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Chicago Machine having trouble enforcing its will in #IL02 primary

Chicago Machine having trouble enforcing its will in #IL02 primary

The petri dish of Democrat candidates in the special election Democrat primary for Jesse Jackson, Jr.’s former congressional seat remains teeming with candidates, despite the Chicago Democratic Machine’s heavies being deployed to empty it out.

So far only two have caved, Toi Hutchinson who dropped out of the race over the weekend, and Patrick Brutus, which leaves Machine pick Robin Kelly and former congresswoman Debbie Halvorson vying for the top spot in the slate of many.

Today another candidate in the race, Alderman Anthony Beale, is reporting that he’s been under pressure to drop out, though he won’t name names.

In an interview with Chicago Mag’s Carol Felsenthal published today, Beale said that he had received a call to drop out, although he’s “not at liberty” to divulge who, and that it was “absolutely not” an option at this point.

The Machine is having to contend with the potential of a splintered Democrat ticket that could leave their Kelly open to challenge despite whatever machinations they deploy to help her win the primary. Beale, an African American who has been attending every candidate forum (unlike Kelly) along with Debbie Halvorson, has been able to amass both contributions and support that make him a credible threat.

Felsenthal wonders who put the “strong arm” on Hutchinson to make her drop out over the weekend, settling on either anti-gun maven and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle or the massive expenditures in attack ads by New York Mayor Bloomberg’s PAC, now estimated at $2M. David Axelrod today attacked Democrat Halvorson via twitter, saying:

David Axelrod attacks Halvorson again

But the majority of the Democrat field is hanging on, frustrating the Machine’s attempts to clear the way for Robin Kelly. Let’s hope they keep hanging on, not only to stymie the Machine’s will, but also to provide the citizens of the Second District with a taste of what the future may hold.

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Comments

I see that Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy is out to make friends and influence people.
Is anybody in Chicago “of sound mind and body” ?

    Subotai Bahadur in reply to Neo. | February 18, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    The thing is, he is dead serious. And he is a mainstream Democrat in this, just a little arrogant and outspoken. In Washington state, their Democrat gun control bill includes a requirement that the County Sheriff search the homes of all gun owners, unannounced and without warrant, to make sure the guns are safe and accounted for. It may or may not pass. In Missouri [where thankfully, the Democrat bill will not get out of committee] it calls for a time frame to turn in all illegal guns, then forceable seizure and arrest. Here in Colorado, we have a Democrat controlled legislature [both houses] and a Democrat governor. They passed the first wave of gun control bills through the House today. We are sure more are coming. But in the debates today, Rep. Joe Salazar [D-Thornton] stated that women who fear being raped or are being stalked do not need guns to protect themselves, because there are “call boxes, safe zones, and whistles”. Being a Democrat, he will not get any pushback on that from the usual suspects.

    Neither the law, the Constitution, or the will of the people will stop them. It’s coming.

    There is no longer any such thing as a “Blue Dog” Democrat, or a moderate Democrat, and definitely there are no conservative Democrats. No matter what they say during a campaign, no matter how they lie to your face when you talk to them; they will vote as they are told by their Leftist bosses. They all have to be counted as the enemy.

    Subotai Bahadur

    McCarthy is an idiot, plan and simple. His interpretation of 2A is so far off that he should be fired immediately. And to think this moron has actually taken an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution, at least a few times. Don’t forget, this is the same ass who a few weeks ago said he would go around shooting law-abiding citizens in relation to CC. Although his drunk ass is only known for shooting out street lights.

    Illustrating Chicagoland Idiocy, Mayhem and Stupidity at heyjackass.com

Until now it has been Cleveland OH that held the nickname, “The Mistake On The Lake.” I hereby enter a motion that sobriquet be reassigned to Chicago.

You would think that this political machine stuff would work like in real biological situations such as a renegade organism causing havoc eventually destroys itself.

Evidently no in human politics from what I have observed over the years. The best that can be hoped for is that the pendulum will swing the opposite way some day and the question remains as to how far it will travel…

Chicagah ain’t ready for reform.

–Paddy Bauler

He’s still right.

I want mel ( the molester ) reynolds to win ….. * GRIN *

Professor, Kindly put a warning in any post that has a photo of Axelrod’s non-mustached puss. The shock of seeing his face naked was enough to cause me serious emotional distress. To add insult to injury, I happened by his appearance on Morning Joe today. Twice in one day is more than this aging woman can take!

The Machine usually isn’t this obvious … or this desperate…

I’m sure the severed horse-head in her bed had nothing to do with her decision…

That axelrod photo squeals registered sex offender.

9thDistrictNeighbor | February 18, 2013 at 10:53 pm

I heard Debbie Halvorson on a local radio show this evening. She insinuated that Kelly’s campaign had an uncomfortably close relationship or communications with Bloomberg’s PAC. She basically said that Bloomberg is an outside agitator and spoke with all the confidence of someone who thinks they have already won. Her main gripe against Kelly is that her endorsements come from, well, outsiders, and that her own endorsements come from people who will actually vote for her in the race. She also reminded people that her seniority from her one term (such as it was) would be reinstated should she be elected, and that she has all sorts of plans and programs ready to go to “help” her constituents.

Chuck Schumer’s wish: When he dies, he wants to be buried in Chicago, so he can still be active in politics.