'Locally, it's all good': Obama in White House helps city's Olympic bid
CHICAGO CONNECTION | Decision on status of Fitzgerald is a big one
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
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Obama's victory speech - one year later
With Chicago set to become the new Crawford, Texas, what perks will Barack Obama's adopted hometown enjoy beyond Secret Service protection around his home in Kenwood?
Under an Obama White House, there's no question there will be highly coveted federal jobs to spread around and some projects to steer back home. More significantly, Chicago just gained a more powerful and internationally respected friend to reel in the Olympics.
But before any of that happens, the first U.S. president from Chicago figures to recast the image of a gritty, Rust Belt metropolis known for its old meat-packing plants, under-the-table style of politics and a baseball team with a century-long World Series drought.
"He gives us great bragging rights," said Abner Mikva, an Obama confidant who served as general counsel in President Clinton's White House.
Many observers, Mikva included, think Obama's ascension to the White House will boost the city's bid to snare the 2016 Olympics. Obama's home is only a few blocks from Washington Park where the games would be based, and he has shared his passion for Chicago's bid.
One of the International Olympic Committee's biggest concerns is the CTA's crumbling infrastructure. The pressure on Obama to infuse immediate federal cash into Chicago's rapid transit system will be intense, but it's not a lock that the new president will put that above everything else.
Obama supports a national public works program, but he hasn't wanted to be known as a champion of bringing home the bacon -- John McCain criticized him for requesting nearly $1 billion in earmarks during his brief time in the U.S. Senate.
Obama has pledged to spend more on science, which could be a boon for the Fermi and Argonne national laboratories. His focus on renewable energy also could bring more wind farms and biofuel research facilities to Illinois.
"Locally for us, it's all good," said House Minority Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego).
"If we come there and we present something that's logical and something that is not a bridge to nowhere, I think that he and his people will look at it very favorably," said Sen. Terry Link (D-Vernon Hills), one of Obama's poker-playing buddies at the Statehouse.
Obama's biggest personnel decision on the local scene will be whether to retain U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as Chicago's top federal prosecutor. Obama is on record as supporting another Fitzgerald term, but under-the-radar political pressure to dump the corruption-busting prosecutor will be intense. A decision on Fitzgerald will set an important tone for Obama's fledgling presidency.
Allies like Mikva think Obama is destined to clean up the city's corrupt image.
"Really what we'll get out of this is, it will make clear once and for all Chicago is not just full of pork-barrel, sleazy politicians who know only Machine politics," he said. "We also will have a very special president."