Chicago

By MILTON RAKOVE

Hard choices for machine regulars

TWO MONTHS after the sound and fury of the closest gubernatorial election in the state's history, and the national congressional elections, most of the citizens of Illinois have been given a respite from candidates, campaigns and media bombardment of their political psyches. But for one unfortunate segment of the state's electorate, last November's election was merely a prelude to another campaign which began two days after the polls closed on November 2.

Chicago's mayoral contest began on November 4, with the announcement by Cook County State's Attorney Richard M. Daley, that he would seek the Democratic mayoral nomination in the February 22 primary. A few days later Congressman Harold Washington, the first serious black mayoral candidate in Chicago's history, threw his hat in the ring. Incumbent Mayor Jane M. Byrne, who had told Channel 2's Walter Jacobson, in an interview, that she would not announce before January 1983 because Chicago's citizenry were entitled to have the holiday season for themselves and their families, changed her mind and began her reelection campaign with a series of public pronouncements and television commercials.

One of the more interesting underlying dynamics of the mayoral campaign is the role, current status and effectiveness of the Chicago Democratic machine. To paraphrase Alice in Wonderland, "Chicago politics is getting curiouser and curiouser." Jane Byrne, who ran against the machine in 1979, and beat the organization in the mayoral primary, is the machine's candidate in 1983. Richard M. Daley, whose late father dominated the machine for almost a quarter of a century, is again running against the machine as he did in the 1980 state's attorney primary race. And Harold Washington, who began his political career as a machine minion before becoming an outsider, from time to time, is running against both machine endorsed Byrne and machine opponent Daley.

What is the current status of what used to be called "The Daley machine?"

It is fair to say that the machine is in a state of transition from the late Mayor Daley years, of drift as an organization, of fragmentation as an entity, but is not dead, only weakened.

When the late Mayor Daley died in December 1976, the machine's more powerful ward committeemen were determined not to allow another would-be-Daley to gain the power that Daley had as mayor and party chairman. They divided his dual role between the new party chairman, George Dunne, and Daley's successor as mayor, Michael Bilandic. They hoped, thus, to decentralize the power in the organization and gain bigger pieces of the pie for themselves. The consequence was a fragmentation of the organization and a significantly weakened party chairman. At the same time, the power of the mayor grew steadily, as the occupant of that office took over control of patronage, the distribution of perquisites and unilateral control of the budget. The ward committeemen have, consequently, found themselves in a more weakened position than they had been under Daley, as the mayor's office evolved into a position of great power.

That new system was complicated by the erratic leadership of Mayor Byrne in her first two years in office. The committeemen were faced with a dual dilemma in which they found themselves in a position of almost total subordination to Mayor Byrne, but without strong, sustained leadership from the top. The problems of the committeemen have been further complicated by the new Jane Byrne, who emerged midway through her term, a leader who presented herself as a strong administrator with a program for the city government, but who also abjured politics.

This new Byrne has set many of the committeemen adrift in what is, for them, an uncharted sea. The election of 10th Ward committeeman and alderman Edward Vrdolyak as party chairman, which was engineered by Byrne, has alleviated their problem only superficially, since Byrne still has the power of the purse and patronage. So they pay lip service to Vrdolyak, while, at the same time, watch for signs and signals from the self-proclaimed, non-political Mayor Byrne.

The candidacies of Richard M. Daley and Harold Washington have further complicated the situation for the ward committeemen. The black committeemen have to choose between Byrne and Washington, alienating Byrne if they support Washington, and possibly or probably alienating their black constituents in their wards if they support Byrne. The white committeemen have a similar dilemma. To support Richie Daley could bring down the wrath of Byrne upon their heads. But what if Daley wins the primary? The Daley boys may have long memories, if Richie wins the mayoralty. After all, it was their father who counseled those who had been injured, forgotten or double-crossed, with one of his favorite aphorisms, "Don't get mad. Get even!" It is getting to be too much for the committeemen to make such choices. The logical thing to do is to try to hedge their bets, touch all the bases and survive somehow in this, their time of troubles.

How will it all come out? Only the gods can tell and, since they are usually silent on such matters, the committeemen will have to fend for themselves, read the entrails cautiously and pray that February 22 will come soon and pass quickly and resolve their problems for the next four years.□

January 1983 | Illinois Issues | 41