The Chicago Machine is alive and well thanks to Illinois voters

Governor Rod Blagojevich’s (D-Shit’s Creek) legal troubles have brought the Chicago machine back onto the national stage for the first time in decades.

Some believed that the machine died with Boss Daley (D-Bridgeport) in 1976. Others think that the election of Mayor Harold Washington (D-Good Guys) in 1983 signaled the demise of machine influence in Chicago politics.

The machine has not died. In the early 80s, the machine went atrophied and retooled, emerging stronger than ever. Today’s machine is very different from the machine that Boss Daley oversaw decades ago.

It is difficult to recognize The Machine, because it exists in a very different form than it did in the past. Ballot slating, strong-arming voters and the old patronage wheel are tactics of a bygone era.

Heavy-handed ward bosses no longer influence elections. They have been replaced by sexy, articulate candidates and well-funded campaigns. The patronage wheel had changed dramatically, as favors are now doled out in the form of lucrative city, county and state contracts. Patronage now extends to the pay to play schemes that Blagojevich is now accused of.

Alderman no longer engage in backroom deals, as City Council is effectively a rubber stamp for the Daley administration, and by extension the machine’s policies.

Membership rules for the machine are far less stringent. The black "sub-machine" is no longer necessary, as African Americans are now welcome in the machine’s ranks. While still predominately Democratic, the machine welcomes outsiders, as is evidenced by former Secretary of State and Governor George Ryan’s (R-Club Fed) role in the "License for Bribes" scheme.

Voter intimidation, a staple of the old machine, has proven to be unnecessary. During the past two decades, Cook County voters have been conditioned to pull the lever for Democrats, regardless of the character or qualifications of the candidate.

The machine is alive and well, as the federal complaint against Blagojevich illustrates.

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Blagojevich’s election in 2002 was no surprise, as a scandal plagued Illinois Republicans. Outgoing Governor George Ryan was the subject of a federal investigation into corruption when he was Secretary of State. At the center of the probe were allegations that Ryan’s offices provided licenses for unqualified truck driver in exchange for bribes.

The investigation originally began nearly a decade earlier after six children were killed in fiery car crash caused by a truck driver that had purchased his license with a bribe. The public was outraged and disgusted by Ryan, who is currently serving a 6 1/2 year sentence on corruption charges.

Blagojevich’s opponent was the unfortunately-named Attorney General Jim Ryan. Jim Ryan is of no relation to George Ryan, and fought to distance himself from the former governor. If fact, many his campaign signs omitted his last name altogether, and he asked newspaper editors to include his first initial in headlines.

Blagojevich campaigned as a reformer, pledging to end “business as usual” in the state capital.

It came as no surprise when Blagojevich defeated Ryan by nearly a quarter-million votes.

Blagojevich’s election in 2002 was a very important milestone for the machine. The two most powerful offices in Illinois, governor and mayor of Chicago, would be occupied by bona fide machine politicians. Their power would be virtually unchecked.

Blagojevich’s reelection in 2006 was stunning. He was opposed by gravel-voiced State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka (R-Marlboro). Blagojevich effectively painted Topinka as "George Ryan’s treasurer", forcing her to campaign in the shadow of corruption. This was highly effective, despite the fact that no evidence existed to implicate Topinka in any of George Ryan’s schemes.

The 2006 election was devastating for Republicans nationwide. Voters realized that President George W. Bush (R-Big Oil) had the opposite of the "Midas Touch". Bush’s mismanagement of everything from the War on Terror to Hurricane Katrina illustrated that he had the "Metamucil Touch", turning everything he touched into shit. Across the country, Republicans felt the fallout. Democrats gained 31 seats in the House, five seats in the Senate and five governorships. The Republicans failed to elect any new governors and Democrats swept the statewide elections in Illinois.

Blagojevich again successfully campaigned as a reformer while under a dark cloud of corruption allegations. It is particularly disturbing that Illinois voters believed Blagojevich’s assertion that he had ended "business as usual" when considering the mountain of evidence to the contrary.

In May of 2005, Stuart Levine was indicted on federal corruption charges. Levine had helped raised funds for Blagojevich, and was accused of shaking down business that sought to do business with the state. That same month, Blagojevich acknowledged business dealings between his wife, Patti and Antoin "Tony" Rezko. Rezko was a top fundraiser for Blagojevich and was later convicted on charges of seeking kickbacks from businesses that were attempting to do business with the state.

In September, Democratic fundraiser Joseph Cari pleaded guilty to charges of attempted extortion for trading campaign contributions to "Public Official A" for state pension business. At the time, many speculated that "Public Official A" was Blagojevich. That suspicion was later proven to be true.

In October – more than a year before the gubernatorial election – the Chicago Tribune reported that a federal grand jury was investigating the Blagojevich administration’s hiring practices.

In December, it was revealed that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald had begun a federal probe into allegations that individuals connected to Blagojevich’s campaign were involved in a pay to play scheme for awarding contracts for the Illinois Tollway Oases.

In May 2006, the feds subpoenaed Blaojevich’s campaign fund records in their investigation of pay to play allegations. The Tribune’s report revealed that the ongoing investigation had began more than a year earlier.

In July, reports surfaced that Fitzgerald had sent a letter to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D-Clout), stating that he was investigating "very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" by the Blagojevich administration. Fitzgerald thanked Madigan her for dropping her own investigation in deference to the feds.

In September, more reports of pay to play surfaced. A friend of the Blagojevich’s had expressed concern that a $1,500 birthday gift to Blagojevich’s daughter may have influenced her appointment to a state job. One week later, the Tribune reported that Blagojevich had hired 360 well-connected people from the patronage wheel by skirting state hiring rules. The following month, Rezko was indicted and Levine pleaded guilty.

On November 7, 2006, Blagojevich was reelected by a margin of more than 340,000 votes. The margin may have been wider if the Green Party had not captured more than 10% of the vote, a number large enough to give the party legitimacy in future statewide elections.

Blagojevich’s greatest victory came in Chicago, where we won by a five-to-one margin.

This highlights the disconnect between Cook County voters and voters in the rest of the state. Outside of Chicago and surrounding Cook County, Topinka won by a tremendous landside.

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Blagojevich’s reelection in 2006 underscores the strong preference for Democrats in Cook County. For nearly two decades, Democrats have held a stronghold on county offices and city offices, winning by a large margin. A great example is the 2006 election of the inept and unqualified Todd Stroger (D-Daddy Stroger) as president of the Cook County Board.

Remember the Skinner Box from college psychology class? Lab mice can be conditioned to press a lever to receive a reward (food). Cook County voters display similar behavior. Yet they violate every tenant of operant conditioning by pulling the lever for the Democrat without a reward. One could even perceive this as masochistic behavior, as it has proven to place unqualified, incapable criminals into office.

Pluralism is dead in Cook County. Illinois is the fief of the Machine. Voters enable the machine to further extend its power and reach in each election.

Some vote Democrat out of tradition. "The ward boss strong armed my immigrant parents into voting for Democrats. I vote for them because it’s what I know" is not a valid reason for casting a ballot.

Ideology is another flawed rationale for the strong preference for Democrats in Chicago and Cook County. Illinois Democrats have very little in common with Democrats on the national level. Without the pressures of a pluralistic political environment and credible rivals, they are free to define their platform as best suits their needs. True liberals are rare in Illinois politics.

Finally, some voters pick Democrats out of apathy, as they are satisfied by the status quo.

If you voted for Blagojevich in 2006 because you doubted whether he was a corrupt bastard or not, please stay home on the next Election Day; you are a terrible judge of character.

If you voted for Blagojevich because you have been a lifelong Democrat and cannot bring yourself to vote for a Republican, please stay home on Election Day. Your myopic worldview harms the electoral process. Please wait until the New Year and vote for your favorite American Idol instead. You clearly cannot handle the responsibility of voting for a public office.

If you voted for Blagojevich on ideological grounds, please stay home on Election Day and reexamine your core beliefs. Any public official as concerned with his or her personal enrichment as Blagojevich does not allow ideology to factor into their decision making.

If you voted for Blagojevich or any candidate out of apathy, please stay home on Election Day. Elections are far too important to be influenced by uninformed voters.

If you voted to reelect Governor Rod Blagojevich in 2006, this mess is your fault. Spare yourself the indignity of pretending to be surprised by last week’s news.

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Will the fallout from the Blagojevich scandal harm the chances of Illinois Democrats in future elections, much as Bush’s ineptitude has harmed his party? Sadly, the answer is no.

The mindless electorate in Illinois will see the governor’s lack of character as an aberration, rather than a reflection of the political culture in the state. Machine Democrats will continue to handily defeat the virtually extinct Illinois Republicans. “Business as usual” will resume and we will all act shocked as the next scandal unfolds.

Vote Democrat. Read about scandal. Be appalled. Rinse and repeat.

This is not to say that the Republicans are always a better alternative. George Ryan proves this point. However, it is clear that the machine is firmly entrenched in the Democrat Party in Chicago, Cook County and quite possibly at the state level. Until we stop giving the machine a blank check and restore credibility to the alternatives, Illinois politics will be mired in corruption.

In Illinois, voters don’t debate about Democrats versus Republicans. We have not yet matured to that level.

2 responses to 'The Chicago Machine is alive and well thanks to Illinois voters'

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1. “It looks like his hair piece is wearing a hairpiece”.

   Mr. Peperoni

   12.16.08 09:09 AM

    

2. “Mayor Harold Washington (D-Good Guys)”

   “gravel-voiced State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka (R-Marlboro)”

   “inept and unqualified Todd Stroger (D-Daddy Stroger)”

   LOL. Touche on all counts!

   I suppose I can be left out of the blame box because I’ve actually never voted for any Illinois politicians (I’m only 22, give me a break). But the way you explained everything, going down the line of our history, really clarifies this cycle we seem to be finding ourselves in here in the Land of Lincoln.

   Charlotte M

   12.29.08 02:09 AM

    

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