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Is it possible to be a progressive and a machine boss?

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Illinois

* Sun-Times headline…

Progressive pioneer or boss of ‘corrupt’ machine? Preckwinkle, Lightfoot spar

Can it be both?

Chicago has a “weak mayor” system of government which forces mayors to build political organizations to project more power than they actually have. Mayor Harold Washington didn’t really have much power until he was able to elect a majority on the city council through herculean political efforts.

So, controlling the county party’s strings would help her get more done, if you believe she wants to get more done.

Party bosses are generally “don’t make no waves” types. Preckwinkle is anything but that on progressive policies. On people, however, well, that’s a different story…

“She may have been progressive at some point in her career, but … she is the machine,” Lightfoot said after the forum ended. “She’s the president of the Democratic Party, which is one of the most regressive organizations in our state. She sided with Joe Berrios, she sided with Ed Burke. There’s no way she can legitimately claim that she is progressive.”

And when you side with Berrios and Burke, you’re siding with the way they ran things in the county and the city.

So, maybe it can’t be both?

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:09 pm

Comments

FDR’s critics certainly thought he was a progressive and worse than a boss.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:14 pm
Historically in Chicago you had to pick a lane. Either you were with the machine, or you were independent. Toni Preckwinkle came up as an independent, leaning on the progressive activists at IVI-IPO in Hyde Park because that’s where they were stronger and the Machine was weaker. As she climbed the political ladder, however, she clearly excelled playing the Machine game, so much so that she’s now the Chairman of the Machine.

The political accommodations necessary to make that transition are enormous and require her to remain silent on Burke, Berrios et al, and the judicial slating process that allows under-qualified candidates a spot on the bench.

I don’t think you can be both. I think she was an independent and now she isn’t. I think her role in enabling the Burkes and Berrios’ is fair game for Lightfoot and others to attack.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:17 pm
Toni made the same calculus as Rahm — keep Burke in his place so he doesn’t cause problems. He was slating judges for her until the feds got him.

Comment by Sonny Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:18 pm
‘Party bosses are generally “don’t make no waves” types. Preckwinkle is anything but that on progressive policies.’

*cracks knuckles* challenge ACCEPTED

Comment by Will Caskey Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:19 pm
Word, FDR may have been “worse than a Boss” and indeed a progressive. But he was a boss over a machine he built. Tony Preckwinkle is a Boss of a machine built in the 1950s and still sputters along in 2019.

Chicago ain’t ready for Preckwinkle’s version of reform. Because it’s business as usual.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:19 pm
You can be, but you have to pick your battles carefully. Being a boss is pretty narrow; it basically comes down to personnel and electoral administration. Being a progressive is pretty much about everything. So if you’re progressive on everything but cronies and election systems, maybe you can qualify.

Preckwinkle’s problem is that in this MeToo, post Bernie moment, cronies and election systems take on more salience.

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:26 pm
I agree with Lori Lightfoot. Toni was a reformer compared to the Strogers. But she decided she wanted to be a boss. Supporting Berrios was a choice, but it wasn’t the choice of someone who is still a reformer.

Comment by Keyrock Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:30 pm
No, not in Chicago anyhow. Maybe on a national scale like FDR because FDR built his machine, as noted by Colin O’Scopy.

Toni and Soccer Player Mendoza claiming to be progressive while they accepted donations from Burke and Madigan is funny.

Comment by Vrdolyak 29 Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:35 pm
The progressive label means different things to different people. I think a lot of Chicago politicians are very old school in the sense of embracing clout politics and patronage hiring and contracting, but could be considered progressive because they are socially liberal.

Comment by Chicagonk Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:36 pm
Can we please stop using the word “machine”? The “machine” as it existed under the Daley years is long gone. The Tammany Hall style of politics that existed decades ago is nowhere to be found outside of a few holdovers. You can count the number of wards with actual precinct captains on your fingers.

I think the appropriate word is establishment. Preckwinkle has transitioned from an independent-minded Democrat into an establishment Democrat.

I am no Preckwinkle supporter, but I think all the references to the “machine” in Chicago politics are overused and silly.

Comment by Powdered Whig Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:38 pm
Depends on what attributes one considers on to have to be a ‘Progressive.’

And this is a serious comment. Perhaps readers can explain what they mean as Progressive. And how this fits in with being a boss.

Comment by Nonbeleiver Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:40 pm
There are certainly progressives who work within the system and party machinery. Harold Washington is a good example. Preckwinkle seems to me to go out of her way to embrace the machine. Why hire Ed Burke Jr.? Why not stay neutral in the Assessor race? She seems to make a lot of unforced errors that could come back to bite her.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:41 pm
@Powdered Whig

I disagree with you. A “machine” is an organization who slates candidates, puts money and muscle behind the slated candidates to great success, I might add. Is the “machine” as strong as it once was, no, and I am not pretending it is.

But when you have one person in charge of making 90% of the judges through slate-making, you have yourself a “machine”. I am sorry you don’t like that fact (that the machine exists), but it is, indeed a fact.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:43 pm
===I think all the references to the “machine” in Chicago politics are overused and silly.===

I guess you’ve never been interested in a government job. I can assure you that practically any rank and file employee in the City/County building can tell you the name of their ward or township committeeman.

The machine is still there, smaller and weaker, but if you want to be a judge, you can still count on them. And patronage has been curtailed, but crafty pols know how to work around that too, because even in 2019, the Machine still doesn’t want nobody that nobody sent.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:45 pm
But her ad says she’s hip. You definitely cannot be a hip machine progressive.

Comment by Melido Perez Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:46 pm
Toni heads the party, and Berrios is gone and Burke looks to be headed out. If she supported them, she supported them as they were leaving; she didn’t go to the mattresses to keep them in power. When you’re in charge you have to make nice with people, but that doesn’t mean you have to like them or fight for them. Given how things have turned out, it seems Toni can be both a boss and a progressive.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:49 pm
=== I disagree with you. A “machine” is an organization who slates candidates, puts money and muscle behind the slated candidates to great success, I might add. Is the “machine” as strong as it once was, no, and I am not pretending it is. ===

That is not a machine… that is a political party. The activities you refer to are EXACTLY what political parties do. Even “reformers” do this. If engaging in these activities makes you a machine, then every politician is a machine politician.

Comment by Powdered Whig Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:51 pm
=== I guess you’ve never been interested in a government job. I can assure you that practically any rank and file employee in the City/County building can tell you the name of their ward or township committeeman. ===

Most employees that work in the City and County building probably could tell you who their ward or township committeeman - especially if they have any regular length of service…

Poll those employees - how many of them actually do substantive political work… like real political work that used to be done back in the day. My bet would be VERY few.

Comment by Powdered Whig Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 12:54 pm
Burke looks to be headed out. If she supported them, she supported them as they were leaving; she didn’t go to the mattresses to keep them in power.

She simply could had not given her endorsement. Name one progressive thing she has done? Remove the penny tax only to bring it back. Reduced the budget, nope. Stopped hiring politically connected, clearly not Burke Jr. What?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:02 pm
@Powdered Whig

I say tomato, you say toe-mah-toe. I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:06 pm
– Tony Preckwinkle is a Boss of a machine built in the 1950s and still sputters along in 2019. –

There’s no comparison to what Daley had pre-Shakman and whatever “machine” there is today.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:08 pm
Word, I don’t think anyone is disputing that today’s “machine” is a shadow of its former power. The question is whether Preckwinkle has embraced it, such that it is, and whether that runs counter to the narrative of her being a progressive.

As I said, I don’t think you can be both, but she is trying awfully hard to convince both camps that she’ one of them.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:12 pm
It’s a fact that she went all out to keep Joe Berrios in the Assessor’s Office. So please stop yourself.

She didn’t say a peep about Burke and sure they weren’t overtly close but she didn’t have any problem taking $100,000 from him until the feds busted him out. It should have been easy to say no thank you to someone she claims to have battled in the city council.

Comment by Sonny Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:14 pm
=There’s no comparison to what Daley had pre-Shakman and whatever “machine” there is today.=

I wasn’t comparing the two eras. I was simply noting that the same machine exists today, only today’s machine sputters along. But when you have committeemen like Yarborough, Zuccarelli, O’Shea, Madigan and a handful of others pulling the levels masterfully, you have a machine that still functions as intended.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:14 pm
Rage against the machine.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:15 pm
=Rage against the machine.=

Now Rich has another idea for his comments closing song going into the weekend.

Comment by Duopoly Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:20 pm
Harold Washington was very cunning. He came up under Ralph Metacalfe and a long tradition of African American machine politics in Chicago. But Washington was not afraid to go against the machine if he saw an opportunity for reform, like when he ran for mayor. I don’t know if Preckwinkle is always cunning. It was pretty obvious that Berrios was going down, and I do not know what advantage she gained by backing him to the end. Burke’s great power evaporated in the span of a couple weeks too, so no real advantage there either.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:29 pm
Toni about-faced on Alvarez when it was politically expedient not right. She could have of done that to Burke and Berrios, but didn’t because it was politically expedient.

Toni is in her policies a progressive. In her politics, she is an old school ward boss. The question is what is more important to voters?

Comment by Peoples Republic of Oak Park Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:35 pm
==Perhaps readers can explain what they mean as Progressive. And how this fits in with being a boss.==

I wouldn’t presume to offer the ur-definition of “progressive”, but as an example, I can easily see someone who expands the social safety net (a pretty typical “progressive” goal) and fills the public payroll with his or her cronies (typical bossism).

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:47 pm
If you define a “boss” as a person who simultaneously controls a large government agency and a political organization — and uses her/his power over both to grow her/his political influence, than there isn’t an ounce of doubt that Toni Preckwinkle is a boss. Her political philosophy is irrelevant.

Comment by Roman Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:53 pm
At the union league club Preckwinkle said she “ran against the machine in 1987,” but in reality she ran against Harold Washington’s endorsed candidate. She is trying to rewrite history.

Comment by old Harold supporter Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 1:58 pm
The Burke thing has certainly changed both the dynamic and the reportage of the Chicago Mayoral race in ways no one could have predicted just a few weeks ago. Due to the weather there will be a lot of snow-bound and voluntarily housebound voters watching more TV than usual over the next few days. The money for ad buys may be even more important to candidates than was anticipated as well.

Comment by Responsa Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 2:18 pm
Let’s get to the really egregious line in that ad tho… is she really hip?

Comment by Boone's is Back Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 2:29 pm
“Preckwinkle said she ‘ran against the machine in 1987,’ but in reality she ran against Harold Washington’s endorsed candidate. She is trying to rewrite history.”

Harold’s candidate had a name and his name is Timothy C. Evans.

If anyone can identify any remotely progressive policies pursued by Timothy C. Evans in his eighteen years as Chief Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court, I’d love to hear about them.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 2:56 pm
===I’d love to hear about them.===

How about the four day work week for judges? Does that count?

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 3:04 pm
Judge Evans reassigned many of the bond judges and issued that guidance memo on the bail reform.

I think Judge Evans would have been able to provide valuable advise and perspective on dealing with Alderman Burke.

== The Burke thing has certainly changed both the dynamic and the reportage of the Chicago Mayoral race in ways no one could have predicted just a few weeks ago. ==

Yes, no one noticed the Flowers By Irene van that was always parked outside City Hall.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 3:22 pm
====@misterjayem: If anyone can identify any remotely progressive policies pursued by Timothy C. Evans====

Who said Evans was a progressive? We are talking about whether he was “The Machine” in 1987…. and the answer you are lookng for is, he was not.

Comment by Old Harold supporter Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 3:37 pm
The old, careful Burke would have conducted his shakedowns mano a mano inside free Chicago block party “jumping jack bounce houses”.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Heres-How-to-Get-a-Free-Bounce-House-at-Your-Block-Party-in-Chicago-This-Summer-419662344.html

Comment by Responsa Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 3:39 pm
I consider myself a progressive. This means I support progressive taxation, publicly supported schools and health care, strong health and safety regulation, collective bargaining, environmental protection, public assistance for those who most need it, and fact-based decision making in governance.

The first one can pay for all the “expensive” items.

The last one may not be progressive by definition, but those politicians who don’t keep an arm’s length from the antics of the Burke and Berrios types should automatically be found in need of a call to the carpet to explain him/herself.

Comment by Lefty Lefty Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 4:02 pm
It’s possible to be that Progressive when there is more complexity to the Machine, i.e. 2 Machines or more…

Comment by A guy Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 4:33 pm
Prekwinkle is not progressive. She is generally against freedom and pro high taxation.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 28, 19 @ 9:11 pm