicago mayors have almost completely emasculated the ward organizations, so the aldermen have to beg for the crumbs that fall from the Mayor’s table.   In this case, Mr. Mell really needs something from Mr. Emanuel:  the appointment of Deb Mell to the 33^rd ward city council seat.   One wishes, however, that these Chicago pols would stop masquerading as tough guys when, in reality, they have been reduced, and more or less willingly, to lap dogs and lickspittles.

Last, readers of my books, the Chairman and the Chairman’s Challenge, liked to try to guess who Chairman Eamon DeValera Collins is in real life.  When they aren’t guessing Ed Burke, Mike Madigan, Ed Vrdolyak, Bill Banks, or Rich Daley, they are guessing Dick Mell.  People ask me frequently if Collins is one of the aforementioned gentlemen, and Mell’s name comes up a lot.   My answer is the same for Mr. Mell as it has been for any other suggestion:  Chairman Eamon DeValera Collins is nobody in Chicago politics and he is (almost) everybody in Chicago politics.  He is one man who embodies the characteristics of many men.   Collins, as Don Vito Corleone was for the New York Mob of the mid twentieth century, is an amalgam of characters in Chicago politics of the latter part of that century.   Chairman Collins, like Alderman Mell, is an intriguing, enduring character, but, unlike Dick Mell, Eamon Collins is fictional.

See my two books, The Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics and The Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics, for further illumination on how things work in Chicago and Illinois politics. 

MIKE AND LISA MADIGAN: WHAT’S A DAD TO DO?

6/19/13

A poll commissioned by Bill Daley’s gubernatorial campaign (See, inter alia, most recently my 6/17/13 post BILL DALEY’S GRASP OF FINANCE AND ECONOMICS:   WAS I MISINFORMED? and more saliently my 6/13/13 post BILL DALEY AND THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE:   THE BROTHER ALSO RISES? and my 6/6/13 post “GOVERNOR BILL DALEY…SENATOR BILL DALEY.   THERE JUST WASN’T THE TIME…”) has shown that Lisa Madigan’s being Mike Madigan’s daughter will hurt her if (when?) she runs for governor.  

The poll showed that Lisa Madigan would defeat the only formally announced GOP candidate for governor, State Treasurer Dan Rutherford, by 11 percentage points.  However, when voters were reminded that Lisa Madigan’s dad is House Speaker Mike Madigan, the capo de cappi tuti of Illinois and Chicago politicians and were asked how they’d vote if Mr. Madigan stayed on as speaker, the race between Ms. Madigan and Mr. Rutherford becomes a dead heat.

Hmm…

Several things come to mind.

First, Bill Daley ought to look in the mirror; how does his being Rich Daley’s brother, and Dick Daley’s son, play downstate or in the ‘burbs?   The aforementioned poll did not explore this question.

Second, poll participants had to be reminded that Lisa Madigan’s dad is Mike Madigan?   And these people get to vote?   Remember this the next time someone pontificates on the wonders of democracy.

Third, let’s leave aside for a moment the near fact that if Lisa Madigan were not Mike Madigan’s daughter, she would not have served in the Illinois House and Senate, never been considered for Attorney General, and certainly not now be the governor in waiting.  Let’s instead buy blindly into the silly supposition that Ms. Madigan’s being Mr. Madigan’s daughter actually hurts her.

What could Mike Madigan do to help his daughter if his being Speaker of the House and chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party really is a disadvantage for young Lisa?

Some have suggested that Mr. Madigan could step down as Speaker but retain chairmanship of the Party, where they claim the real power lies.   But those who make this argument are stuck in the ‘60s or ‘70s.  As has long been the case, and as is illustrated, for the careful reader, in my two books, The Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics and The Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics, the days of the power lying in the party office rather than the public office are long gone.  Rich Daley knew this when he was elected mayor in 1989 and eschewed the post of Cook County Regular Democratic Chairman, which his father held even longer than Richard J. held the mayor’s office.  Young Mr. Daley even left his post as committeeman of the 11^th Ward, giving the post to his brother John.   Rich Daley knew that, largely through the efforts of his father, power had shifted from the Party to the Fifth Floor of City Hall.   To the extent that holding a Party position, even THE Party position, might imperil holding onto the Mayor’s office, young Mr. Daley wanted no part of that party office.

If you don’t believe me, first read my books.   If that doesn’t work, ask how much power the following men, who held the office of Cook County Regular Democratic Party Chairman after Richard J. Daley, wielded.   You might even honestly ask yourself if you remember some of these names:

George Dunne

Ed Vrdolyak

Tom Lyons

Joe Berrios

Fast Eddie Vrdolyak had some power, but he would have had that power even if he weren’t Party Chairman.   A few people remember George Dunne, but largely as something of a Daley lackey or as a guy who got into a little trouble with some comely female county employees in his twilight years.   Does anyone remember Tom Lyons?  I could describe him; nondescript northwest side committeeman who wanted a job no one else wanted.  But even I had to look up his name.   Does anyone think Joe Berrios was or is nearly as powerful as Richard M. Daley or Rahm Emanuel?   Or even Ed Burke?

It’s no different at the state level; the Party is largely toothless in this media age.   Mike Madigan’s power derives not from his heading the Party but, rather, from his having been Speaker for all but a few of the last thirty years, his thus being constantly cultivated by people who know how to return favors, and his therefore having the ability to make or break virtually any Democratic member of the legislature.   Retaining the chairmanship of the Party means little or nothing; ask, if you can remember, the following gentlemen who preceded Mr. Madigan in the post:

Gary LaPaille, who was something of a Madigan lackey who stepped aside for his boss

Vince DeMuzio

Cal Sutker

Mike Madigan, being a good dad, might resign from the Speakership, or even the House, if Lisa becomes governor, and promise to do so during the campaign.   In the opinion of yours truly, however, he would be crazy to do so.   For Mike Madigan, the Speaker’s office is a permanent, lifetime job.   The governor’s office, on the other hand, holds no such employment security.   If Ms. Madigan does run and win, and both are still highly likely, she might serve for eight years; Even if she manages to match Jim Thompson’s 14 year tenure, that would leave her in power only half the time her father has been Speaker. 

Mike Madigan, even as a good father, is highly unlikely to give away the permanent job of Speaker so his daughter can be governor for a relatively few years.   I realize he’s 71 years old, but that isn’t old and I am quite sure that Mr. Madigan doesn’t consider himself old and/or anywhere near the twilight of his career.   I’m not making a prediction here; I don’t know Speaker Madigan and, even if I did, he wouldn’t tell me what he is thinking.  I am saying, however, that to give up the Speaker’s job would be silly and Mr. Madigan is not given to doing silly things; see today’s other post MIKE MADIGAN, JOHN CULLERTON, AND PENSIONS:   SOMETIMES A CIGAR IS JUST A CIGAR?

One supposes that Mr. Madigan could stay in the House but replace himself with some stooge (There is no lack of stooges in Illinois politics.) who would serve as a placeholder until Governor Lisa Madigan either loses office or moves to Washington (or possibly replaces another major Chicago political figure whose ultimate goal is moving to Washington, but I digress) in some capacity or another and Mike Madigan feels safe getting his old job back.  But stooges sometimes start to think that they aren’t so stoogish after all and get comfortable in their old jobs.   The consequences can be dire; see yesterday’s post THE LEGEND LIVES ON FROM THE TEAMSTERS ON DOWN OF THE BIG GUY THEY CALL JIMMY HOFFA.  Mr. Madigan is not likely to take such a chance.

Those who haven’t ignored the obvious in their pursuit of today’s story realize that Lisa Madigan is helped a heck of a lot more than she is hurt by her being Mike Madigan’s daughter.   Mike Madigan is highly unlikely to give up his post as Speaker so that his daughter can become governor for a few years.   Ms. Madigan’s lineage will not hurt her in a Democratic primary, especially a three-way Democratic primary.   And, given the state of the GOP in Illinois today and its, er, lack of credible candidates, her being the Speaker’s daughter might hurt Ms. Madigan, but not fatally so.  Mike Madigan’s having been Speaker more or less continuously for the last thirty years did nothing to stop him from winning a supermajority in the House in 2012, despite pathetic GOP efforts to the contrary.  Either the voters are not as appalled by Mr. Madigan as some people seem to think…or they simply don’t pay enough attention to express their disdain in the voting booth.

See my two books, The Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics and The Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics, for further illumination on how things work in Chicago and Illinois politics. 

“GOVERNOR BILL DALEY…SENATOR BILL DALEY. THERE JUST WASN’T THE TIME…”

6/6/13

In the last few days, both Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed have indicated that Bill Daley will run for governor of Illinois in 2014.   Ms. Sneed indicated that her information came from “sources;” Mr. Kass actually talked to Bill Daley on the phone, who said

“After what happened in Springfield last week (See my several posts on this issue, most recently yesterday’s PAT QUINN, PENSIONS, AND THE UPCOMING ILLINOIS GUBERNATORIAL PRIMARY:  WHAT WOULD JIMMY STEWART DO? and the posts to which it will direct you.), I am considering (a gubernatorial run) even more strongly than before.  The inaction down there, the chaos, they’re thinking politics, but they’re not thinking about the state or the taxpayers.”

I have no sources on Mr. Daley’s aspirations, and Mr. Daley certainly doesn’t talk to me.   But I do have some thoughts on the recent talk about Bill Daley eschewing his Hamlet impersonation and getting off the proverbial pot.

Bill Daley, despite a long and distinguished political career (inter alia Commerce Secretary, Presidential chief of staff,) has never run for public office, having decided against races for both governor and U.S. senator in the past despite expectations that he would run due and entreaties to do so from people with real power.  

Yours truly has ascribed this tendency of Mr. Daley to tease potential supporters with talk of running only to leave them frustrated to a proud Daley family tradition, to wit, Daleys don’t like to run in elections that are not mere technicalities.   With a relatively, to the number of races they Daleys have run, few exceptions (Dick Daley’s failed run for sheriff in 1946 (Had he won that race, we might not remember his name today, but that is another story.), Dick Daley’s tough but successful first run in the Democratic primary for mayor in 1955, Rich Daley’s successful but difficult run for state’s attorney in 1980, and Rich Daley’s ill-fated first run for Mayor in 1983.), Daleys have only run for office when the outcome is a foregone conclusion.   So Bill Daley’s having come so close to running on several occasions but never pulling the trigger was merely following suit.

So why would Bill Daley run now when not only is the outcome not certain but when he is, indeed, a very long shot?   The last poll I saw, and admittedly it was a long time ago, showed him trailing far behind Governor Quinn (no relation) who in turn was far behind Attorney General Lisa Madigan.  Aside from polls, it’s difficult to see how Daley could possibly win against the only woman in the race or against the incumbent, especially given what is fast becoming perceived as the stench of his brother’s last term or so as Mayor. 

Could it be, as Mr. Kass indicated yesterday, that Mr. Daley has somehow determined that Lisa Madigan has decided not to run?   While it’s plausible that Ms. Madigan will not run, it would surprise the heck out of me after all the money she’s raised and all the noise that has been made about her looming candidacy.  She, too, has declined runs for both governor and U.S. senator before; if she opts out now after coming so close, she’ll look like, well, Bill “Hamlet” Daley.  And the Danish vote is not a big one in this state.  Stranger things have happened in this state, though.

The narrative that Mr. Daley seems to be advancing is that he doesn’t care if Ms. Madigan is runs and/or that he is tired of waiting for her to make what many of us have considered only a formal declaration of her intent to run.  He is so concerned about the fiscal state of our state, and so convinced that he is capable of addressing our money problems, that he is going ahead with a race.  He doesn’t care that many of us think that such a campaign, while perhaps not quixotic, looks nearly impossible with Ms. Madigan in it and far from easy even without her; Mr. Quinn is, after all, the incumbent, and again see yesterday’s post on his strategy.

Yours truly finds it hard to believe that Mr. Daley is so concerned about our state that he would throw political considerations out the window and charge ahead despite the long odds against him defeating both Mr. Quinn and Ms. Madigan in the Democratic primary.  That’s why I still think he will only run if he somehow knows Lisa Madigan will stay out of the race, which I can’t see happening.  

If I’m wrong, though, and Mr. Daley runs despite the near impossibility of winning in a three way race, I would give him more credit than I already do.  Though we’ve always had our differences (politically and ideologically, not personally; I don’t know Mr. Daley and have never met Mr. Daley, which is unfortunate for both of us, but I digress), I’ve always respected Bill Daley.  He is smart, hardworking, imbued by his parents with some great values, and knows the art of politics which is, after all, bringing people together to get things done.   He’s consequently been quite effective in whatever he has attempted.  He is the kind of guy we should want in public office. 

One more thing.  As I prepared this post, and as write it, a crazy thought occurred to me:   Could Bill Daley, realizing that his chances are nearly nil in a primary involving Pat Quinn and Lisa Madigan, and not having gotten wind of some Lisa Madigan plan to eschew a run for governor, be planning an independent run for governor?   Yes, a Daley running as an independent is a long shot….  But don’t dismiss it yet. Technically, Rich Daley ran as an independent for mayor in 1999, 2003, and 2007, admittedly only because, starting in 1999. the law dictated that the mayoral race be non-partisan.  Further, other Democratic stalwarts have abandoned the party to run for mayor as independents (Tom Hynes in 1987 (See my 5/17/13 piece, DEPAUL AND THE McARENA:  WHERE’S THE RETURN ON DEPAUL’S INVESTMENT IN CLOUT?)) and even Republicans (e.g., Ed Vrdolyak in 1989).   If memory serves yours truly correctly, Mr. Vrdolyak even served briefly as Cook County Republican Chairman. 

Admittedly, the names “Hynes” and “Vrdolyak” are not as synonymous with “Democrat” as is “Daley.”  But wouldn’t running as an independent make sense for a guy, like Bill Daley, who is claiming to run because he is disgusted by the way the Democrats have run the state?    And, yes, I had the same thought you might be having now…might such a rationale for running lead Bill Daley to run as a Republican?   Let’s not get crazy, or any crazier, here!

There is no doubt, though, that things will continue to be interesting in Illinois politics, all the more reason to see my two books, The Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics and The Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics, for further illumination on how things work in Chicago and Illinois politics.