Now that we’ve cleansed ourselves of all the why questions about Mayor Richard M. Daley’s retirement, we can get on to the serious stuff. No, not the question who will follow Daley, but what will be follow. The “who” question will certainly have something to do with the “what” question; just as surely as it mattered that Daley occupied City Hall’s fifth floor office instead of say, Cook County Clerk David Orr. But it’s been so long that a municipal election in Chicago has meant anything... 

What led Richard M. Daley to his decision not to run again? The right answer is probably contained in these guesses. Maybe a mixture of them. 1. Maggie Daley’s health. For the first time in a long time the media cameras have focused on her fixedly. Before this we’ve gotten glimpses of her leaving the hospital and in a few seconds of viewing she looked virtually the same. But standing by her husband at the rostrum, it’s clear she has lost weight and…always charming…looks exactly like... 

Another Victim of the Summer of Prosperity and Recovery? While at lunch today, I saw former State Senator Howard Carroll across the dining room. I wondered what the one time Democratic Committeeman of the 50th Ward might have been thinking if he had heard of his DePaul Law School classmate’s decision not to run for re-election. I learned about Richard M. Daley’s City Hall press conference, where he announced his retirement, a few minutes before I was seated. The news was not a complete surprise... 

I was as surprised as anyone to hear the news that RMD will not run again. In the recent past I have written that I thought he would go again unless the delicate health of his wife would make him change his mind. I can only assume that is the case here, because he certainly had no serious opposition for next February, though his low ratings suggest he might have a bit more of a fight than usual. This sets up a situation where many will opt to run, but I believe it will get down to Sheriff Tom Dart,... 

From Crain’s  Read More →

To use the current Washingtonian cliche, we have seen this movie before: Israel and the Palestinians sitting down together again to talk about peace. The punditocracy consensus ranges from skepticism to outright cynicism. Why will this new round of talks end differently from decades of attempted negotiations between the two—in failure? Time Magazine greets us with a cover story titled “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace,” which tells how Israelis are now very prosperous, haven’t been...