Events Newsletters Subscribe

Carol Felsenthal
Rain and Tar Spoil Obama’s Parade
By Carol Felsenthal
What a crummy weekend in Chicago President Obama suffered. At my dinner with friends on Sunday night, one of the younger guests—who had worked for Obama, as had his parents—used the word “optics”, arguing that Obama’s messaging these days is a mess. If the President had a competent message shaper, this young man said, surrogates would... Read more
Eddie Newman, Doctor to Chicago's Stars
By Carol Felsenthal
Edward “Eddie” Newman, who died Saturday at age 89, was, as his obituaries noted, the physician to some of Chicago’s most notable figures—including Mayor Richard M. Daley, real estate magnate Arthur Rubloff, and famed Chicago Bears quarterback... Read more
Rahm Emanuel: The Next Democratic Party Chairman?
By Carol Felsenthal
Lately, I’ve been talking a lot with Fred Beuttler, the deputy historian of the House of Representatives and a font of knowledge about that institution. Recently, we discussed one of my favorite subjects: Chicagoan Rahm Emanuel, the former congressman for the 5th District, now serving as chief of staff to President Obama. Beuttler speculates that... Read more
All the Comforts of the House (of Representatives)
By Carol Felsenthal
A recent Wall Street Journal story reported that Andy Goss, a former Army interrogator seeking the GOP nomination for a Congressional seat from Arizona, is proposing to cut congressional pay by 40 percent (salary is currently $174,000) and use the dollars saved to build a barracks on Capitol Hill. Four of the 19 members of the Illinois delegation go Goss one better: they sleep in their offices. All four are Chicago Democrats... Read more
The Wives Club: No Wonder Blago Wanted That Job for Patti
By Carol Felsenthal
How lovely for Carrie Zalewski and Lynne Sered. Governor Pat Quinn recently appointed the two women to plum jobs on state boards that pay six-figure annual salaries. Each woman appears to have solid credentials. But—in the kind of coincidence that seems to happen all too often in Illinois—each woman also has a powerful connection... Read more
Alexi G's Basketball Diaries
By Carol Felsenthal
Many stories about Alexi Giannoulias, the candidate for the U.S. Senate seat once held by Barack Obama, mention that the two are basketball-playing buddies. Not recently: They haven’t played since Obama won the White House. In a phone interview, Alexi attributed this to the President’s busy schedule, but reports suggest that Obama’s advisers want their man... Read more
A Republican Ahead in Hawaii—A Sign of Things to Come in Illinois?
By Carol Felsenthal
At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, President Obama drew applause when he mocked the conspiracy theory that he was born in Kenya. “It's been quite a year since I've spoken here last—lots of ups, lots of downs—except for my approval ratings, which have just gone down. But that's politics. Beside[s], I happen to know that my approval ratings are still very high in the country of my birth... Read more
Forrest Claypool to the Rescue?
By Carol Felsenthal
Editorial boards and earnest columnists have exhorted readers to sign those petitions for Forrest Claypool—the one man, in their words, standing between fair property tax bills and Joseph Berrios, a machine pol who won the Democratic nomination for assessor in February.

The signatures are flowing in, and the 52-year-old Cook County commissioner will almost certainly claim a spot on the November... Read more