* A new citywide poll conducted on behalf of SEIU by the Democratic polling firm of Bennett, Petts, & Normington has some pretty awful results for Mayor Daley…

The survey found that 41 percent of respondents give Daley an “excellent” or “good” job rating, while 58 percent give him “only fair” or “poor” marks. Here are the crosstabs, which show African-Americans and Latinos are particularly dissatisfied:

The poll also found that only a plurality - 47 percent - believe that Daley has “the best interests of Chicago at heart.” Yikes, man. PI has now run a correction…

This post originally stated that 47 percent of responds believe Daley has “the best interests of Chicago at heart.” In fact, that figure was 58 percent.

OK. Nevermind then.

* Chicago right track, wrong track…

City council approval…

Progress Illinois analysis…

What’s fascinating is that, despite holding the collected aldermen in such low regard, 71 percent of respondents agreed that the “City Council should have a bigger role in how to spend the rainy day funds in Chicago,” referring to the estimated $2.1 billion in unobligated funds identified by SEIU’s researchers. The poll also found that 76 percent of respondents would like both the mayor and the City Council to “be in charge of how these funds are spent,” rather than just one or the other. This goes back to the strong agreement among 90 percent of the respondents that “Mayor Daley should be questioned because he is not always right.”

The take-away seems to be this: The public is giving the City Council a bad grade not because of what it’s doing, but because of what it’s failing to do (i.e. provide a counter-balance to the mayor).

Another striking finding: 91 percent of respondents agreed that it is “important to have a progressive voice at the table when important issues are being discussed in Chicago,” with 75 percent strongly agreeing. This suggests that the “progressive” brand is one worth embracing at the municipal level.

Discuss.