An organizational metamorphosis

What a difference a few years can make. In July 1985 I wrote in Illinois Issues about a Harold Washington fundraiser held to celebrate his first two years in office. That event took place at the University of Illinois' Chicago Pavilion and was in my view an organizational disaster. Sloppy crowd control and an inadequate picnic-like setting (at that time I called it gastronomical mayhem) combined to make the event a night not to remember.

On January 21st of this year Washington held another fundraiser, and it is obvious that the entire mayoral operation has undergone an organizational metamorphosis.

First off, tickets for the 1987 fundraiser cost $150 each, but it was more than ticket price that distinguished this event from the UlC-Pavilion fiasco two years ago.

The 1987 fundraiser took place at the newly remodeled Conrad Hilton hotel on Michigan Avenue. This luxurious location was a perfect political setting for observing the newly emerging black social-economic elite of Chicago and to contemplate the differences and similiarities between this fundraiser and those of previous Chicago mayors.

Arriving at the hotel, I saw immediately the new organizational togetherness of the mayor's political operatives. Washington volunteers met guests at the lobby door and directed them to the registration and ticket tables where other staffers quickly carried out ticket pick-up and selling responsibilities. Security was tight, and I was somewhat amused when one Washington ticket checker momentarily stopped well-known and popular Chicago television political commentator Mike Flannery (CBS) and asked him for his identification.

The famous and huge International Ballroom was the main reception area, and the almost-as-big Grand Ballroom was reserved for spillover guests. Long tables of fancy hors d'oeuvres and several bars dotted the enormous room as tuxedo clad waiters kept everything moving. It was not the setting that truly caught my eye; it was the people.

For over two decades I have attended downtown Chicago mayoral fundraisers watching the people moving about exercising their political clout and economical muscle. The difference this time was that between 90 to 95 percent of the Hilton crowd was black.

36/March 1987/Illinois Issues

As I watched the predominantly black, well-dressed crowd engage in the usual cocktail chatter, two thoughts crossed my mind. First, this party was taking place in Chicago and not Atlanta, and second, 50 or 60 years ago there must have been another mayoral fundraiser like this where newly emerging ethnics of Anton Cermark's political organization visually demonstrated their arrival as main players in the Chicago political scene.

What about the politics? The giant banner that stretched across the ballroom read "Chicago Unity Reception For Mayor Washington: Promises Made — Promises Kept." The thousands of brochures on the tables featured Washington's picture over the slogan, "The Right Choice for Chicago's Future." Clearly Washington strategists were trying to stretch their candidate's appeal to all corners of the city. Believing their black base secure, the real campaign is to inform other Chicagoans that their neighborhoods have been given fairer and better services than ever before. Unfortunately for the mayor, few of these other Chicagoans attended this fundraiser.

Whatever the outcome of the February 24th Democratic mayoral primary (as of this writing in early February, Washington was a slight favorite over Jane Byrne, although I'm making no predictions), Chicago politics will never go back to the days of status quo ante Bilandic. The Richard J. Daily era is over. Democratic organization politics in Chicago has forever changed because the city's new politics must reflect the demographic reality of a strong black social, economic and political presence. The victorious 1987 mayoral candidate will influence the speed and direction of black integration into the mainstream of Chicago political life. A Washington reaction will maintain the existing momentum for this integration. A Byrne triumph will only slightly redirect the growth of black political power in that different individuals may rise to the top.

Whatever the outcome, this single January 21st Washington fundraiser suggests that the lure of Chicago politics is overwhelming. Longstanding political outsiders and governmental critics have now tasted the glories of clout (both real and emotional), and they love it.

The late Milton Rakove often predicted this scenario in arguing that "Chicago style politics will never die — it will be practiced by somebody." Racial change, reform efforts and party realignment -- tough major factors in altering Chicago's politics — have only chipped away at the emotional attachments of Windy City politics.

37/March 1987/Illinois Issues