Chicago Daily Observer

Early last month, I was asked to write a story about Barack Obama for a newspaper in my native Ireland.

I was surprised at the readiness with which the paper’s editors were prepared to grant prominence to a candidate who, I knew, was then barely on the radar of the general public. The article was to be the cover story of the newspaper’s magazine.

Shortly after it was published, I was visiting Ireland and met socially with the magazine’s editor. After making a few positive noises about Mr. Obama, she got to the point.

“He’s not actually going to win, right?”

Change is in the air. It’s not spring, it’s the political season. But what
to do if you’re an Illinois Democrat pol, or a wannabe, running in a county,
a state or perhaps for a Congress that is run by Democrats?

Run as an outsider. Run even when you don’t live in the district.

I first noticed the phenomenon when perennial boy-wonder, former ballet
dancer and Clintonista Rahm Emanuel pushed aside a local woman activist
to grab the 5th district ring post-Rostenkowski. Emanuel went to Wilmette
Jr. High and hadn’t lived in Illinois for years, helping out Bill and Hill
in the White House. But no matter, he wanted a slot and with the help of the
Chicago Dem Machine muscled in—or perhaps executed a forceful Grande Jeté.

Then we had new boy-wonder Barack Obama breeze in to ... Read More...