Mell makes nice with EE
Sunday, Mar 19, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
There’s probably less to this than meets the eye, but it’s still a good story.
Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) had some kind words of support Saturday for the man trying to take his son-in-law’s job, although he did not call it an endorsement.
“I’ve known Edwin Eisendrath, a bright and capable alderman,†Mell said in a special introduction at his bingo party for seniors at Gordon Tech High School, at 3633 N. California Av.
Mell says he is not endorsing the challenger, but he Eisendrath says Mell has given him some key support.
“What (Mell) said was that he thinks I’m terrific; (he) left it at that,†Eisendrath said.
- Paul Powell - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 7:08 am:
I know you guys know everything about everything, but could this be more rather than less that meets the eye? After all, this is the second alderman in as many days to have some questionable remarks about RGod. The first one went so far as to say he thought Blagojevich would be surprised at his numbers.
- Beowulf - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 9:09 am:
I would think that Blago would have preferred if Dick Mell had just faded into the sunset after their squabble. This event with Edwin Eisendrath will not deter a solid Blago supporter from casting their vote for Rod. But, it will cause the “undecided” Democrat voter to pause and seriously consider Eisendrath.
If you were going to vote for a candidate and all of a sudden the candidate’s mother alluded to the fact that she wasn’t going to vote for her own son, as a voter it would stop me cold in my tracks.
- Anon - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 9:38 am:
Way to go Dick Mell!
- Levois - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 10:26 am:
I wonder who the other alderman was who had harsh words for Blago. Also while this might be good for EE, it seems too little too late right now.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 12:20 pm:
William Beavers was the other alderman with harsh words for GRod.
- SenorAnon - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 12:40 pm:
Levois, you raise, even if unintentionally, a good point. You didn’t know it was Alderman Beavers who bristled at Rod. Neither to most in his ward. Nor do most voters know that Dick Mell thinks Edwin Eisendrath is “terrific.”
The only thing this will do is give a little grist to Eisendrath’s ego, so that he might remain a legend in his own mind.
- HeKnowsBarack - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 1:28 pm:
Mell is also backing Alexander too. Woner how many loans Broadway has passed out to Dicky?
- Anonymous - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 3:05 pm:
Settle down people. All candidates were invited, and dozens showed up. The big news isn’t that EE was smart enough to know that he would get press by showing up; it’s that Rod is so self-centered that he snubbed an event a mile from his house hosted by his father-in-law, without whom he would still be a hack lawyer chasing PI cases.
- Anonymous - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 3:46 pm:
It was a personal effort by Mell to upset Rod on a personal level.
The outcome of the election will remain the same - Rod wins. Too late for anyone to really change gears. It would have been different if EE actually tried to win the election.
But Mell probably did upset his son-in-law.
Ugly to see this family do its family business in public, but I guess that is the business that this family is in.
- WHAT A JOKE - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 4:54 pm:
SenorAnon,
Your reference to “remaining a legend in his own mind” sounds like Blago to me.
- Anonymous - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 5:24 pm:
“by Mell to upset Rod”?!? Are you clueless?! Rod used that family to his own advantage, then ripped it apart. Ask anybody who knows what went on, including me, and they’ll tell you the exact same thing. Disgraceful.
Rod’s actions could be the most classless thing ever done in a often classless business.
- SenorAnon - Sunday, Mar 19, 06 @ 11:35 pm:
Well, Joke, like him or hate him, Blagojevich was elected to the Illinois House when a seat opened, elected to Congress when a Republican was keeping the seat warm, elected to an open gubernatorial seat against a popular Attorney General, and is generally acknowledged as tough to beat, even with slumping poll numbers,
Eisendrath became an Alderman. Then decided he could beat a long-term Congressman, and got smoked. And now he’s decided he should be governor, but has proven an absolutely horrible, underwhelming candidate.
So, it can sound like whatever you want it to sound like, but when the facts are laid out, it certainly appears Eisendrath is engaged in an act of political Onanism - a legitimate candidate to none but himself (well, and Randall Sherman and Veteran for Eisendrath).
- AJ - Monday, Mar 20, 06 @ 8:18 am:
Mell needs to get a clue. His son-in-law is Govenor! Eisendrath who?