By PAUL M. GREEN

Vrdolyak wins opener in Cook County power politics

The place is a crowded meeting room in the basement of Chicago's Bismarck Hotel. It's early April and the occasion is the election of the next Cook County Democratic Central Committee chairman. Again, as on many other occasions during the past year, this election brings together two opposing forces intent on directing Democratic politics in Chicago: Mayor Harold Washington and Alderman Edward R. Vrdolyak. Paul Green's first-hand account of this crucial and dramatic election provides readers with an understanding of why the meeting didn't become a shouting match between the new reform movement and the old machine. Although they are typically portrayed by the media as fierce adversaries, Green concludes that Washington and Vrdolyak need each other in order to maintain their power bases.

EDWARD R. Vrdolyak's name is seldom used without a preceding descriptive adjective. Political commentators call him "Fast Eddie" or "Tough Eddie"; his friends refer to him as "Loyal Eddie" while his foes use adjectives unmentionable in polite company. After his landslide victory as Cook County Democratic Central Committee chairman, it is easy to refer to him as "King Eddie," the undeniable ruler of what is still the most potent Democratic organization in the country.

The battlelines

On Monday, April 2, 1984, in a jammed-packed basement meeting room of Chicago's Bismarck Hotel Vrdolyak's fellow Democratic ward and township committeemen overwhelmingly reelected him their chairman. In an atmosphere charged with incredible tension Vrdolyak proved political rhetoric, no matter how eloquent, is no match for political reality. To put it simply, Vrdolyak had the numbers and, despite some heated speechmaking by the opposition, he easily bested the forces of his intraparty Democratic foe, Mayor Harold Washington.

Though the nation and most Illinoisans thought the recent March 20 primary was about selecting presidential and U.S. senatorial candidates, most Chicago Democratic pols, including those proclaiming themselves reformers, were more concerned about the 50 ward committeemen races. (See Illinois Issues, March 1984, p. 43.) The ward committeeman winners along with their 30 township counterparts (the latter elected in 1982) make up the Cook County Democratic Central Committee, which is the traditional backbone and organizational muscle of what is commonly referred to as the machine.

Following the primary, most experts believed candidates loyal to Vrdolyak had prevailed over Washington's candidates in several crucial ward races. Nevertheless, the mayor and his allies talked bravely of deposing the chairman. "This is not one man against the other," exclaimed Washington, "it is about reform . . . change. April 2 will be the toll of the bell for the party."

To paraphrase former football coach Vince Lombardi, in Chicago politics today "race isn't everything — it is the only thing." The political lineups have not changed since last year's mayoral election: Washington is the unquestioned political champion of Chicago's large black community while Vrdolyak is the city's white ethnic spokesman. The only truly contestable voting areas in Chicago are the Hispanics and the independent, lakefront liberals. The former are still in their political infancy though growing in voting strength, while the latter find themselves the most courted voters in Chicago since they hold the balance of power. Washington's boast of tolling Vrdolyak's bell could have occurred only if these committeemen and their suburban allies had joined him.

Many of these committeemen come from reform areas that are associated with a third force in Chicago and Cook County politics: State's Attorney Richard M. Daley. Perhaps the strangest twist in Chicago's tangled politics is why Daley's support has risen among independent-minded, issue-oriented, good-government Democrats. As state's attorney, Daley has acted more like a traditional William Singer reformer (a former lakefront alderman and reform leader) than an old-fashioned Chicago politician. Daley has proven himself a competent professional administrator while attracting and recruiting independent types who in a previous generation would have been savage critics of his father, Chicago's legendary mayor/boss Richard J. Daley.

Young Daley's power base also includes several prominent committeemen scattered throughout the city who have remained loyal to him and his family. Two years earlier these committeemen fought Vrdolyak's takeover of the county central committee chairmanship. At that time, former Mayor Jane Byrne, a deadly Daley enemy,

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helped engineer the coup that toppled the state's attorney's long-time friend, Cook County Board President George Dunne as county chairman. Yet despite this fact and the ensuing bitterness emanating from Vrdolyak's all-out support for Byrne against Daley in the 1983 Democratic mayoral primary, the state's attorney's forces made no move against the incumbent chairman.

The reason is very simple. In 1984 Daley faces a potentially tough reelection contest against former Chicago police superintendent Richard Brezczek. Demographics reveal that Daley must have a strong ethnic vote against his Polish Republican opponent, and any cozying up to Washington will alienate this enormous bloc of voters. Moreover, the mayor's clumsy political moves directed by amateurish and controversial political operatives has made such an alliance political suicide for Daley.

The meeting

It's the World Series of power politics. Security people attempt to maintain order in a room too small to handle the flood of people who want to witness the Vrdolyak-Washington duel. Chants and placard-waving by the mayor's supporters add to the tension as Chairman Vrdolyak enters the room. Without question he is in command. Every inch of him exudes power and toughness, and one sees in his eyes a sparkle that reveals how much he is enjoying this showdown.

After dismissing a move to larger quarters, Vrdolyak recognizes former state party chairman Phil Rock (president of the Illinois Senate and the party's endorsed but losing candidate for U.S. Senate). Rock nominates 26th Ward Committeeman Matt Bieszczat to serve as secretary. Several black committeemen seek to be recognized and so starts a pattern to be repeated again and again at the meeting. Objections, points of order, points of personal privilege and demands for roll calls are continuously raised by Washington allies, and in each instance Vrdolyak easily prevails.

Eighth Ward Committeeman John Stroger claims the meeting is illegal because no committeeman has received certification of election. Suddenly Cook County Clerk Stanley Kusper appears to hand out the desired certificates. For a minute the meeting resembles a college graduation ceremony as Kusper calls out each committeeman's name and solemnly hands each a certificate of election. The spell is broken only when one recipient yells out, "Where's the frame?"

Before proceeding, Vrdolyak comments on a number of reform recommendations made public following a recent meeting of pro-Washington committeemen. He calls many of the suggestions excellent but argues that there is no way they can be adopted without further study. He promises that after a 30-day study period the central committee will meet to vote on the proposals.

The meeting proceeds with Rock nominating 19th Ward Committeeman and Cook County Assessor Tom Hynes to serve as temporary chairman. A roll call reveals Vrdolyak's forces have far more than a 2-to-l majority based on the weighted vote (each committeeman casts votes equal to the number of people who took a Democratic ballot in his or her ward or township in the recent primary). It matters little to most black committeemen that both Hynes and Biezsczat had endorsed Daley over Byrne in the recent mayoral primary; for them it's a simple black-white/Washington-Vrdolyak contest, and they care little about past party divisions.

After Hynes is declared temporary chairman, the moment arrives to select the party's central committee chairman for the next two years. Forty-first Ward Alderman and Committeeman Roman Pucinski quietly nominates Vrdolyak, calling him a man who has brought the party "a new sense of leadership." Several seconding speeches portray Vrdolyak as a tough leader who has served the party well, and 23rd Ward Committeeman and U.S. Rep. William Lipinski (D-5, Chicago) ends the parade, claiming that he supports Vrdolyak despite the fact that he and the chairman had not seen eye-to-eye in the past.

All becomes quiet as committeemen, media and spectators wait to see if Washington's allies will nominate a token opponent against Vrdolyak. Sixth Ward Committeeman and Alderman Eugene Sawyer ends the suspense by nominating his 4th Ward counterpart, Timothy Evans, for the chairmanship post. Several black committeemen and the lone Hispanic committeeman second Evans, calling for reform at the same time. They claim the party is in trouble and that black faith in the current Democratic leadership is shaken. Second Ward Committeeman Bobby Rush claims his people cannot support the divider of the party, while 29th Ward Committeeman Danny Davis holds up the possibility of the entire county ticket losing if Vrdolyak is reelected.

The last Evans supporter to speak is Wilson Frost (34th Ward), a former close ally of Vrdolyak. Frost, in Chicago parlance, is a "player"; he knows the game rules and has the experience to turn the political knife with the best of them. Frost is angry and bitter, and he alone seems to cloud the pro-Vrdolyak atmosphere in the room. After a short analysis of past voting results, Frost directly attacks Vrdolyak for not supporting the entire endorsed ticket — especially the black candidates — in the recent primary. He rattles off numbers in Vrdolyak's home 10th Ward down to the chairman's own precinct. The room becomes filled with excited shouts as Frost finishes his personal attack on the still unflappable Vrdolyak.

After several verbal exchanges between the opposing forces, Vrdolyak's closest ally, Edward Burke (14th Ward), demonstrates his parliamentary knowledge to close off debate. The roll call for chairman proceeds. Except for two abstentions, Vrdolyak sweeps the 30 suburban townships while in the city he receives the votes of 28 committeemen. Evans garners the votes of all 16 black committeemen, the lone Hispanic and two white committeemen (Allan Dobry of the 5th Ward, as expected, and newly elected 43rd Ward Committeeman Ann Stepan, a Daley loyalist). The lopsided weighted vote margin is Vrdolyak, 732,032, to Evans, 334, 442.

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After receiving the requisite cheers of "Ed-die, Ed-die," Vrdolyak gives a short acceptance speech. Academicians who theorize on the use and purposes of political power would have done well to witness Vrdolyak's performance. Without ever raising his voice, the chairman answers the main criticisms invoked by Washington's allies. One by one he takes on his opponents, denying their charges and laying down a barrage of his own. He questions Frost about his politics, asking him why he was in Hawaii on primary election day. In a fatherly voice he tells the committee that the party recently had undergone not a two-way but a three-way split and it occurred when it hurt the most — "in the [mayoral] primary when unity counts the most."

Warming to his topic, Vrdolyak moves from the political past to the political future. He calls for a united party effort in November 1984. He cautions black committeemen that many of their people need help the most and that only by defeating President Ronald Reagan will jobs return to the city. He concludes with a rhetorical flourish claiming that he is not the racist painted by his opponents. "In my 1982 chairmanship victory," he argues, "only one black committeeman voted against me. ... I didn't become a racist in 11 months." And at his emotional best, Vrdolyak condemns Mayor Washington for sending political runners to tell committeemen how to vote. He also chastizes his opponents for trying to frighten him and his supporters with political retribution. "I've wanted this job [party chairman]," exclaims Vrdolyak, raising his voice for the first and only time in his speech, "from the day I got into politics, and the day I bend to threats and intimidation is the day I walk out of this city." Neither friend nor foe hearing him doubts or questions the last point.

The rest of the meeting proceeds swiftly as a Vrdolyak-backed slate is elected to fill an expanded list of central committee offices. Temporary Chairman Hynes, demonstrating impressive political cool, moves the committee meeting along despite occasional outbursts from the committeemen and audience. City Treasurer Cecil Partee (20th Ward), the only black on the new list of central committee officeholders, shows his political acumen and class by admitting that he did not seek party office (city vice chairman) and that he will wait for the party to adopt reforms before he will accept the post. Finally, newly elected 12th Ward Committeeman Robert Molaro makes the statement of the day when he tells his fellow committee members that he "felt like a class A minor league baseball player playing in the major leagues with his heroes for the first time." Probably only truly devoted Chicago political junkies could appreciate the sincerity of Molaro's comment. Nowhere else in America is politics practiced with such skill and dexterity; nowhere else are party offices more desired than public posts; and nowhere else does a politician have to duck so many "beanballs" as in Chicago and Cook County.

The implications

The 1984 chairmanship battle is over, but the war rages on. Not only are Washington and Vrdolyak the main combatants in this struggle, they are also the main beneficiaries. For it must be remembered that second to Washington, the individual who has benefited most from the newly aroused black political movement is Edward Vrdolyak. Washington's supporters accomplished for Vrdolyak something he was unable to do by himself: They elevated Vrdolyak above Jane Byrne and Richard M. Daley in the Democratic party's political hierarchy. It is not hard to argue that if either Byrne or Daley occupied City Hall, Vrdolyak's current powerful party status would be limited, if not eliminated.

As for Washington, one year after taking office, he is still unsure of his political personality. He seems unable to decide whether or not he is going to confront Vrdolyak head-to-head in the political pits or whether he will stay above the fray, staking his 1987 reelection bid on establishing a first-rate administrative record. His indecision has hurt him on both fronts as have his lapses in personnel choices for key governmental and political positions.

Yet both men need each other to maintain their power positions with their respective supporters. Vrdolyak has taken on an almost demon-like quality in the black community. He is accused of almost everything, is considered to be constantly plotting against black interests and was even mentioned in the Chicago Defender (the city's largest black newspaper) as possibly responsible for a blackout in a 10th Ward church prior to a campaign speech by the mayor. As long as Vrdolyak is party boss, Washington's popularity will not ebb in the black community. It is a pipedream to think that Chicago's black voters will seriously question the mayor's performance as long as the likely alternative is a Vrdolyak-backed candidate.

As for Vrdolyak, he remains unchallenged as the city's white ethnic leader. His support is secured as long as white ethnic Chicagoans desire a unified political front against Washington. Daley supporters are cornered by the racial split in the city and party. Many of them would like to end the current stalemate but find their hands tied by racial politics.

A final point must be made about the Cook County Democratic party's chairmanship fight. If this struggle continues, pro-Washington committeemen must consider the political power resting in suburban Cook County. In any future party chairman showdowns, these township committeemen will cast 20 to 25 percent of the vote. As long as this bloc is solidly behind Vrdolyak, the mayor's allies could win a majority of the city weighted vote and still be unable to elect a chairman. In 1984, for example, 60 percent of Vrdolyak's winning margin came from the suburbs. In raw numbers this means that if Vrdolyak had lost the city committeemen's vote by the same numbers that he won it (161,871 weighted votes), he still would have retained his chairmanship based on his suburban margins. By casting one-fifth to one-fourth of the Democratic Central Committee weighted votes, the formerly unnoticed suburban township committeemen have become vital players in the ongoing Washington-Vrdolyak power struggle. Indeed, "the times they are a-changin'."

Paul M. Green is director of the Institute for Public Policy and Administration, Governors State University, Park Forest South. He is coeditor and author of one chapter of The Making of the Mayor: Chicago 1983 published this month by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich. Excerpts are on pages 18-21.

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