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Chicago-style politics

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Chicago-style politics was a political meme used in the rhetoric of conservative United States Republican politicians and commentators during the presidential campaigns and presidency of Barack Obama to associate Obama with aspects of political corruption, including bribery, patronage, nepotism, and authoritarianism, in the political history of Chicago, Obama's home town.

Origin

The phrase "Chicago-style politics" originated before May 2008. The term was employed by conservative Republican politicians and pundits to characterize a supposedly offensive “tough, take-no-prisoners approach to politics”. The Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-Ohio) during a weekly press briefing, stated that: "Chicago-style politics is shutting the American people out and demonizing their opponents". "'Chicago-style politics' is mainly just a way for him to call Obama corrupt without coming out and saying so", according to Jacob Weisberg of Slate. "'Chicago-style politics'...seems to have become a generic insult for just about any politics one disagrees with", wrote Chicago-based political consultant and columnist Don Rose in Politico.

Background

This section may contain material not related to the topic of the article and should be moved to Political history of Chicago instead. Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page. (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

During the 1880s and 1890s, Chicago had an underground radical tradition with large and highly organized socialist, anarchist and labor organizations. The Republicans had their own machine operations, typified by the "blonde boss" William Lorimer, who was unseated by the U.S. Senate in 1912 because of his corrupt election methods.The political environment in Chicago in the 1910s and 1920s let organized crime flourish to the point that many Chicago policemen earned more money from pay-offs than from the city. Before the 1930s, the Democratic Party in Chicago was divided along ethnic lines - the Irish, Polish, Italian, and other groups each controlled politics in their neighborhoods Under the leadership of Anton Cermak, the party consolidated its ethnic bases into one large organization. With the organization behind, Cermak was able to win election as mayor of Chicago in 1931, an office he held until his assassination in 1933. The modern era of politics was dominated by machine politics in many ways, and the Cook County Democratic Party became was honed by Richard J. Daley after his election in 1955. Richard M. Daley, his son, is a former mayor of Chicago and had served for 21 years as mayor and 38 as a public servant. Daley announced on September 7, 2010 that he would not be seeking re-election. Daley was succeeded by former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

A point of interest is the party leanings of the city. For much of the last century, Chicago has been considered one of the largest Democratic strongholds in the United States. For example, the citizens of Chicago have not elected a Republican mayor since 1927, when William Thompson was voted into office. Brian Doherty was the only Republican council member in recent decades.

Home-town columnist Mike Royko wrote satirically that Chicago's motto (Urbs in Horto or "City in a Garden") should instead be Ubi est mea, or "Where's Mine?

See also

References

  1. Pierce, Charles P. (May 11, 2013). "The Political De-Branding of America". Esquire. Retrieved 2014-04-14.
  2. MacAskill, Ewen (4 June 2010). "Republicans accuse White House of 'Chicago-style politics'". The Guardian.
  3. Engber, Daniel (December 9, 2008). "Why Is Chicago So Corrupt?". Slate.
  4. Silva, Mark (23 October 2009). "Obama's Chicago-style politics:' Boehner". Chicago Tribune.
  5. Weisberg, Jacob (23 July 2012). "Chicago Style". Slate.
  6. Sweet, Lynn (July 17, 2012). "Mitt Romney accuses President Barack Obama of 'Chicago-style' politics". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  7. Warren, James (January 6, 2012). "'Chicago-Style Politics at Its Worst'? Fact-Checking Romney's Jab at Obama". Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  8. Rose, Don (July 30, 2012). "In praise of 'Chicago politics'". Politico. Retrieved 2014-04-28.
  9. Schneirov, Richard (April 1, 1998). Labor and Urban Politics. University of Illinois Press. pp. 173–174. ISBN 0-252-06676-6.
  10. Joel Arthur Tarr, A Study In Boss Politics: William Lorimer of Chicago (1971)
  11. Sun times article covering Daley Jr. withdrawal from 2011.
  12. The Radical Royko The Chicago Reader
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