I think I’d pay to see Rahm Emanuel elected mayor of Chicago.
Because I cover state politics, I don’t much care how he’d run the city. I’d love to see Emanuel elected just to watch him fight with House Speaker Michael Madigan.
To say that both men are accustomed to getting their own way and to accumulating massive amounts of power would be a horribly naive understatement. Stand between them and what they want, and you’re gonna get mowed down. They don’t call them “Rahmbo” and “The Velvet Hammer” for nothing.
Mayor Daley also falls into this category, of course. But he and the most powerful speaker in the history of Illinois practically grew up together. Daley’s father was Madigan’s second father. The two are like brothers.
There’s always tension between the brothers, as one fights to outdo the other in the never-ending battle to be the favorite son, but they almost always wind up on the same side. That’s something Rod Blagojevich never understood about them, even after I warned him. Blagojevich thought he could triangulate the two, and I told him he would be strangled instead. He was.
Emanuel has generally gotten his way by outworking, out-thinking and out-muscling his opposition. So has Madigan. And the pile of political corpses outside Madigan’s Statehouse door of those who tried to beat him one way or another is a mile high and a mile wide. There’s a smaller pile outside Emanuel’s door, but only because he hasn’t been around as long.
People who know Emanuel tell me that he can’t stand Madigan.
“He’ll end up strangling the guy,” cracked one longtime pal of Emanuel’s about what will happen if the fiery Rahmbo and Madigan go at it.
Madigan’s usual play is to let newbies come to him, and then make them stew endlessly while he decides what, if anything, he’ll give them. He has always worked with mayors, but there’s only so much he’ll do for anybody, including his brother by a different mother Daley.
Daley spent enough time in Springfield as a state legislator and around Madigan to know that he’d rather not deal with the state Capitol. You’ll be hard-pressed to find any Chicago state legislators who’ve been lobbied personally by Daley. That’s one reason why his grandiose schemes like the downtown casino never came to fruition. He knew the game was rigged, and he didn’t want to be shaken down by the players.
That has also been the case with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who is gearing up for a possible mayoral bid himself.
The sheriff and the speaker never got along when Dart was in the House, and they still don’t. He avoids Springfield like the plague. If he were elected, Dart would likely continue Daley’s general aversion to Springfield, but he wouldn’t have the longtime personal relationship to fall back on in a pinch.
Maybe he’d surprise me, but I just can’t imagine Emanuel letting Springfield — and, by extension, Madigan — do whatever it wants. The man who’s best known for regularly letting his partially amputated middle finger do his talking and who was widely ribbed for reportedly threatening a congressman while naked in the Capitol Hill gym shower just doesn’t appear to be built that way.
So, we’ll probably get a big showdown, at least at first as they test each other’s wills, and those piles of bodies will grow exponentially. Like I said, I’d pay to see that fight.
Of course, I’d rather that we not have a House speaker with so much concentrated power that he runs literally everything. But that’s life in Illinois.
* Before Emanuel Looks at Mayor’s Job, He Should Look in Mirror: Notably, his managerial record, as opposed to his legislative record, is spotty, according to multiple White House sources without axes to grind. They cite a perceived lack of internal communication; a short attention span; political infighting, notably with Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to the president; a limited set of loyalties (many to Clinton-era colleagues); and a surprising lack of decisiveness on personnel matters.
* Obama: Emanuel would be a ‘terrific mayor’
* Obama all but endorses Mayor Rahm, but…
* Obama says aide is focused on job
* Potential mayoral rivals play down Obama’s praise for Rahm Emanuel
* Rep. Jackson: Emanuel Has Baggage In Mayoral Field
* Jackson says no decision yet on mayoral run, slams Emanuel
* Emanuel would be best-known mayoral candidate
