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Zorn has the story.
Democratic Ill. Sen. Barack Obama’s spokesman Robert Gibbs told me this afternoon that Obama will stay neutral in the primary battle between incumbent Cook County Board President John Stroger and Commissioner Forrest Claypool.
“Both candidates are friends, both are very good public servants but Senator Obama believes the voters should decide the outcome of this election.†Gibbs said.
Your thoughts?
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 2:28 pm
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NEVER BITE THE HANDS THAT FEED YOU.Blago needs to take a page from this guy’s playbook.
Comment by DOWNSTATE Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 2:39 pm
United States Senator’s “To-Do” List:
* Travel oversees on fact-finding mission - Check
* Vote on Supreme Court Nominee - Check
* Attend State of the Union Address - Check
* Pick candidate for County Board Prez to support - ????
That Cook County Prez race is right up there… and do you honestly think he could go against either one of these guys …he would either be going against reform, or against the “guy who brung ya” …
Comment by In the Land of Silos and Cows Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 2:55 pm
The voters wouldn’t decide the election if Obama were to endorse someone? Wow, he has really come into some serious power very quickly. I didn’t know that if Barack Obama were to endorse a candidate that the election wouldn’t take place.
Comment by heet101 Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 3:02 pm
Silos and Cows, Stroger was a co-chair of Hynes campaign in the primary - so he’s hardly the “one that brung” Obama.
And heet101, I suppose when someone tells you they were “just hanging out,” you envision them on some sort of jungle gym? You obviously take everything quite literally, based on your lame sarcasm.
Comment by Anon. Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 3:30 pm
Has to hurt Claypool more than Stroger. Obama endorsing Stroger is not a net gain for Stroger, but endorsing Claypool would have been huge credibility for the “reformer” (who still hasn’t elaborated on what he knows about Victor Reyes and HDO getting into the Park District when he was there).
Comment by Wow Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 3:43 pm
I guess Stroger sat on his hands in the General Election, backing Alan Keyes and not getting out his voters in the 8th Ward … My mistake
Comment by In the Land of Silos and Cows Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 3:43 pm
Stroger has never been a fan of Obama. Didn’t back him in the Senate primary & didn’t back him against Rush in his run for congress. Too bad Calypool or Strogers’ families aren’t in the banking business, then one of them would have gotten Obama’s endorsement for sure. Alexi for Cook County Board President!
Comment by Anon Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 3:51 pm
Chickenship, Obama style.
Comment by The Colonel Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 3:53 pm
Come on Silos, that’s weak. The General? Stroger’s the Ward Committeeman and longtime party apparatchik, so, yeah, he’s going to back the nominee in the general. But when you win with 70 percent of the vote, one guy who put you on his palm cards (and not much more) isn’t being “the one that brung you.”
Comment by Anon. Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 4:26 pm
Next you will be asking Barack to choose Pepsi or Coke. Get real!
Comment by Union Girl Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 5:02 pm
The hack says this isn’t good for Claypool. The reformer doesn’t endorse the reformer. Ouch.
Comment by Political Hack Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 5:18 pm
anon - at least i used a nickname pal. i am so sick of people holding barack obama up as some prophet. he has a super liberal voting record and beat alan keyes…sounds like the second coming to me. you make one good speech at the DNC, look good on tv, speak middle of the road politics all the time and PRESTO..presidential material. it doesn’t add up to me.
Comment by heet101 Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 5:24 pm
Obama’s statement: “…Senator Obama believes the voters should decide the outcome of this election.â€
Does that mean when he DOES endorse someone, he’s expecting that he, and not the voters, should determine the outcome?
Comment by Mis...statement Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 5:25 pm
The seat was vacant, Stroger got to choose, The Prez job is not vacant, and Stroger carried him in the General. Further, Obama isn’t going to go against Daley … last I checked, Daley is with Stroger …
Comment by In the Land of Silos and Cows Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 6:51 pm
Why in the world would Obama want to risk political capital by choosing sides in this messy little brawl?
Confucius say: “He who get too close to brawl, get hit by flying chair.”
Comment by Bubs Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 9:15 pm
if Daley is with stroger, isn’t it weird that claypool, daley’s former chief of staff, works currently for david axelrod, Daley’s main media advisor ?
Comment by illinois insider Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 9:24 pm
Weird is one way to describe it…
It’s more about calling out the Mayor on this election. Daley has a history of pulling the plug on candidates to further his agenda. He has publicly endorsed Stroger, but when his army gets out there, then that’s when you really know where he’s at.
If there’s one person who’s earned Daley’s backing politically it’s Stroger. I think in the end he’ll be with him, but it is disturbing that he would green light so many of his minions to ply for Claypool.
But your point is more about how full of it Claypool is. With his connections, he is as much a regular as Stroger, and is merely the Great White Hope of Liberals and Reformers who preach a good game but are more than happy to be usd by the likes of Larry Suffredin, Marj Halpern and Jan Schakowsky–comapanion fake “reformers,” all of them.
Comment by Wow Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 10:39 pm
This is bad news for Stroger. It would not have been news if Obama had endorsed Stroger — he is the incumbent, after all, and a fellow black American.
Obama’s refusal to put his seal of approval on John Stroger sends the message that something is wrong with the incumbent, and the first major fection in Stroger’s “Great Wall” strategy — line up a bunch of tough-as-bricks political powerhouses at your announcement and hope nothing snakes through.
Unfortunately for Claypool, it’s not a story that travels very far without a lot of earned media coverage from the punditry.
Comment by Jackalope Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 11:01 pm
Looks like neither one of them bothered to raise 100 thousand dollars for him.
Comment by The Listener Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 11:02 pm
Listener - Spoken like a true Keyes supporter.
I admire Obama for being loyal to those who have been loyal to him, as long as they remain true to to the ideals that Obama stands for. Loyalty is getting to be a rare commodity.
Why should Obama support Stroger, who backed Dan Hynes against him, or Blagojevich, who supported Blair Hull for U.S. Senate? They should have known that there could be political consequences to the political decisions they chose to make. Tough luck.
Better yet, why would Obama help Paul Mangieri, a guy who probably would have opposed everything Obama was for in the Illinois Senate, including death penalty reforms, ending racial profiling, and increasing the earned income tax credit?
Comment by Jackalope Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 11:41 pm
Look for Stroger to play the race card in this primary, something he often does when arguing with Claypool at County Board meetings. He’ll conveniently forget that he backed Daley over Harold Washington, Dixon over Mosley-Braun, and Hynes over Obama.
Comment by Tony Danza Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 11:50 pm
Claypool played Alan Keyes for Barack when he was practicing before the debates.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 12:16 am
I am as loyal a democrat as they come. I wouldn’t vote for a republican in my life, and I truly admire and respect Barack Obama. That being said I(as well as a lot of other dems) am very upset about his endorsing Alexi, who is one of the worst candidates I have ever seen. I think it is ridiculous and very suprising come from a man of integrity like Obama. And please spare me that Mangieri would overturn anything Obama voted for in the state senate, cause the State Treasurer doesn’t really have that ability. Also, Blagojevich did not endorse Blair Hull in the primary, even though he had given him a lot of money. Just because someone disagrees with you does not make them a republican or a keyes supporter.
Comment by The Listener Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 12:59 am
Shiver me timbers. Obama should endorse Claypool because he is clearly the better of the two main candidates. Plus Claypool supported him all along. Stroger always backs the machine candidates and is a hack.
Claypool is not perfect but he is certainly better than Stroger. Time to clean up county government…..or at least give it a nice washing.
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRr
Comment by IrishPirate Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 2:34 am
Barack was the “Great White Hope” for the Illinois voters. I am a Republican and I voted for him.
It is a sad thing when you watch a good guy like Barack Obama “change” while in office. This metamorphosis of Obama is taking place before our eyes. The subtle eating away of an individual’s character due to the acidity and corrosiveness of the sudden power & privilege showered upon a politician is overwhelming.
Barack is suddenly no longer “his own man” but rather a tool to be used by his Party movers & shakers. The fact that Barack refuses to express his opinion under the guise of “letting the voters decide for themselves” shows that he has become more concerned with career longevity than in serving his constituency back in Illinois.
A very sad thing to watch take place.
Comment by Beowulf Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 8:15 am
I’m not an Obama supporter. Underneath the hype
he’s another Hillaryesque left liberal Dem who wants to take my money and give it to people who can’t be bothered finishing school, working, saving their money, and so forth. And, also like Hillary, he thinks he should be able to tell me how to live every aspect of my life…extreme big government, in other words.
Having said that…it’s clear that he has intelligent staff, who no doubt told him to stay out of the Cook County boondoggle, especially given the overwhelming corruption. And people who hire and support intelligent staff demonstrate their own intelligence.
Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 8:53 am
Ok HEET, if that is your real name. Does my having a nickname somehow change the anonymity?
To suggest Obama has a staunch liberal voting record in the Senate is to ignore his record (or, could it be, to be a blind partisan who parrots what he hears on talk radio). He voted for Condi Rice. He voted for the tort reform bill. And he’s working on Darfur with that flaming Trotskyite Sam Brownback.
And I said it before and I’ll say it again and again. Stroger did NOTHING for Obama. NOTHING. Obama won his 8th ward - but not because of anything John Stroger did. That isn’t an opinon one way or another on Stroger - JUST A FACT.
And finally, that Daley is with Stroger against his former COS and media advisor isn’t weird. It’s politics. Daley and Stroger have been loyal to one another for ages. And today’s friend is tomorrow’s adversary - and the next day’s friend again.
Comment by SenorAnon. Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 9:35 am
Senor, before you give Obama the Centrist of the Year Award, I would only note that Condi was approved 85-13, and the tort reform bill passed 72-26. So he wasn’t exactly out on a limb in either vote, and joined such well known fascists as Diane Feinstein and Chuck Schumer in voting Yea on both measures.
Comment by Bubs Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 10:55 am
Bubs, you just proved Senor’s point. Obama voted against more than half of the Democratic caucus on the class action lawsuit reform bill.
Obama has gone against the liberal faction in the party by opposing immediate withdrawl of all American troops form Iraq.
He is consponsoring nuclear proliferation legislation with the flaming liberal Richard Lugar and Hurricane Katrina legislation with Tom Coburn, generally considered the most conservative member of the Senate
I don’t know what you were expecting, but Obama never promised to be the next Joe Lieberman. He campaigned as a progressive, but one that would be willing to work with the other party, which he had a solid record of doing in Springfield.
Comment by Tony Danza Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 11:08 am
I agree with The Listener–12:59–. I lost a lot of respect for Obama in supporting this kid Alexi over Mangieri for State Treasurer. I think you will see Obama’s armor finally get penetrated after a Mangieri victory. I live on the Southside and I have been seeing all these billboards with Jesse Jackson Jr. and Alexi standing together. I mean it’s ridiculous. What does this Alexi stand for? What are his qualifications? Will these billboards in the Black Community be enough to win? I don’t think so. Obama is in for a surprise.
Comment by mitchell Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 12:28 pm
Tony Danza,
I am amused when Liberals (and don’t hand me that “Progressive” nonsense, there have indeed been “Progressives” in this Country, but that was in the era of Teddy Roosevelt) try to protray Obama as a “centrist.” It strikes the same off-key chord as the Hillary’s new “centrist” image. She has only moderated her views to be a U.S. Senator and a nationwide candidate for President. She will turn her new leaf back over again and go Hard Left the moment she is inaugurated.
I get the same warm feeling of genuineness from Obama.
Comment by Bubs Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 4:03 pm
That was my first thought as well.
- Mis…statement - Wednesday, Feb 1, 06 @ 5:25 pm:
Obama’s statement: “…Senator Obama believes the voters should decide the outcome of this election.â€
Does that mean when he DOES endorse someone, he’s expecting that he, and not the voters, should determine the outcome?
Comment by Aaron Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 4:11 pm
Barack puts his pants on one leg at a time like every other politician.
He endorsed the Greek kid because his family gave Barak money. And because the kid has a real shot at winning. And because his opponent isn’t black.
Obama won’t endorse Claypool because Stroger may very well win. But most importantly, he won’t endorse Claypool because his opponent is black. This isn’t the first race Obama was afraid to endorse a white progressive when they had a black opponent.
Sorry to break it to you, starstruck fans (including Zorn), Obama plays race politics with the rest of them, and is among the best of them.
Comment by Phocion Thursday, Feb 2, 06 @ 4:21 pm