Word: daley
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...shouldn't come as any surprise that, in the wake of the shocking allegations against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, observers almost immediately evoked the Windy City's rich, colorful history of corruption. But after a couple of days Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, the son of the man synonomous with cronyism and backroom Chicago politics, wasn't about to let the comparisons go unchallenged. At a Wednesday press conference, a subdued Daley, who is bidding to land the 2016 Summer Olympics, went out of his way to distance himself and his city from the stain of the burgeoning scandal...
...politician, of course, would want to put lots of space between himself and a toxic scandal like this one, in which the sitting governor stands accused of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Daley, though, has a special interest in trying to draw such a sharp line: not only has his own administration been dogged by patronage scandals and federal investigations, but John Harris, the governor's co-defendant and chief of staff, was once one of Daley's top lieutenants at City Hall. (See the top 10 scandals...
...feds, not the pundits - has suggested that Daley, who said Harris was "a very good employee" under his watch, would be swept up in the current probe. In fact, the mayor and the governor have had a well-known, long-standing political schism. But it does create some unease on the fifth floor of city hall, a suite that Harris got to know quite well before he was rejected for the position of Daley's chief of staff in 2005, prompting his jump from the city to the state payroll...
...fact, some local politicos even considered Harris a spy for Daley in Blagojevich's office. But the criminal complaint, which paints Harris as the chief executioner of Blagojevich's schemes to squeeze the Tribune Co. and Children's Memorial Hospital for contributions or other political favors, among others, suggests it was indeed Blagojevich's bidding that Harris was doing...
...like a tornado coming - no one wants it coming to our community," says Bob Barber, administrator of the town of Beecher (pop. less than 2,500), about an hour's drive south of Chicago. The identities of Jackson's chief opponent and ally on the project are interesting: Mayor Daley is against it; Blagojevich backs...