Let The Games Begin

All holy hell is about to break loose in the city of Chicago. Daley has done a fantastic job of keeping competing groups in line by distributing the money and appointing the right people. That power, the power of the purse, will remain in the hands of the future mayor.

So who's going to run? Every group in Daley's coalition is going to want to control that power. None of the alderman openly wield any power. They've all been sycophants for the Mayor. The Cook County board has torn itself apart after the death of Stroger The Elder. I suppose John Daley is fairly strong but will he really be able to take over after his brother? I doubt it though. Cook County Assessor James Houlihan may be the closest you can get to an assumed candidate. I think you will see some local U.S. Representatives get in the race. Look for Jesse Jr. and Luis Gutierrez to look into a run.

Of course there is the Wild Rahm Card. Rahm Emanuel, Obama's chief of staff, has expressed a desire to be mayor but did not want to run against Daley. He's also said he doesn't want to be in the Admin for the long haul.

I think we might be in for another period of city strife that will resemble the Council Wars. I know how racially tinged those were but I hope the battles fought are not grounded along those lines.

I'm rubbing my hands together in anticipation of all the fun!


UPDATE: D'Oh! I forgot about the Madigans. They may or may not run but they are some serious power brokers from the south side.