November 26, 2008
41ST WARD REMAINS LAST REPUBLICAN OUTPOST
It's the Last Republican Outpost, a veritable No Man's Land where Democrats fear to tread. Chicago's 41st Ward, on the far Northwest Side, was the only source of Republican solace after Nov. 4, 2008. The ward's Republican committeeman, Mike McAuliffe, was re-elected as state representative in the 20th District, and got a stunning 66.5% of the vote in his ward. Although John McCain got 13.7% of the citywide vote, he got 44.7% in the 41st Ward, and defeated state's attorney candidate Tony Peraica, who got 17.1% citywide, got 47.8% in the 41st Ward. In 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007, Republican Alderman Brian Doherty was re-elected with over 70%. Why? It's not really that Republicans are so strong and dominant; it's that Democrats are so feeble and non-existent. A "non-aggression pact" exists between the McAuliffe-Doherty forces and 36th Ward Democrats Bill Banks and Jim DeLeo. There is no Democratic Party in the 41st Ward. Dem Committeeman Mary O'Connor sent her workers into the 6 precincts in the 65th Dist., to aid suburban IL House candidate Aurora Austriaco. The other 51 precincts were ignored: No canvassing; no sample ballots; no election day workers; no palm cards. O'Connor is, to be charitable, ineffectual. As long as McAuliffe wins 2-1 in the 41st, he's unbeatable for state representative. And that won't change until there is a Democratic "presence" in the 41st Ward. Full Article...
November 19, 2008
"BLACK TIDE" ENGULFS PERAICIA, REPUBLICANS
Score an unintentional win for the beleaguered Republicans in Chicago and Cook County. They used to verge on irrelevance. Now they've achieved it. John McCain got an anemic 13.7% of the Chicago vote on Nov. 4, and state's attorney candidate Tony Peraica got 16.1%. In the Cook County suburbs, McCain got 32.3%, and Peraica got 34.3%. In 2006, when Peraica ran for county board president against Todd Stroger, he got 60.4% of the suburban vote, and 31.5% of the Chicago vote. A "black tide" drowned every Republican. In Chicago's black-majority wards, McCain got 2.8%, and Obama got 453,152 votes to McCain's 12,894. In the 6th, 8th, 17th, 21st, 24th and 34th wards, Obama got over 99%. The Republicans cannot function when over one-third of the voters (blacks) give almost 100% of their vote to the Democrats. In fact, Obama's 453,152 votes almost matched the 459,684 votes that Harold Washington got in the 1983 mayoral election. Then, white and Hispanic voters resisted a black mayor; now, 25 years later, they embrace a black Democrat for president. McCain won only 3 of 30 suburban townships. The Democratic vote for president has spiked by 179,000 in the suburbs since 2000, and by 150,000 in Chicago. Even on the NW Side, Obama swept, despite the fact that white Democratic committeemen did little to assist (see vote chart on this website: NW Side Vote/2008). Only in the 41st Ward was it close: McCain got nearly 45%; Obama won big in the 39th, 36th, 38th, 45th and 40th wards. Full Article...
November 12, 2008
LOCAL FIEFDOMS PLOT TO WIN EMANUEL SEAT
Ambition is running amok in the Northwest Side Chicago 5th congressional district. The unexpected decision of incumbent Rahm Emanuel (D) to take the post of Obama White House chief-of-staff presents a plethora of ambitious polls with a once-in-their-lifetime opportunity to win a lifetime congressional seat. Emanuel, 47, was on track to be House Speaker, and would likely have held the seat until 2030. The NW Side is like the Balkan Peninsula after World War I -- a bunch of small, mutually hostile political fiefdoms. Each fiefdom's boss (or prince or princess) wants more power. Emanuel's seat is a priceless commodity. The Big Three in the contest are Ald. Tom Allen (38th), Ald. Gene Schulter (47th), and State Rep. John Fritchey. The second tier includes Ald. Marge Laurino (39th), Ald. Pat O'Connor (40th), State Rep.-elect Deborah Mell, State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, businessman Cary Capparelli, and ex-Clinton aide Pete Dagher. Other possibilities include Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), Edwin Eisendrath, and an Hispanic backed by powerful county chairman (D) Joe Berrios -- like MWRD Comr. Frank Avila, or Gery Chico. The district is 20% Hispanic, especially in the western suburbs, and contains all or parts of the 46th, 47th, 40th, 39th, 45th, 41st, 38th, 36th, 32nd and 33rd wards. In a field of 8-10 candidates, 20% is all it will take to win. Full Article...
November 5, 2008
"ELECTIONATOR" SHOWS HOW TO CHANGE HISTORY
As readers will recall, the "Terminator" movie had Arnold Schwarzenegger sneaking through a time portal to "terminate" a person who was a future impediment. In this column, the Electionator performs likewise, terminating and impeding election results. Beginning in 1948, if Tom Dewey (R) had beat Harry Truman (D), then there would have been no Eisenhower-Nixon ticket in 1952, and no Warren (Supreme) Court, as Earl Warren was Dewey's vice-president. That means No Nixon. A Dewey 1948 win meant Adlai Stevenson, Illinois' governor, would likely have won the presidency in 1956. That means no Kennedy-Nixon 1960 contest. Or an 1960 Nixon win would have meant no Camelot, no Kennedy assassination, no Bobby Kennedy legacy, and no Ted Kennedy in the US Senate. And no Nixon means no 1976 Ford-Carter contest, and no Carter failed presidency. And no Carter 1976 win means no Reagan presidency, which means no Bush presidency, and no Clinton presidency. And no Clinton presidency means no Gore loss to George W. Bush in 2000, or Bush win over John Kerry in 2004. And, locally, Mike Bilandic's loss to Jane Byrne in 1979 paved the way for Rich Daley to become state's attorney, and be positioned to run for mayor in 1987 when Harold Washington died. And Barack Obama would not have been elected US Senator in 2004 had not Carol Moseley Braun been utterly inept and incompetent and lost her 1998 re-election race. And had not Braun won in 1992, Alan Dixon would now be the Democrats' Senate leader -- and Obama would still be an obscure state senator from Hyde Park. Full Article...
Previous Articles