Obama felt in local races
Heavy black turnout may help other candidates here
Don't blink. If you do, you'll miss the run-up to Tsunami Tuesday and the Feb. 5 Illinois primary. The Obama juggernaut has sucked up all the media oxygen, leaving a bevy of local aspiring candidates gasping for airtime.
The sizzling presidential primary is overshadowing the slew of candidates vying for spots in Congress, the Illinois General Assembly, judicial seats and ward committeemen slots.
Still, like the famous weather-forecasting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's shadow will have consequences.
In the Cook County state's attorney race, the six candidates scrambling for the Democratic nomination have all come down with a virulent case of "change-itis." Obama's mantra of "change" is as contagious as a January flu bug on a CTA bus. Every candidate has jumped on the throw-the-bums-out bandwagon -- including the ones driving the bus.
Anita Alvarez and Bob Milan, top deputies to incumbent Dick Devine, assure voters that they are for change.
Tom Allen, alderman of the 38th Ward, wants to be the Great Northwest Side Hope for change. 21st Ward Ald. Howard B. "Slow Pay" Brookins Jr. boasts he is the one who can "change the direction of the office through a new vision of strength and fairness."
What he is really counting on is riding the avalanche of voters who will turn out in Chicago's African-American wards to declare for Obama. Chicago and Cook County have a long tradition of race-based voting. Witness the Todd Stroger debacle.
Let's hope black voters don't fall for that act again. We can do better.
There are two standouts. Alvarez, the third-ranking executive in the office, is a political outsider and crackerjack prosecutor. She has 21 years of staunch advocacy for the victims of street crime and domestic violence. She can keep the old boys in line.
Larry Suffredin's fatal flaw may be his longtime lobbying for gambling, tobacco and drug interests. It raises conflict of interest questions that are tough to set aside.
Still, Suffredin has made fighting gun violence a signature initiative. He's got the NRA and its minions in a frenzy. His plan to go after gun shop owners and others who are peddling death on our streets will save our children.
Gun control is also a touchstone in the frenzied battle for the 26th District state representative seat. Will Burns, who has served as a top policy aide to Obama and Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, is also going after the gun lobby with gusto.
Burns and South Side businessman Kenny Johnson Jr. are the front-runners. Education activist Phillip Jackson and attorney Paul Chadha are also charging after Elga L. Jeffries, the freshman incumbent. Jeffries blew it big time last April when she voted against Illinois House Bill 758--a measure she sponsored. It would have required that anyone who buys a handgun from a private seller get a background check. Jeffries has got to go.
The Big O's shadow looms large in the mostly black district, which spans the lakefront from downtown to South Shore, including Obama's Hyde Park stomping grounds. Johnson and Burns are bickering over who deserves to ride the senator's coattails.
Photos of the self-described "skinny guy with big ears and a funny name" are plastered on campaign mailers and posters all over town. So far, Burns' hopes for an Obama endorsement have been squelched by heavy lobbying from U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, a high-profile Obama supporter and Johnson backer.
Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Joe Berrios is another incumbent on the receiving end of change-itis. Berrios is a 19-year veteran of the agency, which reviews property tax appeals. It's also the quintessential bastion of clout. Jay Paul Deratany, a Chicago lawyer and political novice, can bring springtime to our tax nightmares. Deratany pledges -- get this -- to refuse contributions from tax lawyers with cases before the board, and "make certain that cases before the board are judged on merit alone."
What a concept.