“This isn’t the best thing for me”
Tuesday, Sep 17, 2013 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Greg Hinz talked to Bill Daley…
“I’ve thought about elective office as sort of the crowning thing that I’d do,” Mr. Daley said in our phone conversation. “It’s one thing to think about it, another thing to do it.”
Mr. Quinn “is in bad (political) shape. I would have beaten him,” said Mr. Daley. “Pat Quinn is a great guy and a White Sox fan. But this state is in deep doo-doo.”
However, he added, “I had to ask, is this really what I want to do in the next four or six or nine years?” There was no one particular event, a poll or attack that drove him out of the race, Mr. Daley said. “It was an accumulation of things . . . Is this what you’re going to commit yourself to?”
Mr. Daley said he has not yet decided who he will support for governor next year, but asked if he will endorse Mr. Quinn, had a one-word answer: “No.” Asked if he actually might endorse a Republican, Mr. Daley replied, “I don’t know . . . I don’t know who’s in the race yet.”
There are so many things wrong with that thinking that I’m almost overwhelmed. But here are two…
1) Essentially, he admitted that he was trying to enhance his resume by running. It was about him, not the office or what he could do for the state.
2) He calls himself a Democrat, but leaves the door opening to endorsing a Republican? It truly was all about him.
* More from the Tribune story…
Daley said the weight of his six-week struggle over whether to continue his candidacy fell heavily last week during a news conference when a reporter reminded him of a Quinn comment that the governor “was put on Earth” to solve the state’s pension dilemma. At the time, Daley said he hoped that he was on Earth for more than just solving the pension mess.
But in an interview at his Loop office Monday, Daley said the moment left him to ponder, “is that really what I’m put on Earth for?”
Ugh.
* We’ve been sucked into a year-long psychodrama by a guy who, ironically, turns out to have few actual leadership skills…
Daley also could have faced questions for his handling of the White House during Obama’s first term.
In “The Message: The Reselling of President Obama,” a new book on the 2012 presidential campaign, political reporter Richard Wolffe quoted one campaign aide describing Daley as a “walking disaster” whose 2011-2012 West Wing stint was “chaotic,” according to Monday’s Washington Post.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 8:58 am:
If Charles Foster Kane and Hamlet … morphed …you would get Bill Daley.
- Illinois - You Put Me In A Happy Place - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:04 am:
if you close your eyes and listen carefully, you can hear kwame screaming.
- Anonymour - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:07 am:
For those who said he didn’t have a path to victory, we were right. For those who said he didn’t have a path to primary day, wow.
- Darienite - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:08 am:
==It was about him, not the office or what he could do for the state.==
Is it really that surprising, not just for Daley, but for politicians in general? They all have egos, they all want to leave legacies of themselves.
- OneMan - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:09 am:
Yeah, this is all the fault of the guy he hired two weeks ago….
Really? Really?
As for the “Crowning Thing” he hire Rolland’s tombstone guy?
Here is a crazy thought.. What if he becomes Bruce’s running mate?
- Johnny Q. Suburban - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:09 am:
If he really wanted to help a Republican beat Quinn he should have ran his campaign then turned over all his info over to Rauner for the GE.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:10 am:
The key word here was “crowning,” as in royalty.
What a sense of entitlement.
And what sour grapes. He didn’t have the guts or work ethic to run hard, but he still brags that he would have won.
He’s like the Big Talker kid in the school yard who’s always picking fights but backs down when someone calls him out. “But I would have have beat you, If I wanted to.”
And he claims he doesn’t even know who the GOP candidates are? What an insulting, bald-faced lie.
- RonOglesby - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:10 am:
—It was about him, not the office or what he could do for the state.—
THIS.
Even non-political animals know his brother and the Chicago legacy. He wanted some of that. All about him.
While this is bad, all politicians have some of that. Maybe a few really are about service, but for the most part you have to be pretty self absorbed.
- dupage dan - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:11 am:
These 2 men are legends in their own minds. The hubris, chutzpah, arrogance to think that the state would elect you by popular acclaim (both) or that you have been ordained (by whom?) to solve the pension crisis smacks of Huey Longism. On the other side of the spectrum - it doesn’t look much better.
Ain’t this boogie a mess?
- Thomas - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:12 am:
One of the worst candidate withdrawals ever. It’s clear that this is a guy who has spent his entire life and career in an ivory tower. He’s never had to fight, claw and scratch for anything — and it dawned on him in the last couple of weeks that if he wanted to be governor, that’s exactly what he would have to do. He realized he couldn’t get elected on the strength of his Rolodex alone.
Man, the Daley family “brand” has really taken a beating the last few years.
- Louis Howe - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:13 am:
Thank you Bill Daley for saying what many of today’s elected officials believe– “It’s all about me!” In 1974 only 4% of retiring US Congressmen became lobbyists, today it’s over 40%.
It’s simple. Bill Daley didn’t need to be elected to cash-in, so why run.
- Bill White - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:15 am:
=== if you close your eyes and listen carefully, you can hear Kwame screaming ===
Why? Kwame Raoul has time, and a future.
If Lisa Madigan wants Mark Kirk’s US Senate seat, Kwame Raoul could easily be the next Attorney General.
If Lisa Madigan doesn’t want Mark Kirk’s US Senate seat Kwame Raoul could easily be our next US Senator.
Also, was Kwame Raoul put on this Earth to squabble with Michael Madigan?
===
The other critical question is the over/under on the IL General Assembly. How many seats will the IL GOP gain (or lose).
- The Captain - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:17 am:
One nit to pick about that Post story. Here’s what it says about Daley:
I’m not saying Daley was an excellent CoS but this is a very weak example to support a claim of “walking disaster”. The natural relationship between every incumbent government office and that incumbent’s campaign is always a problem. Always. If you’ve ever read any recap of the troubles of George HW Bush’s 1992 campaign you can see just how bad this typically is. Or if say you tried to schedule Pat Quinn in 2010.
So the main point in this example is that the White House Chief of Staff tried to work with the opposition party when he was responsible for keeping the government running and he didn’t tell the comm team (his underlings) which pissed off the campaign staff who was trying to demonize the Republicans. This is a weak example that makes him seem like the adult in the room.
- AFSCME Steward - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:18 am:
He found out, when the committemen overwhelmingly endorsed Quinn, that the Daley name means nothing when there are no Daleys in power. No deals to strike, nobody to fear.
- Chris - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:20 am:
“what sour grapes. He didn’t have the guts or work ethic to run hard, but he still brags that he would have won.”
Heh. He figured if his two mook brothers could do it, it should be easy for him, the ’smart’ one.
” he claims he doesn’t even know who the GOP candidates are?”
Oops, maybe not that smart. Until proven otherwise, I will deem this credible, and that Bill Daley is functionally illiterate, and lies somewhere on the mentally deficient end of the IQ scale–just a question of whether its moron or imbecile that is correctly applied. Statement against interest and all; must be deemed credible.
- votecounter - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:20 am:
What got my attention is “Idon’t know I don’t know who’s in the race yet” I have been thinking the same thing nobody has taken off Rauner is barely keeping his head above water after 2 to 3 million Dillard is DOA so is Brady Rutherford must have left the state for all we have heard of him. Some one with cash and Name ID can jump in this race still and win.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:26 am:
dd, thanks for the Zappa reference. Made my whole morning.
“The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.”
- Dave Fako - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:28 am:
One thing to note here and some simple assessment. The candidate matters - if they are not good or not into it, it really doesn’t matter what is around them, although on some occasions such a candidate is brought to victory kicking and screaming.
Simple Assessment: Daley figured out that being a candidate sucked for him and he bailed.
- Jake From Elwood - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:29 am:
Ego and faux ambition > Sense
- Will Caskey - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:31 am:
If there’s a graceful/diplomatic/savvy way to drop out I haven’t heard one yet. I’m taking away from this that Daley simply didn’t like real campaigning very much and that is completely understandable, and not a bad impulse.
- Jake - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:33 am:
Whatever bad you might say about Quinn (and I have said plenty myself) he is a tough person who will never back off from a fight. Qualities one might take for granted until you see somebody who doesn’t have them.
- Ray del Camino - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:33 am:
Now taking the place of the mud shark in your mythology . . .
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:33 am:
–The natural relationship between every incumbent government office and that incumbent’s campaign is always a problem. Always. If you’ve ever read any recap of the troubles of George HW Bush’s 1992 campaign you can see just how bad this typically is–
Huh?
At the start of 1992, James Baker resigned as Secretary of State to become White House Chief of Staff and head of the Bush re-election campaign.
Who was he fighting with, himself? He ran both shows.
- jerry 101 - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:39 am:
I’m calling it now. Bill dropped out of the race for governor because he’s going to run against Rahm for Mayor.
Rahm’s damaged himself so badly over the past few years that he gets a hostile reaction when he shows up somewhere to announce that a new school is going to be built in an underserved ward.
The next day, Bill Daley drops out of the race for governor? He’s running for Mayor.
- Stones - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:41 am:
I don’t know the guy but he always struck me as a prototypical “ivory tower bureaucrat”. Loves to keep his name in the limelight but never the fire in his belly to actually run for something.
Let’s hope this is the last we hear from Bill Daley on the political scene.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:43 am:
–I’m calling it now. Bill dropped out of the race for governor because he’s going to run against Rahm for Mayor.–
LOL!
- downstate lib - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:46 am:
Also, George Bush circa 1992 is generally considered a politician you want to avoid comparisons with.
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:46 am:
Just for fun I decided to revisit some of our commenter prognostications before Daley announced.
Tinyurl.com/lba3k6h
Does Daley dropping out before collecting any signatures make those of us who predicted he wouldn’t run correct? And regardless I suppose there’s still time to my Democrats for Rauner spec on Daley to come to pass.
- A guy... - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:46 am:
While he reached this epiphany late, he didn’t reach it TOO late. The timing is curious and we’ll hear the “rest of the story” soon enough. Lobbyists aren’t really cut out for elective office. They really don’t like people like themselves and once they realize they need them; well, all the fun and excitement go ‘poof’
- Big Debbie - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:50 am:
From the press conference: “I was really upset about the attack on my Democratic values.”
And that’s why he’s now refusing to endorse the only democrat in the governor’s race.
- Not mayor - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:53 am:
He’d have an uphill battle for county commissioner
- Joe McCarthy - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:53 am:
If I am Tom Bowen this morning, I am pulling my hair out. Not that the Quinn folks were ever going to forgive you, but at least you can say you fought the good fight. With Daley leaving in this goofy fashion, there is zero upside to being persona non grata with the administration.
- walkinfool - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:53 am:
My first perverse thought was Daley as Rauner’s running mate — two wild and crazy guys.
He misunderestimated P Quinn on campaign.
We all have made that mistake.
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 9:58 am:
The timing of his dropout isn’t really curious at all.
Its the drop dead date before he’d have to announce a lite gov candidate and start circulating nominating petitions.
Would have been interesting if he stayed in just who he would have got to carry his petitions with no union/party establishment support.
- MrJM - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:03 am:
The last tweet before Tom Bowen went silent: https://twitter.com/thomascbowen/status/379695105772650496
– MrJM
- Jaded - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:03 am:
I didn’t look it was possible, but Daley actually looks goofier than Quinn.
- Robert the Bruce - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:04 am:
Bored wealthy guy from an entitled family enters the race assuming the voters agree with everybody he knows, that Quinn is a disaster. Daley assumed he would poll better than “disaster.” The recent book wasn’t positive toward him, he knew it would be ugly, and he he concluded from polling and discussions that he had no path to victory, he doesn’t want to lose, and he drops out as vain and incompotent as ever. That’s probably what happened.
Unlikely alternate scenario - he was campaigning hard, raising money, travelling south of I-80 all the time, working the phones. He was really serious about running, knew some attacks would come as they do in any campaign, and he was ready for them. But then some oppo research dug up something really ugly/illegal about his past. Daley was presented with it as a “drop out of the campaign or we leak this” proposition.
- bobby dylan - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:08 am:
It was probably Bowen demanding that he start actual retail campaigning, everywhere, everyday that gave him his first idea of what was ahead of him. And he quit.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:12 am:
MrJM, that tweet from Bowen is hilarious on so many levels.
I guess he lost another fantasy player yesterday.
- dupage dan - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:21 am:
Rich, this campaign is strewn with Cosmik Debris - very easy to link the 2.
Glad to be of service.
- anon sequitor - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:24 am:
Laura Washington nailed it on WTTW while discussing Daley dropout: Quinn must have an angel sitting on his shoulder.
PQ’s “luck” is uncanny.
- low level - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:25 am:
“I’ve thought about elective office as sort of the crowning thing that I’d do”
and
“I had to ask, is this really what I want to do in the next four or six or nine years?”
Point (1) as MrJM stated, it was all about him.
Point (2) Didn’t he say at the beginning he was only interested in serving one term? Where did the 4,6 or 9 years come from?
This has to go down as one of the worst campaigns ever in the state of Illinois. Or non-campaigns? For Democrats who were around in the 80s and 90s, that’s really saying something.
Fako- if you decide to do a case study on this race, be sure and let us know. It would be interesting to see how you would dissect all the errors made in the race, starting with the guy at the top, as you put it in your post.
- Norseman - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:28 am:
IMHO, Kwame’s best bet was a 3-way race. His decision now looks extremely good.
To the post, Daley is looking so bad here.
- The resume building inference
- The self-serving I’d win, but I don’t want the hassle
- Alluding to the possibility of a GOP endorsement while he’s supposed to be a Democrat stalwart.
I can’t help but wonder if daddy is turning over in his grave.
- Esquire - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:31 am:
This exit has to rival Daley’s entry as Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce when he passed out while he was being presented to the public at a press conference.
Richie’s longevity and looting damaged the Daley brand, but I suspect that he would still be in office had Chicago been awarded the 2016 Olympics.
Rahm would probably be back in the private sector or trying to regain a seat in Congress.
I would not put too much credence in Daley’s disaster run as COS. Valerie Jarrett is the real power and blight inside the Obama White House and she dumped on Rahm and Daley in succession.
- low level - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:31 am:
Or, should I say non race? I don’t know what to call it. He campaigned enough to make a whole host of charges (campaign) but then dropped out at the last minute (non campaign)
“To campaign or to not campaign - that is the question”
- Martin - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:31 am:
Hard to believe that he could be a bigger boob than his brother Rich. We can thank him
- Joan P. - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:42 am:
@ low level: “Didn’t he say at the beginning he was only interested in serving one term? Where did the 4,6 or 9 years come from?”
It probably comes from the fact that politicians don’t always mean what they say (and vice versa).
- low level - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 10:55 am:
Final thought: I feel for all the staffers he hired that were expecting to have a job, at least, through March 19th.
To all young Political Science students out there: learn from this. Or any poor young souls just out of college and having an interest in working campaigns. You can make it, but be ready for anything.
It’s great to have an interest in politics, but always have a backup plan. Find something else that interests you, become good at it and please make sure it’s something you can make a living doing besides politics. I’m very grateful I did.
- AFSCME Steward - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 11:06 am:
Then he drops out of the Mayor’s race to run for Senate…..
“I’m calling it now. Bill dropped out of the race for governor because he’s going to run against Rahm for Mayor.
Rahm’s damaged himself so badly over the past few years that he gets a hostile reaction when he shows up somewhere to announce that a new school is going to be built in an underserved ward.
The next day, Bill Daley drops out of the race for governor? He’s running for Mayor.”
- Just Me - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 11:06 am:
I’m shocked….SHOCKED…that someone would run for office because they were self-centered and wanted to improve their own standing in life. Who ever heard of such a thing?
- Loop Lady - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 11:31 am:
Esquire:
“If Valerie Jarrett is thr real power and blight inside the White House”
if this is true and I don’t doubt that it could be, it would explain alot about the Obama presidency…Valerie is a Chicago entity, not a player on the national/international stage…
- reformer - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 11:53 am:
For a quitter to say “I woulda won” evinces no class.
Someone who has just been bragging about his Democratic purity to be open to endorsing a Republican is a fraud.
- Darienite - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 12:07 pm:
==Its the drop dead date before he’d have to announce a lite gov candidate and start circulating nominating petitions.==
Could it just be that he couldn’t get a running mate?
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 12:22 pm:
==Could it just be that he couldn’t get a running mate?==
This line of questioning should probably be explored some.
Who did Bill Daley ask? What were the responses he got?
- Montrose - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 12:24 pm:
Daley needs some quality time with a therapist to work through family issues. We just saw Thanksgiving dinner dynamics play out in the Dem primary.
- Kwark - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 12:26 pm:
If Valerie did in Daley and Rahm as CoS, I’d like to see her train some fire on Rahm for the race in 2015. Keep the nest warm for the Obamas.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 12:26 pm:
===This line of questioning should probably be explored some.===
Meh. He gone.
- Pot calling kettle - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 12:46 pm:
So, we learn that Dill Daley quits when he thinks he will win, is unclear what the term of office is, and that whatever he told his donors and supporters was complete BS. Nice.
I met him at the Dem Chair breakfast. He was a Quinn sticker on my shirt and barely acknowledged me.
The sticker people out front were plastering everyone with stickers EXCEPT no Daley stickers…what did he expect to see on people’s shirts?
The impression I got was of a campaign that lacked the basics (no signs, buttons or stickers for the party regulars) and a candidate that wasn’t willing to take a few minutes to ask for support.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 1:36 pm:
Although he can’t say it, he saw he couldn’t win. The inedible stream of devastating attack ads could have left him untenable for one of his multimillion dollar figure head gigs. One must have priorities.
- wordslinger - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 1:43 pm:
PJW, “inedible?”
You have to eat a lot of stuff in politics, but the more bread you have, the less stuff you have to eat.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 1:50 pm:
lol, maybe I should read what my spell check.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 1:51 pm:
nevermind, I can’t write
- Rod - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 1:56 pm:
As a Chicagoan I would be shocked to see Daley run against Mayor Emanuel. I mean what would they disagree about? Daley supports the imposition of austerity and pension cutting just as much as Mayor Emanuel.
Moreover, even though Bill Daley is not is brother’s keeper he would be forced to defend his brother’s spending and selling off of assets at least to some degree, politically that would be a disaster.
Moreover, if Daley did not have the guts to get down in the dirt and roll around with Quinn do people really think he would take on the foul mouthed chip on his short shoulders male ballet dancer?
- Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 2:47 pm:
=== Here is a crazy thought.. What if he becomes Bruce’s running mate? ===
@OneMan - Holy Cow.
Despite infinitesimal odds, that would make for one amazing plot twist.
Especially if they were able to get on the ballot as Independent candidates.
You’d have a Quinn/? vs. Rauner/Daley vs. Brady/Dillard/Rutherford & whomever.
Please do this. Please, please, please.
It would be the most fascinating thing to play out around here in years, and we’ve had some pretty interesting developments (Blago, JJJ, Scott Lee Cohen, so on and so forth).
CapFax would explode from all the page hits. Servers shattering in pieces everywhere.
- DuPage Dave - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 3:52 pm:
I agree with the label “entitled” for this guy. He comes across as smug as well, basiclly a know-it-all. Never saw a reason why anyone would vote for him. His brief campaign will soon be forgotten. As Grandma used to say good riddance to bad rubbish.
- Dan Bureaucrat - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 5:38 pm:
3) He doesn’t know who else is in the race for governor, the race for which he was recently a candidate?
- NW Illinois Dem - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 6:27 pm:
Boy, what a bunch of petty critics on this thread .. Go out and run for office and see how you like it, folks! If you did, you might understand Bill Daley’s rationale for leaving the race. Sometimes is a lot more personal than political, but then I hate to take away all your tin hats as you’re having a massive tin-hat party today!
- low level - Tuesday, Sep 17, 13 @ 7:10 pm:
NW - his leaving is not the issue. The way he did it is.
I’d have nothing to criticize about the exit if he had simply gave the reasons he wasn’t running and left it at that. Instead, he continued to act like a candidate, blasting away at his opponent. When you drop out, you wish everyone well and leave it at that. He even could have gotten away with simply saying he wasn’t going to endorse anyone. But, no, that was too difficult for him and he had to add how weak Quinn was.
Sorry, that was classless. Especially for a guy who has been around politics for as long as he has.
However , if you can find me another candidate from anyplace around the country that left a primary the same way, I’ll definitely look at it and say I was mistaken, FWIW.
- MrJM - Wednesday, Sep 18, 13 @ 7:19 am:
Agreed.
You can’t expect a classy response to your dropping-out when you drop-out in the most classless way possible.
– MrJM