Saturday, July 02, 2005

Jr. versus Daley for Mayor of Chicago?

Today Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. called for a massive voter registration drive to target the 650,000-some Chicagoans who remain unregistered while he decides whether to run for mayor in February 2007.

This is a good thing. More candidates make for better electeds. Candidates who run unopposed tend to be less sharp than those who survive a hard-fought election. If Jr. runs, the election will make Daley (assuming he wins) a better mayor.

You have to think that Daley is the favorite over Jr., as Daley remains one of the nation's greatest mayors. The persistent low-level corruption in city government is a significant problem, but perhaps the culture of tolerance that infects lots of voters as well as lots of electeds is finally changing in Chicago. Significant political opposition is a good thing, especially opposition that pushes to change the culture of tolerance.

There is something a bit depressing about two sons of powerful Chicago men facing off for mayor -- an echo of the 2000 presidential election.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Harold's time as mayor made Mayor Daley a better mayor. I so agree that having a creditable opposition would further better him. Not in what's really needed which is a more open administration because Daley holds way too much power in the center, but still better.

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(I accidently posted a message to you at the end of my comment in Rep. Paul Froehlich's post. Oops.)