Is the liberation of Chicago at hand?
Even on the Left, it seems, Rahm Emanuel's brand of government-by-bullying is wearing very, very thin.
Since politics in Chicago is all about the use (and abuse) of sheer, raw power, and huge chucks of the voting population are kept vulnerable to intimidation by The Man through loss of cushy patronage jobs or other City Hall-controlled benefits by themselves or family members, public opinion has less impact in most Chicago elections than it does elsewhere.
But every once in a while- as when rage in the African-American community over the Bilandic administration's decision to have CTA trains run express routes to the outlying white communities during the 1979 blizard, bypassing inner-city stops, resulted in the mayor's defeat in the Democratic primary by Jane Byrne- voter frustration boils over, and the city I love becomes- however briefly- an actual democracy.
May it happen again in 2015.
HT: Real Clear Politics
Since politics in Chicago is all about the use (and abuse) of sheer, raw power, and huge chucks of the voting population are kept vulnerable to intimidation by The Man through loss of cushy patronage jobs or other City Hall-controlled benefits by themselves or family members, public opinion has less impact in most Chicago elections than it does elsewhere.
But every once in a while- as when rage in the African-American community over the Bilandic administration's decision to have CTA trains run express routes to the outlying white communities during the 1979 blizard, bypassing inner-city stops, resulted in the mayor's defeat in the Democratic primary by Jane Byrne- voter frustration boils over, and the city I love becomes- however briefly- an actual democracy.
May it happen again in 2015.
HT: Real Clear Politics
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