Obama endorses Daley
Obama said he decided to support Daley and the mayor's revamped "rainbow ticket" long before deciding to enter the presidential sweepstakes.
Daley plans to abandon his longstanding tradition of remaining neutral in Democratic primaries to endorse Obama over Hillary Clinton in the 2008 presidential race. But Obama said his endorsement of Daley was earned and not part of any quid pro quo.
"Even his detractors acknowledge that the city has been well-managed and has performed in all respects in ways that are the envy of a lot of other cities across the country," Obama said at a news conference at the mayor's Loop campaign headquarters.
"I don't think there's a city in America that has blossomed as much over the last couple of decades than Chicago — and a lot of that has to do with our mayor. He has a national reputation that's well-deserved . . . as somebody's who's innovative, as somebody who's tough, as somebody who's willing to make the hard the decisions, as somebody who is constantly thinking about how to make the city better."
In August 2005, Obama nearly ran into trouble with Daley when he hedged on whether he'd support the mayor for re-election in light of the corruption investigations at City Hall.
Asked then if he planned to support the mayor or if the corruption probes might have given him pause, the senator replied, "What's happened — some of the reports I've seen in your newspaper, I think, give me huge pause."
An hour later, he called the Sun-Times saying he wanted to clarify his remarks. Obama said the mayor was "obviously going through a rough patch right now." But he also said Chicago has "never looked better" and that "significant progress has been made on a variety of fronts." The senator said then it was "way premature" to talk about endorsements because the mayor had not yet announced his candidacy.
Daley didn't hold a grudge against Obama. He reportedly concluded that the freshman senator had been trapped by a loaded question.
This morning, Obama was asked how he reconciles his statement in 2005 about the Hired Truck Program, city hiring and minority-contracting scandals with today's endorsement.
"It's entirely consistent," Obama said. "I continue to be concerned. And one of the things I've been pleased to see is the steps the mayor's been taking to try to clean up some of the genuine problems that exist. We've seen changes in hiring rules, procurement rules. You've got a significantly beefed-up inspector general [who] has the power to enforce some of these laws on the books. As a consequence, you're gonna see the kind of leaner, cleaner government that Chicagoans expect and, I know, the mayor expects.
"There is no doubt that there remains progress to be made. The mayor is more mindful than anybody that people are gonna be watching to make sure that progress takes place. I certainly will be watching it. But ultimately you want to look at the whole record of this administration . . . The city overall has moved in a positive direction."
Daley said he's proud to have Obama's endorsement and excited about his potential campaign for the White House.
"Unlike politicians in Washington, Sen. Obama has focused on what cities and neighborhoods need throughout the country," Daley said. "He understands that our cities need a strong federal partner to address the challenges of education, crime, jobs, affordable housing. He knows that our cities can't take on these fights alone. He has rejected the easy politics of name-calling and partisan politics. He's more interested in getting things done than dividing America."