Chicago police announce arrests in gang and drug cases - Chicago Tribune

Driving past a street corner adorned with three spray-painted tributes to young men shot and killed on the streets, Chicago police officers jumped out of their cars and pulled a suspected drug dealer from an apartment.

The scene that played out Thursday morning is a result of an initiative that Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced last month that calls for dozens of officers from several specialized units on West Side and South Side Chicago, which account for a quarter of the city's homicides.

For weeks, the undercover officers have been buying heroin in this West Side area, while other officers have been watching to see where the seller goes, whom he pays, who hands him more drugs and what that person does with the drugs and money he's handed.

That led to 17 arrest warrants for people suspected of dealing drugs in the neighborhood and on Thursday — with The Associated Press and a local television station in tow — they went out to round up suspects. By Thursday afternoon, they said the roundup that began a few days ago had led to the arrests of 11 of the 17 suspects. Most of them were arrested on drug conspiracy charges.

“The key is to get them working in concert,” said James O'Grady, the commander of the department's narcotics division, who likened the operation to a grocery store where a manager oversees the clerks and baggers. He said it doesn't matter if they are selling one bag or 50, “they're all part of the conspiracy.”

And that, he said, means more prison time than had they been arrested simply for possession for sale.

Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, who announced the initiative with Emanuel, said the areas where police would focus their attention were those that have seen both a thriving illegal drug trade but the worst gang violence.

Thursday's roundup followed a similar one targeting gang members late last month, and police say that by targeting those areas they hope that they will drive down violent crime, an issue that has become of particular concern as statistics from late 2011 and January of this year have shown an increase in homicides.

The lethal mixture of drugs and violence was as obvious as the words scrawled on the sidewalk outside the house where one of the suspected drug dealers was captured.

“They worked on this corner, they did,” said Adolph Leggin, 66, motioning to two of the three names he recognized as local drug dealers who were shot to death last year.

McCarthy has said that the undercover operations would be part of a wider effort that will include more uniformed patrols, including foot patrols, in areas to make sure the open-air drug markets don't reestablish themselves.

That is a marked difference, he said, from the department's since-disbanded Targeted Response Unit, when the Mobile Strike Force would swoop into the neighborhood, make arrests and then leave.

O'Grady said residents will now see that the police are committed to their neighborhood.

“We want them to know we're not just an occupying force, (that) we are there every day, that they can depend on us,” he said.

The effort is just a few weeks old, clearly not enough time to determine if what is being done will bring down the crime rate in a significant way as Emanuel and McCarthy hope it will.

Tio Hardiman, executive director of CeaseFire, an anti-violence group, was skeptical that the effort will have the long term effect on the targeted neighborhoods.

“It's been tried before and we wish police the best,” said Hardiman. “At the same time we have to have other solutions than just increased police presence and mass arrests.”

But Leggin said he is encouraged by what he's seen so far in the weeks since police focused their effort on the community where he's lived for more than 50 years.

“I come home now and I see nobody (dealing drugs) on this corner,” Leggin said.

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Poll: Emanuel has early lead for Chicago mayor - Chicago Tribune

Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is off to an early lead in the race for Chicago mayor, but there is plenty of room for other contenders in the crowded field as the fluid contest takes shape, a new Tribune/WGN poll found.

Emanuel had the support of 32 percent of voters, just ahead of 30 percent who were undecided, making him the only candidate in double-digits with more than two months before the Feb. 22 city election. He was well short of the outright majority needed to avoid an April runoff between the top two finishers.

First though, Emanuel has to survive a ballot challenge by those who say he doesn't qualify under rules requiring mayoral candidates to be Chicago residents for a year before the election. While several more of the 15 current candidates could be knocked off or drop out as the race gets serious, the poll showed a splintered field largely defined by name recognition.

Former Chicago Public Schools chief Gery Chico and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis each had 9 percent, with state Sen. James Meeks at 7 percent and former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun at 6 percent. City Clerk Miguel del Valle had 3 percent.

Former U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, whose intention to stay in the race is uncertain, had just 2 percent backing. None of the other candidates reached 1 percent in the poll of 721 registered, likely voters conducted Dec. 10-13, which has an error margin of 3.6 percentage points.

The poll came amid the holiday season, when voters typically are more focused on family and friends than politics, and before any of the major candidate forums have taken place. Nevertheless, the race has already become high-profile, with Emanuel running television commercials and many of the big-name candidates holding public events on a near-daily basis.

It's the first time in more than 60 years that a sitting Chicago mayor won't be on the ballot, after Mayor Richard Daley in September announced he would not run for re-election as he neared 22 years in office.

Although Daley's approval rating was sinking, he was still considered a formidable political foe, after years of building support that spanned the city's racial, ethnic and economic divisions. More than any other candidate so far, Emanuel also is bridging those gaps, the poll indicated.

The former North Side congressman is out front on the strength of his support from lakefront wards, white voters and the wealthy, according to the survey. He's also holding his own among Latino and African-American voters.

He has the support of more Hispanics than any other candidate, is backed by more blacks than anyone except Davis and enjoys the backing of 46 percent of whites. More than half of voters who live in households with more than $100,000 in annual income said they would vote for him.

Davis, an African-American political veteran who also served on the City Council and the Cook County Board, was backed by 21 percent of black voters, but just 2 percent of Hispanics and 1 percent of whites.

Among blacks, 30 percent are undecided, 19 percent back Emanuel, 13 percent favor Meeks and 10 percent are for Braun. Burris, once a popular African-American politician, had just 3 percent support among blacks.

Chico — of Latino, Greek and Lithuanian heritage — had 15 percent support among whites, 12 percent among Hispanics and just 2 percent among blacks.

Chico and del Valle combined trail Emanuel in the Latino community. Among likely Hispanic voters, 36 percent are undecided, 27 percent favor Emanuel, 14 percent del Valle and 12 percent Chico.

Most voters are not disappointed by Daley's decision not to run again. Only 30 percent wanted to see him run for a record seventh term, while 59 percent said they would not like to see him run again. The rest weren't sure.

Last July, a Tribune poll found that 53 percent of voters didn't want to see Daley elected to another term, and only 31 percent wanted to see him re-elected. And only 37 percent approved of the job he was doing.

Daley has been hurt politically by corruption scandals under his watch, the perception that not enough is being done to combat crime, and consternation over the effects of his decision to lease out the city's parking meter system.

hdardick@tribune.com

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Local Jewish group in spotlight after terror plot from Yemen - Chicago Tribune

About two dozen members of the Congregation Or Chadash were enjoying their usual Friday evening dinner before services at their Edgewater neighborhood headquarters when they got the startling news that they were apparently the target of an international terrorist plot.

The small congregation for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual Jews that started with an alternative newspaper ad in 1976 had gotten used to a life of relative obscurity — too small with about 100 members to afford its own building or build much of a profile.

How a terrorist in Yemen who'd rigged printer cartridges with explosives would know who and where they are sparked as much puzzlement as fear, congregants said Saturday.

"I thought 'Wow, I didn't know we had such visibility,'" congregation member Marvin Levin said.

Pausing, he added: "I don't know that we want such visibility."

But that's what the tight-knit group got as federal officials announced Saturday that a woman in Yemen had been arrested in the alleged terrorist plot that sent several packages to the U.S. loaded with the industrial explosive, PETN.

Authorities have not said which two Chicago addresses the packages were mailed to, but a source told the Tribune both were Jewish congregations on the North Side, home to a thriving Jewish community. Chicago police Saturday said they were making increased checks in areas with a high number of synagogues, including Edgewater, Rogers Park and West Rogers Park.

Or Chadash has for seven years shared space on North Sheridan Road with another Jewish congregation, the Emanuel Congregation. The squat brick building yards from Lake Michigan also is home to a day school for about 140 children between kindergarten and seventh grade.

Or Chadash leaders said they learned that their group was an intended recipient of one of the Yemen packages from Emanuel's Rabbi Michael Zedek.

"It was just a surprise," said Rabbi Larry Edwards of Or Chadash. "When I was first hearing news (about the packages), I assumed there were probably bigger targets. We're a small congregation. Either we were selected at random or it's because we're a mostly gay congregation."

Or Chadash, which is officially aligned with the Union of Reform Judaism, began after somebody placed an ad in a local paper in 1976, seeking to meet with like-minded gay and lesbian Jews, Levin said.

"At that time, it was probably one of the few places gay and lesbian Jews could openly worship in the area," he said. "Today, there are many more options, and some people like to be part of a congregation that's more mainstream, while others like to worship with people like themselves."

Over the years, the group has expanded to include Jews from more traditional backgrounds, said Bill Wahler, the group's co-president. With Edwards working part time, volunteers frequently conduct services to lend a diversity of perspectives to how they practice their faith, he said.

Until now, Or Chadash had never received threats of violence, Edwards said.

While Or Chadash members vowed Saturday against letting the threat affect their how they operate, members of the Emanuel Congregation reacted with a mix of weary humor and sadness over the idea that harm might have come to students at the day school.

"There is nothing shocking in (the threat)," Zedek said during a service Saturday punctuated by the whir of a high-speed camera shutter emerging from the cadre of media at the synagogue's rear. "We're heartbroken. But realistically, as well, one lives in this world."

"The real tragedy of this is if it caused us to hate," said Shifra Werch, an Emanuel congregant.

Considering the day's school children, Zedek spoke of his own grandchildren during the service.

"It does pain me, the kind of world that we're leaving for them," he said.

Tribune reporters Caroline Kyungae Smith and Jeremy Gorner contributed.

jebyrne@tribune.com

dlhinkel@tribune.com

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Tom Dart won't run for Chicago mayor - Chicago Tribune

Tom Dart, on paper, looked like an almost ideal candidate for Chicago mayor: A likable Cook County sheriff who had attracted positive press and boasted a solid, South Side pedigree.

So it was easy to overlook a few factors. He lost the only tough race he'd ever run, for Illinois treasurer eight years ago. He's a father with several young kids. And he's never raised the kind of cash he'd need to run for such a high office.

When it came time for a final gut check, Dart looked inside and decided running for mayor wasn't for him.

"I'm disappointing people, but at the end of the day I have to look myself in the mirror," said Dart, clad in jeans and a Mount Carmel High School basketball fleece at a hastily called news conference outside the County Jail he oversees.

Dart's decision clears the field of one of the top candidates vying for the job to succeed Mayor Richard Daley, who said last month that he wouldn't seek another term in February. In recent weeks, the field has thinned as numerous aldermen, congressmen and county officials have bowed out.

Since Daley's announcement, Dart had been telling supporters he planned to run and was gearing up his campaign, even gathering more than 25,000 signatures — twice the required amount — to get his name on the ballot.

Dart was expected to be a top-tier candidate, a counterweight to Rahm Emanuel, the former North Side congressman and White House chief of staff who has been bruising his way through Chicago as he ramps up a run. Dart, who hails from the 19th Ward, had stronger ties to progressive unions and working-class voters who weren't necessarily predisposed to support Emanuel.

Dart has long yearned to be mayor. But as he sought support around the city, the contrast with Emanuel was clear to ward committeemen and political powerbrokers.

"(Dart) wasn't making the hard sell," one committeeman said. "There was an opinion out that that he wasn't up to the battle, especially with Rahm coming in like a bulldozer."

Even when Dart was aggressive in working the phones, he trod into territory Emanuel already covered, sometimes twice. Many Democrats said they noticed Dart's fledgling campaign was somewhat disorganized and having difficulty gaining traction.

Although Dart had hired Joe Trippi, a political strategist with a national profile, the two had never worked together. In the past, both Dart and Emanuel employed AKPD Message and Media, the political consulting firm once run by President Barack Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod. But Emanuel hired them before Dart had a chance.

Dart's departure was viewed in many political circles as a boon for Emanuel.

"There's little doubt this helps Emanuel's campaign," said another Democratic ward committeeman who spoke on the condition of anonymity, "but it helps all the candidates in the race to some degree."

One of the city's most knowledgeable political pros, Ald. Richard Mell, 33rd, said Dart's decision gives Emanuel a distinct advantage. "I think Rahm would be the beneficiary of that," he said.

Emanuel acknowledged Dart's decision changes the race's "dynamics" but dismissed the idea he pushed him out.

"He took a gut check of that decision," Emanuel said. "Tom Dart does not get scared" out of a race.

Dart said no back-channel overtures were made by other candidates to encourage him not to run.

Others potential candidates include City Clerk Miguel del Valle, former U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, former Chicago Board of Education President Gery Chico, Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, state Sen. James T. Meeks, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, and Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr.

Dart said fundraising, political support and the fear of losing had nothing to do with his decision. Instead, it was all about his family. He and his wife, Patricia, have five children ranging in age from 1 to 9. Dart said running a mayoral campaign and then running the city if he won was too much.

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First lady stumps for 'handsome' Giannoulias - Chicago Tribune

First Lady Michelle Obama offered a personal character reference Wednesday for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias, whose integrity is under attack from Republican opponents.

On her first day on the campaign trail since 2008, Obama told about 250 donors at the University Club that Giannoulias has maintained high ethical standards both as state treasurer and candidate.

Obama noted that the president had praised Giannoulias' character.

"I know that he will be a phenomenal U.S. senator. I am proud of him. We have seen him grow. He is always pushing to the next level, and he is doing it with grace and dignity," Obama said.

Giannoulias has faced questions about his role as a senior loan officer at his family's failed Broadway Bank when it made loans to convicted felons. In addition, the GOP has targeted him with campaign ads accusing him of misleading investors about the losses in a college savings program overseen by the treasurer's office. Giannoulias has said he did nothing wrong in either case.

Obama spent most of her speech touting health care reform, tax cuts, access to education and a laundry list of the president's achievements, rather than Giannoulias. But she described the Senate race as a key to ensuring the president's promise of change will become a reality.

"My husband can't do this alone," said Obama, who drew laughter when she referred to Giannoulias as a "handsome young man."

Obama did not mention Republicans, including Giannoulias' GOP opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk.

Giannoulias introduced the first lady as "someone I love dearly."

Obama was also in Chicago for a separate fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which raised money for incumbent U.S. Reps. Bill Foster and Debbie Halvorson and for Dan Seals, who is seeking Kirk's North Shore congressional seat.

A Giannoulias spokesman did not immediately have figures on how much Wednesday's event raised.

oavila@tribune.com

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Kirk, Giannoulias trade ethics shots on 'Meet the Press' - Chicago Tribune

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October 10, 2010Kirk and Giannoulias trade ethics shots on 'Meet the Press'Share|

Posted by Oscar Avila at 9:50 a.m.

U.S. Senate candidates Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias traded sharp attacks on each other’s character and credibility this morning in a wide-ranging debate televised on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The character question remains front-and-center in their bid to fill President Obama’s old Senate seat as polls show voters hold deep doubts after scathing reports of Democrat Giannoulias’ tenure at the failed Broadway Bank and of Republican  Kirk embellishing his record in the Navy Reserve.

The debate aired live in parts of the country but airs locally at 11 a.m. after NBC’s coverage of the Chicago Marathon.

Moderator David Gregory pressed Giannoulias, Illinois' state treasurer, on whether he knew his family’s bank lent money to convicted criminals with ties to organized crime. Giannoulias, a senior loan officer at the time, did not claim total ignorance of their “colorful pasts” but said “I didn’t know the extent of their activity.”

Kirk did not disavow campaign ads equating Giannoulias with television mobster Tony Soprano and said the candidate should have known better because the criminal convictions had been widely reported in local newspapers.

“You don’t have to pull their rap sheet,” said Kirk, a five-term congressman.

Giannoulias, who has portrayed Kirk as a Washington, D.C. insider, said Kirk didn't know what it's like to work in the private sector.  "Again... the congressman has never worked in the private sector. Doesn't know what it takes, what a bank does when they look at whether or not to approve or deny a loan so he pulls some names and tries to make a political attack," Giannoulias said. " People aren't buying it."

Gregory, meanwhile, pressed Kirk, an intelligence officer in the Navy Reserve, as to why he embellished parts of his military record. Gregory  read off a string of examples, including that Kirk came under enemy fire in Iraq, that he ran the Pentagon war room, served in the Gulf War, and that he was named the Navy's intelligence officer of the year.

Kirk did not fully explain how the exaggerations occurred but said, “I am completely accountable for this.”

Giannoulias tried to use the misstatements to cast broader doubts on Kirk’s candidacy. As Kirk rattled off examples of how he bucked Republican leadership, including supporting stem-cell research, Giannoulias wasn’t having it.

“The truth is that the only thing he’s been independent of in this race is the truth,” Giannoulias said.

Likewise, Giannoulias implied that Kirk’s misstatements on his military record should lead voters to question his other claims, including that he would be a “fiscal hawk” and take on the ballooning budget deficit.

“The congressman has told some real whoppers during this campaign, but that might be the biggest one of all,” Giannoulias said. “Congressman, saying you’re a fiscal hawk doesn’t necessarily make it true.”

Much of the policy debate centered on whether Obama’s economic policies have worked.

Kirk said the health care and financial reform bills had the net effect of being tax increases. Kirk held up a chart – a la former presidential candidate Ross Perot – to show that the administration’s economic policies, including the stimulus package, have only swelled the debt without truly creating jobs.

“We recognize that the stimulus has largely failed,” Kirk said.

"The key danger," Kirk said, "is will our policies increase the chance of a double-dip recession?"

While he did not agree with all the details, Giannoulias said the stimulus package helped the U.S. avoid a “second Great Depression.”

“I think (Obama) has done everything he can to turn this economy around,” Giannoulias said.

 

Posted at 09:51:21 AMin 2010 Illinois election, 2010 Illinois U.S. Senate campaign

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About CloutClout has a special meaning in Chicago, where it can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This exercise of political influence in a uniquely Chicago style was chronicled in the Tribune cartoon "Clout Street" in the early 1980s. Clout Street, the blog, offers an inside look at the politics practiced from Chicago's City Hall to the Statehouse in Springfield, through the eyes of the Tribune's political and government reporters.
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Jewish voters don't reflexively back Rahm Emanuel for Chicago mayor - Chicago Tribune

Some might assume that the idea of a Rahm Emanuel candidacy for mayor would be cause for celebration along Devon Avenue, the longtime rialto of Chicago's Jewish community.

After all, Emanuel attended an Orthodox synagogue before going from Chicago to the White House, and his family is highly respected in West Rogers Park, where his father, Benjamin, was a pediatrician. The numbers of those who say Dr. Emanuel took care of their kids is roughly similar to the legion that claimed to have witnessed Babe Ruth point to the Wrigley Field bleachers and hit that famed home run.

But Rahm Emanuel, who begins his Chicago "listening tour" this week, is about to discover that all politics aren't local.

In the Jewish neighborhoods on the Far North Side, Rahm Emanuel is more associated with what he did in Washington than what he might do in Chicago's City Hall.

"There are questions about his positions on Israel," said Chesky Montrose, 32, who was wearing a skull cap and pushing one child in a stroller while keeping an eye on two others bicycling down Devon. "It's not logical that international policy would influence a race for mayor. But there is some resentment here, no doubt."

There was rejoicing along Devon on Friday because it was Simchat Torah, a festive celebration of the divine laws Moses received on behalf of the ancient Israelites. But there also were questions about Emanuel timing his White House farewell announcement for that day.

"On yontif?" said Montrose, using the Yiddish for the holiday.

During the run-up to Simchat Torah, it's traditional for Jews to take their meals in a sukkah, an improvised hut like their ancestors dwelled in during their wandering years in the deserts of Sinai. A fast-food restaurant on Devon provides customers with a sukkah.

With rituals marking their forebears' exiles, it's hardly a wonder Jews fret over modern-day Israel. Obama got a huge percent of Jewish voters, many of whom assumed Emanuel would give voice to their concerns as chief of staff, noted Cheryl Jacobs Lewin, Chicago co-chair of Americans for a Safe Israel.

"That has not happened, judging by the White House's heavy-handedness toward Israel," Lewin said in an e-mail.

A spokeswoman for Emanuel said Sunday he is a strong backer of Israel.

"Rahm's support for Israel is well known, and he had many supporters in the Jewish community when he represented a half-million Chicagoans in Congress. But he takes nothing for granted and will work to earn the support of every voter in communities across the city," said Lori Goldberg, Emanuel's spokeswoman.

Another person leery of Emanuel on the Israel issue is Norm Levin, who said, "I used to be a devout Democrat."

Levin is president of the Great Vest Side Club, an alumni association of the West Side neighborhood that was once the epicenter of Chicago's Jewish community. (The pronunciation "vest" commemorates the immigrant accent of members' parents.)

"I like to vote for Jewish people," Levin said. "But if they're sort of negative on Israel, they lose me."

Yet that very quality could be a plus for Emanuel among lakefront liberals, many of them secular Jews uncomfortable with a right-leaning Israeli administration.

"I'm sort of hostile to Israel," said James Alter, a founding father of independent politics in Chicago.

He and his late wife, Joanne Alter, also Jewish and a Metropolitan Water Reclamation District trustee, made their Lakeview home a longtime clubhouse for anti-machine activists.

Even so, there are other issues on which liberals clash with Emanuel, said political consultant Don Rose, who is Jewish, a reigning guru of the independent movement.

"We progressives found him unresponsive as a congressman when we wanted him to speak out against the Iraq war," Rose said.

Then there could be a linguistic problem attached to an Emanuel candidacy. Jews think of a Jew in the public eye as representing all of them with his or her behavior, said Chayim Knobloch, a rabbi and proprietor of the Kol Tuv supermarket on Devon.

Emanuel is famous for peppering his conversations with swearing, while Jews have a longstanding caution: "Don't make a shandah for the goyim" — be aware of your behavior in gentile company.

"So I have a small request," Knobloch said. "Rahm should watch his language."

rgrossman@tribune.com

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It's Official: Emanuel for Chicago Mayor - ABC News

Rahm Emanuel officially announced his candidacy for mayor of Chicago in a YouTube video that was posted today on his new campaign website, ChicagoforRahm.com.

Emanuel's announcement has been expected since Friday, when he resigned from his position as White House chief of staff and then immediately left Washington for Chicago.

In today's video announcement, Emanuel praised current Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's leadership, but spoke of a need to address Chicago's challenges, from safety on the streets to improving schools and attracting jobs.

Emanuel said an early part of his campaign will involve a listening tour across Chicago's neighborhoods to find out what Chicago residents want from their next mayor.

"As I prepare to run for mayor, I'm going to spend the next few weeks visiting our neighborhoods," he said in the two-minute, 11-second video announcement.

"I'm calling this the 'Tell It Like It Is' tour, because I want to hear from you in blunt terms ... what you think about our city, and how the next mayor and you, can make it better," he said.

In the video announcement he highlighted his links to the city where he was born and raised by his parents, who emigrated from Israel.

Emanuel and his wife Amy also raised their three children in Chicago while he served three terms representing a North Side district in Congress.

His ChicagoforRahm.com website features a "Tell it Like It Is" blog that currently features a transcript of today's announcement and a post containing coverage of President Obama's remarks on Emanuel's departure from his cabinet.

Emanuel had to declare his intent to enter the race by Nov. 22, the filing deadline in Chicago. Candidates need to collect 12,500 signatures by that day to qualify for a Feb. 22, 2011 Democratic primary.

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Chicago mayor's race may be battle of shoe leather - The Associated Press

Chicago mayor's race may be battle of shoe leatherBy DON BABWIN (AP) – 1 hour ago

CHICAGO — It used to be that getting elected in Chicago meant relying on the ward boss, the precinct captain and the small armies they deployed to fix potholes, hand out frozen turkeys and even drive people to the polls.

Court rulings and corruption convictions have ended the primacy of the Machine, leaving get-out-the-vote efforts in the hands of what officials say are volunteers. But the city's first real mayor's race in more than two decades will test how far Chicago has advanced since the Machine's heyday, and how badly big-name, well-funded candidates like Rahm Emanuel still need that old street-level help.

"Never underestimate the power of the precinct worker," said Tom Manion, a longtime political operative who directed Mayor Richard M. Daley's first re-election campaign in 1991. "This is going to be a Generation X campaign with Facebook, Twitter and all that ... but you should never forget the power of friend talking to friend, neighbor talking to neighbor."

After resigning as White House chief of staff, Emanuel is expected to reintroduce himself to Chicago this week with visits to neighborhoods to meet voters. He has launched a new campaign website, ChicagoforRahm.com, with the promise of "a special video announcement" on Sunday. He easily has greater name recognition than other contenders, and he is among several candidates seeking the support of wealthy businessmen and politicians.

But election time in Chicago means the phones of ward committeemen and aldermen are ringing once again, with candidates asking how many volunteers they could put on the street and whether they would do so for them.

The modern campaign is a twist on the kind Chicago became known for, when city workers campaigned like their jobs depended on it — which they did — and ward bosses were expected to know how every firefighter and teacher was going to vote.

In the 1970s and '80s, court-backed agreements called the Shakman decrees made it illegal to hire and fire city employees for political reasons. So party officials now are careful to say volunteers are truly working out of sheer loyalty — though recent prosecutions prove the Chicago way of politics isn't completely gone. Some say it's just gone underground.

The jockeying for street help has already begun.

"I've talked to some folks in different campaigns," said David Fagus, the Democratic ward committeeman in the 49th ward on the city's North Side, who said he has about 100 volunteers at his disposal if and when he commits to a campaign.

Gery Chico, the Chicago School Board president and a close Daley ally who has announced he's in the race, said he has 500 volunteers working the streets, concentrating mainly on garnering the 12,500 signatures needed to secure a ballot spot. But, he said, those volunteers also send a message to larger ward organizations that a candidate has a strong campaign.

"They want to see if you have the resources," he explained.

Some candidates have enough support to put hundreds, if not thousands, of volunteers on the street. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, who has been telling allies that he's running, has the ability to quickly dispatch 250 or 300 volunteers, said Thom Serafin, a Chicago political analyst.

State Sen. James Meeks might have a lot more, thanks to his other job: pastor of a huge church on the city's South Side. "Meeks can go to his church; there are 20,000 people there," Fagus said.

After his time in Washington, Emanuel faces doubts about his support in the neighborhoods. Daley gave him street support when Emanuel ran for Congress from the North Side, but the mayor has so far has pledged neutrality.

With a political war chest of more than $1 million, there is little doubt Emanuel can hire plenty of people, said Dick Simpson, a University of Illinois at Chicago political scientist and former city alderman.

But it is unlikely the candidates will be able to field anywhere near the 10,000 volunteers that Manion said worked on Daley's first re-election campaign. Among the other changes is a parade of city workers charged with corruption in recent years — some of whom were brought down in an investigation that touched Emanuel.

In 2002, he and other candidates, including Daley, received campaign help from water department employees at the direction of their boss, who was convicted of corruption. Neither Emanuel nor Daley was accused of wrongdoing, but Emanuel's opponents will certainly mention the episode.

The biggest recent case involved Robert Sorich, Daley's "patronage chief," and three others, who were convicted of falsifying interviews and test scores of employment applicants to make sure jobs went to those who got out the vote.

"Any operations that survived the publicity (of those cases) have gone deep underground out of fear of the U.S. attorney," said lawyer Michael Shakman, whose crusade against patronage led to the court decrees.

But expect no shortage of door knocking and rides to the polls offered on a chilly February election day. "Friendly committeemen will be out there to encourage the senior citizen to vote early, and if they can assist with a cup of coffee and companionship while they vote, they'll do that," Serafin said.

Federal prosecutors will watch the process closely, but the real scrutiny will come after the election, said David Hoffman, a former inspector general at City Hall.

"The key issue will be if there is a link between political work and handing out ... jobs, contracts or something else," Hoffman said. "The first six to 12 months (after the election) will tell you a lot."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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'One Nation' rally draws thousands of Dem backers - Chicago Sun-Times

WASHINGTON -- Tapping into anger as the Tea Party movement has done, a coalition of progressive and civil rights groups marched by the thousands Saturday on the Lincoln Memorial and pledged to support Democrats struggling to keep power on Capitol Hill.

"We are together. This march is about the power to the people," said Ed Schultz, host of "The Ed Show" on MSNBC. "It is about the people standing up to the corporations. Are you ready to fight back?"

In his fiery speech, which opened the "One Nation Working Together" rally on the National Mall, Schultz blamed Republicans for shipping jobs overseas and curtailing freedoms. Borrowing some of conservative commentator Glenn Beck's rhetoric, he vowed to "take back our country."

"This is a defining moment in America. Are you American?" Schultz told the raucous crowd. "This is no time to back down. This is time to fight for America."

With a month of campaigning, the Democratic-leaning organizers hoped the four-hour program of speeches and entertainment would energize activists crucial to Democrats' chances of retaining their majorities in the House and Senate. The national mood suggests gains for the GOP, and Republicans are hoping to ride voter anger to gain control of the House and possibly the Senate.

More than 400 organizations, including labor unions, faith, environmental and gay rights groups, joined together for the event one month after Beck packed the same space with conservatives and Tea Party-style activists.

Organizers claimed they had as many participants as Beck's rally. But Saturday's crowds were less dense and didn't reach as far to the edges as Beck's crowd. AP

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