Daley Machine Hasn't Come Up With An Emanuel Placeholder... Yet

I've been talking with most of the Democrats running for Chicago's 5th district congressional seat, which has been vacated by Rahm Emanuel. The seat, a classic "rotten borough," has been a real home of corruption and its representatives just got worse and worse over the years, from Dan Rostenkowski to Rod Blagojevich to Rahm Emanuel. Since there is literally no Democrat in American politics as bad as Emanuel, the district is definately about to turn around. The Daley Machine, though, still wants a shot at installing a hack of their own. And this week one of the candidates informed me there would be a meeting, a slate-making session-- of leaders of the "regulars" (as opposed to reformers) to pick a candidate for the March 3rd primary.

It took place at 10:30 this morning at Zam Zam Banquet Hall on N. Oak Park Ave. and was chaired by state Senator James DeLeo, the district's representative on the party's state central committee. My source explained that it was expected that they would try anointing either state Rep. John Fritchey or, worse yet, Alderman Patrick O'Connor. Fritchey came closest by none of the 5 candidates who applied for the endorsement got the 50% + one vote need, guaranteeing an open primary.

There are three progressives in the race, anti-machine County Commissioner Mike Quigley, state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz and DWT-endorsed Tom Geoghegan. None of the progressives went to the slate-making session.

When Emanuel was first elected in 2002, patronage armies loyal to Mayor Richard Daley campaigned for Emanuel to replace Rod Blagojevich, the 5th District congressman who became governor. Those campaign armies dissolved after a federal investigation into City Hall hiring fraud led to the corruption conviction of Daley's longtime patronage chief Robert Sorich in 2006.

Daley said this week he had not endorsed any candidate and was unlikely to pick a favorite ahead of the primary vote.

Geoghegan would actually be as stellar a representative as his predecessors were abysmal. He's not just a decent enough progressive who will vote well, he's a thoughtful and innovative leader who could help, along with like-minded grassroots Reps like Donna Edwards, Linda Sanchez and Alan Grayson, spark a much-needed renaissance for progressive ideas in Congress. Please consider even a small donation to his campaign through our ActBlue page.