Is Chicago in for Daley III, with Daley IV waiting in the wings of City Hall?

We, the electorate of Chicago, may get to see just how addicted we are to having the concept of a “Mayor Daley” in charge of our city.

The next 'Mayor Daley?'

For William Daley, the brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and a son of long-ago Mayor Richard J. Daley, is indicating that he now wants to get into the mix of people likely to run for Chicago mayor come the Feb. 26 municipal elections.

NEWS REPORTS INDICATE that Bill Daley likely will kick off his campaigning for City Hall come Monday; wanting to be the guy who replaces Rahm Emanuel – who back in 2011 was the guy who replaced his brother, Rich, at the helm of municipal government.

It seems that Bill thinks Chicago has gone long enough without a “Mayor Daley” in charge.

The trick would be to see whether Chicago voters really are that enamored of the Daley name to send another of the grandchildren of Michael Daley to City Hall – with Michael being the Irish immigrant father of Richard J. Daley – who rose high above his Bridgeport neighborhood roots to become the so-called “legendary” mayor of Chicago.

Of course, legendary is the polite way some people express the idea of tyrannical – as in a political boss who ruled with an iron fist for more than two decades until his death in 1976.

Hizzoner's son

I REMEMBER SOME speculation eight years ago when Rich Daley chose to retire following 23 years in office that even he was realistic to accept the notion that Chicago was tired of the “Mayor Daley” concept and in need of change.

But could eight years of Emanuel and his own strong-arm style of politics have been the key to get many establishment-minded Chicagoans ready to return to the idea of a Daley in charge?

Daley who avoided top spot

Could the Sout’ Side politicos be ready to reassert themselves as the ones in charge of Chicago – following eight years of a mayor from the Ravenswood neighborhood?

Not that Bill Daley is a political amateur. He served at the federal level during both the Clinton and Obama presidencies. Albeit, as the lesser of the two presidential chiefs of staff from Chicago that Obama employed. Along with being the campaign manager who desperately tried to get Al Gore elected president in 2000.

Could the Bridgeport alderman be next?

AND HIS MOMENT of “glory” during the Clinton years may have been when he was introduced as the new Commerce secretary – only to pass out unconscious during the introduction ceremony. Officially, the lights were on so intensely that the heat got to him.

My point is that both of these posts presented enough moments where Daley critics could find reason to ridicule Bill and to claim that he’s not even at the level of his brother, with neither reaching the stature while in office of their father.

What may actually be more significant is that Bill Daley is the guy who has often talked of wanting to run for political office in the past – most often putting his name out there as a possible governor of Illinois.

Yet Bill Daley has always found reasons to back out of actually running, making some political observers question whether he has what it takes to endure the gristle of an electoral campaign.

THEN AGAIN, BILL Daley in the past always talked about wanting to be governor. Perhaps the desire to run for the top post at City Hall could be what sways him to want to stay in the campaign all the way through Election Day.

It all originates with Dick Daley

Being “Mayor Daley III” could sound more important to him than that of “Gov. Daley,” even though that always had the potential for a political power punch since it could have resulted in a combination of Mayor Daley (as in Rich) and Gov. Daley (as in Bill), along with brother John Daley deciding to rise up from his Cook County Board seat to run for county board President.

A Daley trifecta, albeit one that would have terrified Illinoisans from outside of Chicago. But to those who would have been enamored by the idea of so many Daleys in charge, the idea of Bill Daley being on the ballot for mayor may be a fantasy come true.

That is, unless you’re willing to wait a generation for 11^th Ward Alderman Patrick D. (as in Daley) Thompson, a nephew to both Rich and Bill and grandson to Dick, to make a run for putting the mayoral post back in the Bridgeport neighborhood.

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EXTRA: No real ‘lecshun surprises

The political status quo was maintained in Chicago. That’s about the best way I can think to describe the results of all those races beyond the Republican presidential primary (which most Chicago voters could have cared less about).

ROEMER: 215 Chicagoans voted for this man

Although for the record, 25,630 Chicago residents voted for Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination. Some 11,510 city residents voted for Rick Santorum. All of which are insignificant compared to the 236,544 votes (with 27 precincts still to be counted) that Obama received for his unchallenged Democratic Party nomination.

HECK, THERE WERE 215 Chicagoans who voted for former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer’s bid – even though he long-ago said he would seek the presidency through a third-party effort instead of using the Republican Party.

But back to the other offices, which for many city residents were the “real” reason for bothering to cast a ballot on Tuesday.

Patrick D. Thompson finished third in his bid for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. But since there are three vacant seats, that means he won. Which means many people can say they helped the next generation Daley family member (he has uncles Rich, Bill and John, along with grandpa Dick) get his first electoral position.

There also are those who are upset that state Rep. Derrick Smith, D-Chicago, could possibly win on Tuesday, considering that he got busted by federal prosecutors for allegedly taking a bribe.

IT’S NOT THAT anybody really wants Smith to remain in office. It just means that when he does eventually have to go, it will be the Democratic Party establishment (the same ones that picked Smith as a fill-in last year when Annazette Collins got a “promotion” to the Illinois state Senate) that picks his replacement.

That is what those West Side voters were saying with their support for Smith.

Speaking of the state Legislature, the Illinois Senate gets an athlete who might be able to give their softball team (which plays an annual game against the Illinois House of Representatives) a jolt.

Napoleon Harris of Flossmoor got the Democratic nomination for the seat being abandoned by retiring state Sen. (and Rev.) James Meeks, D-Chicago. As of now, there is no Republican opponent. We’re talking the same Harris who played professional football with (among others) the Oakland Raiders and Minnesota Vikings. He might not be an athletic “immortal,” but he’s only 33. He’s definitely in better shape physically than 99 percent of the population.

THEN, THERE IS Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Ill., whom it seems will get to return to Washington – despite the people who were desperate to believe that he was scandal-ridden and too tainted by "Rod Blagojevich" and "sex" to be taken seriously.

Debbie Halvorson (who herself served a two-year term in Congress and wanted to return to Washington) was hoping that the extension of that far South Side and surrounding suburb district into Will County would create so many disgruntled voters that she would win the Democratic primary.

For the record, Will County voters in that district went 61 percent for Halvorson, compared to 39 percent for Jackson. Yet that translated only into 2,686 voters. Nearly as many Will County voters (2,181) picked Republican Brian Woodworth to be their nominee – and Jackson’s token opponent come Nov. 6.

There are stray wards in Chicago that could overcome that vote margin. This really was a district whose composition was rigged in Jackson’s favor.

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Patrick “Daley” Thompson – the start of something bigger than water district?

I must confess. When I covered a candidate forum a couple of weeks ago on behalf of a suburban daily newspaper, I filed a story about the people who wanted to be a local legislator even though I was more interested in one of the candidates for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District.

THOMPSON: The next 'Mayor Daley?'



My attention kept wandering over to the five of the nine people on the ballot for three seats on the board that oversees wastewater and storm water treatment who were at that forum.

INCLUDING PATRICK THOMPSON, a 42-year-old who has never held political office and has never even ran in an election before. He’s a political rookie – although not really, which is why much of the night I was focusing on him.

For Thompson is the guy whose uncle, Rich, is the former Chicago mayor. Of course, he also has an uncle, Bill, who is a former presidential chief of staff and cabinet member. Then, there’s also his grandpa, Dick, whose stint as Chicago mayor made him internationally reknowned.

Which is why it amuses me that on forms he filled out for the Chicago Tribune, the only political ties he acknowledges is his uncle, John – who is on the Cook County Board.

Yes, we’re talking about a Daley. We’re talking about potentially the first person in the next generation of that family to get into the business of running for elective office.

WHICH HAS MANY people wondering privately, “Is this the ‘next’ Mayor Daley?”

Although technically, he’d be “Mayor Thompson.” Or, “Daley Thompson,” depending on your sensibilities. And also, perhaps, where you are.

Because I have noticed campaign signs for Thompson’s water district campaign that declare him to be “Patrick Daley Thompson” if they are erected in Chicago proper.

Get out in the suburbs, and he suddenly becomes “Patrick D. Thompson.” Trying to cover up, so to speak, for those suburbanites who might think that Daleys belong in Chicago – and not the suburban areas that are nearly as large as the city proper?

WHO’S TO SAY?

But I was curious to know if that night in suburban Glenwood (where the village government sponsored a candidate forum) was going to be one I would long remember as the first time I personally saw someone who could become a political bigwig in future years.

In all honesty, I can’t remember a thing he said. And when I look back on my notes from that night, none of it seems particularly repeatable.

The one impression I did get was that Thompson has obviously done some reading up on what the water district does. He didn’t seem as clueless as many first-time candidates for public office appear to be – because the truth of the matter is that they really can’t appreciate what they’re getting themselves in to.

THEN AGAIN, I got a bigger impression from water district candidate Stella Black – who seems like the “crazy granny” type who will say or do anything, and who also was handing out emery boards with her name and campaign slogan (“Stellaaaaaaaaa!!!!”) printed on them.

I also can’t help but notice the fact that Thompson isn’t following the typical route for someone who has aspirations to hold a major political office – in fact, the same routes that were followed by his uncle Rich and grandpa Dick.

He’s NOT running for a seat in the Illinois General Assembly!

How many generations of Chicago pols got themselves elected to a term or two in the Illinois House of Representatives or state Senate before coming back home to do the “important” stuff? Way too many.

I’M SURE THERE are those who will think Thompson is condemning himself to a career of sludge. Then again, there have been many state legislators who waited an eternity in Springfield for a Chicago political opportunity that wound up never occurring.

But Thompson does have the party’s backing for Tuesday’s primary election. With the amount of publicity he has been getting, his name may be one of the few that people actually recognize when they go to their polling place.

Although I must make another confession. I cast my ballot at an early voting center, and I didn’t vote for Thompson.

Stella Black (emery boards and all) got my support, along with incumbent member Debra Shore and Patricia Young, a former board member who wants to make a political comeback.

SO PERHAPS SOMEDAY, if Thompson ever does become the next-generation “Mayor Daley,” I’ll be telling the story about how I didn’t vote for him. Similar to the stories I now tell about how on the first occasion I met Barack Obama (back in ’97 on his first day as a state senator), I decided I didn’t really have time for him and just engaged in a few seconds of mindless chit-chat.

How little I knew!

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