Eric Zorn
Letter to voters a letdown for Obama idealists
Published November 2, 2006
An old saying goes, "The sooner I fall behind in my work, the longer I have to catch up."
Now, starry-eyed believers in the transformative nature of Illinois' junior senator have their own variation: "The sooner I grow disillusioned with Barack Obama, the longer I have to forgive him."
So, let's get started, shall we? Obama's staff released a profoundly disheartening letter to voters this week in which Obama, joined by Sen. Dick Durbin, endorsed Cook County Board presidential candidate Todd Stroger.
The letter, which puffs lots of hot air into the saggy balloon of Stroger's legislative resume, refers to him as "a good progressive Democrat" who will "lead us into a new era of Cook County government."
Todd Stroger was a "strong voice" in Springfield, the letter says. He has "worked assiduously" for the poor as an alderman. Yet, of course, the record reveals that Stroger is an unimaginative legislative drone whose reform credentials are wholly imaginary--an unlikely trailblazer to a new era.
Then Obama and Durbin take an epistolary dive into the mud and start yammering in the letter about Republican challenger Tony Peraica's conservative stance on social issues that almost never come before the County Board. In particular, they raise the fear that Peraica would unilaterally put a halt to abortions at county hospitals, even though Peraica has repeatedly pledged that he will not.
"We've come too far for that," says the letter.
And Obama has come too far as an inspiring new breed of politician on the national scene to muck around in local politics, endorsing machine hack candidates and substituting party for principle. Or so you'd imagine.
There were warning signs: Obama's first dubious endorsement of a lightweight came during the primary season when he cut TV ads plumping for Alexi Giannoulias, then 29, the vice president of his family's bank who decided he'd like to be state treasurer. The endorsement was widely seen as key to Giannoulias' primary victory.
Obama was upfront about why he got involved: Members of the Giannoulias family were early and strong backers of his U.S. Senate campaign and "I think it's important to reciprocate," he told a reporter.
But Obama did not reciprocate for Forrest Claypool.
Claypool was the overwhelming favorite of reform-minded Democrats in his race against incumbent John Stroger (Todd's father) and had headed Obama's transition team after Obama was elected to the Senate in 2004.
Old-guard candidate John Stroger, meanwhile, had endorsed Comptroller Dan Hynes instead of Obama in the Democratic Senate primary.
When Obama decided not to endorse either candidate, his spokesman intoned, "The senator believes that the voters should make up their own minds in this race."
As you know, then, John Stroger suffered a stroke, won the primary and retired for health reasons. The Democratic Central Committee thumbed its nose at critics and selected Todd Stroger to take his place on the ballot, rejecting more senior, qualified candidates such as U.S. Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago and veteran county Commissioner Bobbie Steele.
The stench of same-old-same-old from John Stroger's years of cronyism and bloat hung over the process, and Obama had every excuse to distance himself from it.
Instead came this letter--a body blow to Claypool Democrats and the idealists whose fantasy about Obama is that he will transcend the grubby machinations and tawdry favor-swapping of party politics--followed by word from Obama's office that he will appear on stage at a pro-Stroger rally Monday night.
Obama declined to comment through a spokesman Wednesday. But maybe the good news is that, with Obama's reputation now riding on his performance, Stroger, if elected, will become all that Obama says he is.
See, I can still dream!
SOURCE
