Chicago By ED McMANUS

'Punch 10' power: the Machine rolls on

IT TURNS OUT that the Regular Democratic Organization — most people call it the Machine — is not dead or even dying, after all, despite reports to the contrary ever since Richard J. Daley died.

The events of November 2 (call it Eddie Vrdolyak Day) proved that the Machine still — or maybe we should say once again — is the most formidable power in Illinois politics. Vrdolyak is the Chicago alderman who took over the chairmanship of the Cook County central committee last

Photo by Bill Grant Edward Vrdolyak

spring with the backing of Mayor Jane Byrne. His reputation for integrity leaves something to be desired; his activities have been investigated by various grand juries. But his reputation as a politician — as a person who can attract votes for himself or for those he is supporting — is excellent, and it certainly was enhanced in the recent election.

Adlai Stevenson's terrific performance despite polls that showed him running far behind Gov. James R. Thompson is attributable in large measure to his showing in Chicago, where he picked up 73 percent of the vote. And in the major local race, George Dunne handily won reelection as Cook County board president on the strength of a 77 percent vote in Chicago. The polls had forecast a dead heat between Dunne and his Republican opponent, Bernard Carey.

Vrdolyak organized Democratic workers efficiently to get out the vote and to push for voting a straight-party ticket. He produced thousands of "Punch 10" buttons urging voters to punch the Number 10 space on the voting machine card — the Democratic space — and they did.

But Vrdolyak doesn't deserve all the credit for the huge Democratic vote. Community organizations got tens of thousands of black voters registered this year, and those blacks, fed up with the Reagan administration and prodded by ward leaders, cast many of those straight ticket votes.

In the other four statewide races, only one Republican won: Secretary of State James Edgar. Edgar was swamped by Democratic candidate Jerome Cosentino in Chicago (72 percent to 28 percent) but got a decisive 63 percent of the downstate vote on his way to beating Cosentino by a 350,000 vote margin. The three winning Democrats — Neil Hartigan for attorney general, Roland Burris for comptroller and James Donnewald for treasurer — each received at least 80 percent of the Chicago vote.

It was a complete shutout for the Republicans in the Cook County races. The GOP even lost one of its suburban seats on the county board, the first time that has happened in 48 years. And Democrat Harry Semrow was easily reelected to the County Board of Tax Appeals despite a massive bribery scandal involving that agency which has resulted in the conviction of 20 persons, including several high officials of the board.

Although Vrdolyak was intent on making a good showing in his first election since taking over leadership of the party, his primary goal is to get Jane Byrne reelected mayor. The election is scheduled for April, but the real contest is the Democratic primary February 22.

On November 4 Richard M. Daley, son of the late mayor, announced his candidacy for the nomination. At least one more person — a representative of the black community — is expected to join the race (at this writing, probably U.S. Rep. Harold Washington), and in view of the huge increase in black registration, that candidacy will be a key factor in the election. A split of the vote between Byrne and Daley could give Chicago its first black major.

It will be Vrdolyak's job to keep the Machine loyal to Byrne. That will be tough, especially in view of the several prominent Democrats who lean toward Daley, including Stevenson, Hartigan and Dunne, who headed the party before he was ousted by the Byrne-Vrdolyak steamroller, and in view of the black community's animosity toward the mayor.

The man who invented "Punch 10" may be pretty punchy by February.

39 | December 1982 | Illinois Issues