Dear Readers,

In the end, Tom Dart didn't have it in him is the title of my piece in today's Huffington Post.

For those of you who are non-Chicagoans, Tom Dart is the high Sheriff of Cook County. He was widely considered to be (until yesterday), along with Rahm Emanuel, the most viable candidate for Mayor.

However, he's backed-out now, along with a bunch of other folks who had something to contribute, as mayoral candidates, to the civic dialogue Chicago needs before we elect our next mayor. I'm hoping they'll still weigh-in, albeit from a different vantage point.

As luck would have it, right before this happened, I'd pitched an important national magazine about writing an occasional piece about the mayoral, since this mayoral looked like it might shape up as one important test of the President's views (and his coattails), since it looked like Rahm would have stiff competition. Now, that's not as clear.

As you might guess, I really wanted to focus on what would be the dialogue, in that highly-competitive context, about the needs of Chicago's women. Well, here's hoping there will still be a serious dialogue. I, for one, will push for it.

Anyway, check-out today's piece: I think its larger message is an important one in these days when we cry-out for good, but also strong (enough), candidates for important public office.

Here's that message, courtesy of my favorite political philosopher (that would be former Chicago Mayor, Harold Washington): Politicians--women, men, Democratic, Republican, whoever-- take note: Unless you're willing to cut them (the opposition) off at the knees, don't get in the ring.

Happy Halloween to all, but, especially, to my wonderful and right-thinking (that would be to the Left, of course) sister, Helen. Happy birthday, Helen.

Rebecca

Labels: Chicago, Chicago politics, Halloween, Harold Washington, Rahm Emanuel, Tom Dart

Dear Readers,

I've written a new piece in my series for The Huffington Post about Chicago's 2011 mayoral contest. It may be found at this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-sive/mayor-daley-is-right-bein_b_762737.html, or on the front page of today's Chicago edition.

I've said it before; I'll say it again: Since this mayoral contest is both a laugh riot and very serious business, I'm going to keep writing. I hope you'll keep reading.

In today's piece, I write about the prospect of Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan as Mayor of Chicago. Though the Attorney General told WBEZ's Alison Cuddy this morning she isn't running, as I point-out in my piece, first the President wasn't running, and then he was. [And a lot of us were happy when he declared he'd changed course. That could be the case here, too.] So, like I said, "stay tuned."

Best wishes.

Rebecca

Labels: Alison Cuddy, Chicago Mayor, Chicago politics, Lisa Madigan, Richard M. Daley, the President, WBEZ

Best Game in Town


Dear Readers,

So, at the link above you can listen to a Friday afternoon piece from WBEZ, our Chicago NPR affiliate, about the political doings of that busy week on the Chicago political front.

It was interesting for me, and I hope it will be for you, to listen to the other guests, Audra Wilson, a former deputy press secretary to then-U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama, and Scott McPherson, a Republican strategist, along with host Steve Edwards, talk about what's bemusing and befuddling the chattering classes.

Mostly, it seems that there's no clear path to victory for any candidate on the hustings right now.

It was fun to participate, if a test of one's wits, to stay on-point in the middle of a very busy and noisy restaurant!

Thanks to Steve Edwards, WBEZ Program Director and show host, for inviting me.

Sincerely,

Rebecca

Labels: Chicago politics, Steve Edwards, WBEZ

Our Mayor's Race is a Tale of Two Cities

Dear Readers,

The above link is to my piece Friday for The Huffington Post about the fun in Chi-town, the race to replace Mayor Daley.

The big news Friday was about Rahm Emanuel's departure from the White House and Mayor Daley's very nice words about Gery Chico, presently head of the City Colleges and former mayoral chief-of-staff.

But, as I point out in my piece, it's still anybody's race--if that anybody creates a multi-racial, cross-town coalition of women.

Best wishes for a great week of fun.

Rebecca

Labels: Chicago Mayor, Chicago politics, Gery Chico, Huffington Post, Mayor Daley