CHICAGO | Politics and Current Events

[Mikemak27]

Bill daley is about as low on my list of candidates as possible. Yet, Preckwinkle is somehow still lower than him. Anyone who is pro growth and anti crime will be in play for a vote in the second round. Taxwinkcle is both anti growth and pro violent criminal. That is simply a stunning stance to run on.

[ardecila]

Leaning toward Mendoza or Vallas, maybe Daley after we learn more.

On the surface, Daley seems like the natural successor to Rahm, someone with good connections in the business community and in Washington DC who will bring home the bacon. That's why I voted for Rahm in the first place, because I assumed he could pry some goodies out of the Obama administation better than literally anyone. Of course, that was before the Republican congress-critters pulled all the goodies away from Obama...

Vallas though is a policy wonk and has come out with concrete plans to legalize garden apartments and possibly coach houses, and plenty of other interesting ideas. If he doesn't advance in the primary, he should be everyone's first choice for deputy mayor.

Mendoza I just like because she will whip everyone in line and rule City Council with an iron fist, and her platform isn't cringe-worthy.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

...
You can probably get rid of 50% of Illinois' public employees except for teachers, police and fire and nobody will ever notice....hell, the State will probably run even better.

Prior to Rahm's first win, Preckwinkle was kind of a wonder candidate, but she has done a remarkably thorough job if destroying her reputation since then, across the spectrum. I'm not sure who her base would be at this point.

To your post of fire, teachers, and police, I would add most court employees, and a number of oversight agencies.

I want as Mayor whoever understands cities best, and will do two things: work on getting Chicago's economy growing as best as possible, and work on realistic pension fix solutions. Everything else would flow from those, as long as he or she really understood and likes cities, and doesn't just view Chicago as an unconnected mass of people.

[moorhosj]

Via Capitol Fax

Asked whom they would vote for if the election were held today, Preckwinkle came out on top with 21 percent of the vote. Mendoza was second with 16 percent.

That was followed by: Bill Daley (9 percent); Willie Wilson (8 percent); Garry McCarthy (7 percent); Dorothy Brown and Paul Vallas (both at 6 percent); Amara Enyia (5 percent); and Gery Chico (3 percent). […]

Although Preckwinkle comes out on top in the crowded field, Mendoza beats the County Board president one-on-one with 45 percent to Preckwinkle’s 39 percent.

Preckwinkle crushed Daley by a 51-to-32 percent margin. Mendoza did the same with 56 percent to Daley’s 29 percent. Mendoza also creamed Chico by a 58-to-23 percent margin.

It seems the Daley, Vallas and McCarthy group (roughly 22%) may keep eachother from getting to the run-off.

[Vlajos]

Easy decision Mendoza over Prekwinkle if that's what it boils down to.

[the urban politician]

That's not a good result for Bill Daley. He's probably got the most money so he better start spending it.

Ultimately I agree--I'd prefer Mendoza over the Preckwinkle as well

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Easy decision Mendoza over Prekwinkle if that's what it boils down to.

all.

DAY.

LONG.

[Mikemak27]

If it’s Mendoza versus Preckwinkle, without a doubt I’m voting Mendoza.

[Kenmore]

mendoza was obvious from day one of the surprise retirement decision

[LouisVanDerWright]

If Mendoza gets elected it will pretty much be the first time in Chicago history that we will have relatively policy continuum after a voluntary transfer of power.

In other words it will be the first time someone retired and wasn't replaced immediately by a reformer. Everyone else has died and been replaced by similar politicians or just held onto power forever. I would be thrilled to see Mendoza just because we might actually face a situation where we get new blood and ideas without just trashing every single policy even if it's working.

[sentinel]

Mendoza all they way. I like Preckwinkle. A lot. But her proposed LaSalle street/big financial inst. tax or whatever it is, is ridiculous.

[the urban politician]

^ If you like Preckwinkle in the sense that she's probably a dandy lady to have a cup of coffee with, then sure--me too.

But when I read her agenda it's like a list of everything that I oppose. It's like checking box after box of "Nope. Nope. Nope." Besides, the CTU is hell bent on destroying Chicago, so whoever they endorse is almost certainly the worst possible candidate.

[LouisVanDerWright]

No, the CTU is hell bent on lining their own pockets whether it's sustainable or not. Let's not muddy the waters like they do when they claim their strikes are "for the children". The CTU is an organization that exists solely to entrich it's members and for no other reason. It doesn't want to help the kids and it doesn't want to hurt the city of Chicago. It wants to extract maximum possible value for its members and maximize possible power for its leadership. That is the only reason the CTU exists, period.

As such you can assume whoever they endorse is inherently tainted by that agenda and therefore will ignore what is best for the citizens and city of Chicago in favor of whatever benefits the CTU.

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

No, the CTU is hell bent on lining their own pockets whether it's sustainable or not. Let's not muddy the waters like they do when they claim their strikes are "for the children". The CTU is an organization that exists solely to entrich it's members and for no other reason. It doesn't want to help the kids and it doesn't want to hurt the city of Chicago. It wants to extract maximum possible value for its members and maximize possible power for its leadership. That is the only reason the CTU exists, period.

As such you can assume whoever they endorse is inherently tainted by that agenda and therefore will ignore what is best for the citizens and city of Chicago in favor of whatever benefits the CTU.

Couldn't agree with this more. The world isn't binary, it is possible for Preckwinkle to be endorsed by CTU, but still better than other candidates. Unlike many in this race (Wilson, McCarthy, Lightfoot, Enyia, technically Vallas) she has an actual political record to look at with successes and failures. Let's not forget that she cut some spending, tried to lower pension costs and lowered the sales tax. Not all of those played out, but lets look at the whole story instead of acting like she was just created in a CTU lab to do their bidding.

[Mikemak27]

Originally Posted by moorhosj

Couldn't agree with this more. The world isn't binary, it is possible for Preckwinkle to be endorsed by CTU, but still better than other candidates. Unlike many in this race (Wilson, McCarthy, Lightfoot, Enyia, technically Vallas) she has an actual political record to look at with successes and failures. Let's not forget that she cut some spending, tried to lower pension costs and lowered the sales tax. Not all of those played out, but lets look at the whole story instead of acting like she was just created in a CTU lab to do their bidding.

She also endorsed and backed Barrios for county assessor and hand picked Kim Foxx for cook county states attorney. Both of those endorsements show how much she values loyalty to the nth degree and to hell how it impacts the county at large.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by moorhosj

Couldn't agree with this more. The world isn't binary, it is possible for Preckwinkle to be endorsed by CTU, but still better than other candidates. Unlike many in this race (Wilson, McCarthy, Lightfoot, Enyia, technically Vallas) she has an actual political record to look at with successes and failures. Let's not forget that she cut soyme spending, tried to lower pension costs and lowered the sales tax. Not all of those played out, but lets look at the whole story instead of acting like she was just created in a CTU lab to do their bidding.

Her signature issue when first running for Cook County President was to cut the sales tax. She did then raised it back and came up with the ridiculous soda tax. Which passed but was repealed against her wishes. If she cut spending it clearly wasn't enough.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Preckwinkle wouldn't be the worst thing that could happen, but she would represent something of a Reversion to old school machine politics that Rahm was such a breath of fresh air from.

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Her signature issue when first running for Cook County President was to cut the sales tax. She did then raised it back and came up with the ridiculous soda tax. Which passed but was repealed against her wishes. If she cut spending it clearly wasn't enough.

You are 100% correct and have reiterated my point. She has a record we can actually look at unlike most of the other candidates she is running against.

Many here say they want Mendoza (my current preference). Meanwhile, people ignore her ties to Ed Burke while calling Preckwinkle a machine or union stooge. What is Mendoza when she calls Ed Burke a "mentor", accepts his campaign money and courts his endorsement?

This election is a chance to bury the machine-style politics that have infected our city for too long. I'm still not sure where Mendoza lies on that spectrum, but my point is that things have more than one layer and simply labeling someone based on the most recent Crain's article doesn't really help.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by moorhosj

This election is a chance to bury the machine-style politics that have infected our city for too long.

That's where Willie Wilson comes in.

Although the fact that he's against O'Hare expansion is a HUGE head scratcher.....

[SIGSEGV]

Burke is probably donezo: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...103-story.html