* The President is about to embark on a small-town Midwestern swing which could take him to Quincy…
Quincynews.org was reporting that several sources confirmed that an Obama advance team was setting up a possible visit to Quincy, with Wednesday appearing to be the most likely day. Various federal and state officials did not indicate any plans for a Peoria or Springfield stop.
Yeah. Springfield. Right. No way does he want to pop in near the end of session mess. And steering clear of Chicago’s craziness is also smart. Still, if he does come to Illinois, I’d like to see him pressed on what he thinks has happened to his home state since he departed.
* Meanwhile, Lynn Sweet says Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is slightly walking back what he said on the Charlie Rose show this week about running for mayor if Daley decides to hang it up…
Emanuel told me Tuesday night he never intended to go as far as he did with Rose. The question came up at the end of a wide ranging interview. The usually disciplined Emanuel says he slipped up.
The Sun-Times runs down a list of other possible Daley successors…
Nor is [Rahm], necessarily, the frontrunner in that crowded field.
Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., CTA Board Chairman Terry Peterson, City Colleges Board Chairman Gery Chico and former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman are also high on the list.
Former U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley, the natural politician of the Daley clan, could try to succeed his brother. The field might also include: former Schools CEO Paul Vallas; presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett; U.S. Rep. Luis Guitierrez; and Chicago aldermen Bob Fioretti (2nd), Edward M. Burke (14th), Brendan Reilly (42nd) and former Ald. Manny Flores (1st).
And Congressman Gutierrez makes a good point in that Sweet piece…
Earlier in the day, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who is at odds with Emanuel over the slow pace of comprehensive immigration reform in the Obama White House, told me, “I am sure every word that he spoke was not some sort of off-the-cuff remark but calculated to achieve some political goal.
“When I see Rahm Emanuel, [from now on] I don’t know if I am talking to the president’s chief of staff and if that is his chief priority, or if I am talking to a future candidate for the mayor of the city of Chicago,” Gutierrez said.
FOOTNOTE: Emanuel never liquidated his political war chest when he joined the White House; as of April 15, he had $1,175,109.76 cash on hand that could be transferred to a mayoral campaign.
* The Trib runs down the negatives…
But back in Chicago, where Emanuel made his political bones, the former congressman and political insider’s sharp elbows and national cachet aren’t much of a guarantee that he will replace the man who remains firmly in control of Chicago.
Just ask the Daleys.
“Absolutely not, and I don’t think anyone would say that,” said Cook County Commissioner John Daley when asked Tuesday if Emanuel would be the front-runner in a mayor’s race that didn’t involve his brother. “And I don’t think (Emanuel) would say that, knowing the electorate of Chicago.”
A return home to run for mayor means Emanuel, who renewed his interest in the job on national TV Monday, would have to address some long-standing political baggage. Questions abound about his quick stockpiling of wealth on Wall Street, help from a Daley patronage army to win a seat in Congress and chats with disgraced ex- Gov. Rod Blagojevich about filling a vacant U.S. Senate seat.
* And Congressman Quigley shoots down the whole idea…
“This is all b.s. The mayor is running again,” Quigley answered adamantly, not using the abbreviation. […]
“I’ve met with the mayor three or four times since I’ve been elected,” Quigley said. “He is focused. He is knowledgeable. And I think he wants to go out on his own terms, whenever that is.”
On top of that, maybe there is a little inside information.
“I hear their operation is getting put together,” Quigley said, meaning that he has been told by others that Daley is assembling a political team in preparation for a 2011 re-election bid. He couldn’t supply any details.
* And Fran Spielman writes that Rahm’s trial balloon, if it was that, didn’t go over well on the 5th Floor…
Mayor Daley’s popularity is at an all-time low, city finances are in the toilet, the Olympics went to Rio and his wife, Maggie, is battling a series of cancer setbacks.
So Rahm Emanuel’s announcement that he’d like to be mayor some day understandably touched a nerve in the Daley camp.
* Campaign and Statehouse roundup…
* Brady, Quinn release tax returns
* Gov. Pat Quinn pressures rival Bill Brady into releasing tax returns
* Brady Gives In, Agrees to Make Tax Returns Public
* ‘Tax-return politics’ vex candidates
* Is a candidate’s 1040 important 411?
* Quinn abandons pal Claypool in assessor race
* Quinn reacts to reports of Cohen as possible independent opponent
* Quinn to Cohen: Bring it on
* Downstater sure to win as lieutenant governor
* Keats pushes reforms, slaps Madigan, Berrios
* Tested waters are clear: Don’t raise tolls
* Liberate the kids
* David Leuthold: Proposed debt settlement law would hurt consumers
* Our View: When will we learn? Texting, driving a bad mix
* Illinois Senate says no to four-day school week
* State Capitol Q&A: Legislation would regulate eyeball tattooing
* Quinn wants review of state vehicles after DUI flap with Senate leader’s son
* Quinn Calls for Review of State-Licensed Vehicles
* Cullerton says he’ll look into limiting fleet
* Illinois legislators can’t let Chicago’s convention industry slip under the waves
