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Carol Felsenthal
Danny Davis Gets Chosen—Finally
By Carol Felsenthal
The Chicago Coalition for Mayor, a group of African-American businesspeople, elected officials, and activists, seems to have jilted Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun—the African-American mayoral hopefuls that the group selected a bit more than a week ago as the two who had the best chance to win. What a difference a week makes... Read more
Danny Davis Says Hispanic Can't Win Mayor's Race; Gery Chico Responds
By Carol Felsenthal
After today, it’ll be all mayoral politics all the time. Why wait? I spoke yesterday to Democratic Congressman Danny Davis and lawyer Gery Chico, both of whom have eyes on the Fifth Floor of City Hall—and both of whom are warily circling each other. Last week, Davis said to community newspaper AustinTalks that neither Hispanic mayoral hopeful, Chico nor City Clerk Miguel del Valle, can win. Davis went so far as to compare Del Valle and Chico to serial losing candidate William “Dock” Walls... Read more
Dennis Hastert on Daley, Rahm, Bush, 9/11, and more
By Carol Felsenthal
Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, once a teacher and wrestling coach at Yorkville High School, is an Illinoisan through and through—born in Aurora, reared in Oswego, lived and worked in Plano and Yorkville. His wife, Jean, a retired teacher, remains in Plano, and “The Speaker,” as his staff calls him, spends most weeks in Washington... Read more
Chicago Goes Hollywood in Fundraiser for Rahm Emanuel
By Carol Felsenthal
The Hollywood fundraiser being staged on November 4th in Beverly Hills for Rahm Emanuel brings the presumed mayoral front-runner squarely into the big bucks game of presidential campaigns. One of the organizers of the party, to be held just two days after the midterms, is Rahm’s younger brother Ari, co-CEO of William Morris Endeavor Entertainment. As political junkies everywhere know, Ari is a... Read more
Highlights (Such as They Were) of the Illinois Senate Debate
By Carol Felsenthal
The debate Tuesday night between Democrat Alexi Giannoulias and Republican Mark Kirk enjoyed none of the whacko moments featured in the notorious New York gubernatorial debate the night before. Still, Giannoulias seemed to take at least a line or two from the New York script with his repeated mention (nine times, by my count) of Karl Rove as an evil player in Kirk’s campaign... Read more
Double the Fun on the Illinois Ballot
By Carol Felsenthal
The ballot that will be handed to Illinois voters on November 2nd will cover two elections—special and regular—for the U.S. Senate. Voters will be instructed to choose among Republican Mark Kirk, Democrat Alexi Giannoulias, Green Party candidate LeAlan Jones, and Libertarian Mike Labno in a special election for the lame-duck period extending until January 3rd, when all U.S. Senators are sworn in. Then voters will be asked to choose between the same candidates for the full six-year term... Read more
How Will Rahm's Role in NAFTA Play in the Mayor's Race?
By Carol Felsenthal
Free trade is quickly moving up the charts as an issue in the midterm elections. China is the biggest bogeyman this cycle, but  NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)—the 1993 agreement among the U.S., Mexico, and Canada that knocked down most barriers to trade—is also hitting the headlines... Read more
A Chat with Mayoral Candidate Gery Chico
By Carol Felsenthal
Gery Chico has had a great couple of days since announcing that he’s running for mayor. Rich Daley—for whom Chico worked as chief of staff, president of the board of Chicago Public Schools, and, currently, chairman of the City Colleges of Chicago board—sang Chico’s praises Wednesday night on WTTW’s Chicago Tonight, describing his staffer as “a wonderful public servant” and “closer to me than... Read more