Chicago Mayoral Race thread

[NorthSideSox72]

Mosely Braun was awful. Final nail in the coffin for my potential vote.

You were still considering her before that?

 

ETA: How as that 6th candidate, Watkins I think is her name? She's the only one I know very little about.

 

[BigSqwert]

You were still considering her before that?

 

ETA: How as that 6th candidate, Watkins I think is her name? She's the only one I know very little about.

 

I didn't rule her out yet since I honestly did no research on the candidates or read up on the race until watching the debate.

 

And they only had 4 candidates on (lame). Rahm, Braun, Chico, and De Valle.

[NorthSideSox72]

I didn't rule her out yet since I honestly did no research on the candidates or read up on the race until watching the debate.

 

And they only had 4 candidates on (lame). Rahm, Braun, Chico, and De Valle.

Well that's stupid - 4 out of 6? I mean, if it was a field of 20, then I get having to cut it down. But to leave just 2 out? Lame.

 

Dock Walls is a joke though, so I don't mind him not being there.

 

[bmags]

i wish we had a rent is too damn high party.

[southsider2k5]

i wish we had a rent is too damn high party.

 

s*** Chicago doesn't even have a second party... let alone other parties.

[bmags]

s*** Chicago doesn't even have a second party... let alone other parties.

 

national parties at municipal levels seems pretty stupid to me anyway.

[southsider2k5]

national parties at municipal levels seems pretty stupid to me anyway.

 

Chicago has about as many people as Iowa does. Their budget is big enough you can't just pass it off as a municipality. Their budget including the coporate fund, is almost $10 billion.

[bmags]

Chicago has about as many people as Iowa does. Their budget is big enough you can't just pass it off as a municipality. Their budget including the coporate fund, is almost $10 billion.

 

yeah, that doesn't change my opinion.

[southsider2k5]

yeah, that doesn't change my opinion.

 

It is a whole different set of circumstances when you are talking about $10 billion versus something like the $50 million that my hometown of 30,000 people has. There are economies of scale and big social considerations that don't happen at smaller levels.

[bmags]

It is a whole different set of circumstances when you are talking about $10 billion versus something like the $50 million that my hometown of 30,000 people has. There are economies of scale and big social considerations that don't happen at smaller levels.

 

I don't understand why national party labels are helpful to this problem, though. I think they obscure more than they inform.

[southsider2k5]

I don't understand why national party labels are helpful to this problem, though. I think they obscure more than they inform.

 

They imply a basic set of solutions to questions. How does that not inform more than obscure? Not having parties would actually confuse more, because you would miss out on a basic understanding of what a person stands for.

[bmags]

They imply a basic set of solutions to questions. How does that not inform more than obscure? Not having parties would actually confuse more, because you would miss out on a basic understanding of what a person stands for.

 

I don't think so, I think people have a general idea of how a democratic party would run the country and the GOP, and same with the state. But I really don't find those ideas translate exactly to city management. The only very basic level you can get is union v. non union workers.

[Harry Chappas]

I read the following about Watkins. Why she is not pushed more is beyond me. She seemes like a pretty good candidate based on this report and light years ahead of Mosely Braun. It really is a shame she is not getting more press.

 

Ah the machine getting what they want to win.

 

Rahm will get about 70% of the vote.

 

http://beverlyreview.net/full.php?sid=3463

[BigSqwert]

I read the following about Watkins. Why she is not pushed more is beyond me. She seemes like a pretty good candidate based on this report and light years ahead of Mosely Braun. It really is a shame she is not getting more press.

http://beverlyreview.net/full.php?sid=3463

 

Thanks for the link. And yes, it is a shame that she was not invited to debate.

[southsider2k5]

I don't think so, I think people have a general idea of how a democratic party would run the country and the GOP, and same with the state. But I really don't find those ideas translate exactly to city management. The only very basic level you can get is union v. non union workers.

 

You can't get economy, such as tax versus budget cuts out of parties?

[BigSqwert]

You can't get economy, such as tax versus budget cuts out of parties?

 

Party templates such as this are too simplistic for me. I want creative people pulling ideas from everywhere to solve the multitude of problems we have here.

Edited January 18, 2011 by BigSqwert

[southsider2k5]

Party templates such as this are too simplistic for me. I want creative people pulling ideas from everywhere to solve the multitude of problems we have here.

 

That isn't the argument.

[StrangeSox]

You can't get economy, such as tax versus budget cuts out of parties?

 

Only to a point. "Republican" and "Democrat" are defined at the national level and it only distills down to mayor or county board so much. What matters in national politics is completely different in scale and scope from local or regional politics.

[southsider2k5]

Only to a point. "Republican" and "Democrat" are defined at the national level and it only distills down to mayor or county board so much. What matters in national politics is completely different in scale and scope from local or regional politics.

 

For small town, yes. For a city bigger than many states, no.

[bmags]

You can't get economy, such as tax versus budget cuts out of parties?

 

honestly, I just find that really simplistic when dealing with a city. "I'm going to cut taxes and budgets" vs "i'm going to improve social welfare and raise taxes", I really see a lot more over land management which REALLY is obscured in the two national party identities. You can have a few easy identifiers like more green parks vs. more retail space, but i don't often see that. Rent control/parking regulations/ etc. I really haven't seen consistency in the parties at this level.

 

I'm not saying that there aren't ideological differences at the municipal level, but that you could create two new parties, find people that generally fit in either, that really don't fit that well into that national party identity.

[southsider2k5]

honestly, I just find that really simplistic when dealing with a city. "I'm going to cut taxes and budgets" vs "i'm going to improve social welfare and raise taxes", I really see a lot more over land management which REALLY is obscured in the two national party identities. You can have a few easy identifiers like more green parks vs. more retail space, but i don't often see that. Rent control/parking regulations/ etc. I really haven't seen consistency in the parties at this level.

 

I'm not saying that there aren't ideological differences at the municipal level, but that you could create two new parties, find people that generally fit in either, that really don't fit that well into that national party identity.

 

You could create anything in theory. In the City of Chicago you don't even get that much. You get everyone from the same ideal.

[southsider2k5]

For small town, yes. For a city bigger than many states, no.

 

And FWIW, the budget of Chicago is bigger than 12 entire states in the USA>

[Jenksismyhero]

honestly, I just find that really simplistic when dealing with a city. "I'm going to cut taxes and budgets" vs "i'm going to improve social welfare and raise taxes", I really see a lot more over land management which REALLY is obscured in the two national party identities. You can have a few easy identifiers like more green parks vs. more retail space, but i don't often see that. Rent control/parking regulations/ etc. I really haven't seen consistency in the parties at this level.

 

I'm not saying that there aren't ideological differences at the municipal level, but that you could create two new parties, find people that generally fit in either, that really don't fit that well into that national party identity.

 

You don't think the city deals with that issue?

[bmags]

You don't think the city deals with that issue?

 

Jesus Christ, my point is that unlike state and national politics you can really vote for an individual over voting for a party, and it matters. Do people at the city level do social welfare programs? Yes. But that has nothing to do with my point that the national parties are not informative at the city level. They are much more informative when there is a traditional legislature/executive set up.

[StrangeSox]

Right, the national parties carry a lot of baggage with them. Stuff that absolutely shouldn't matter at a local level, like their stance on abortion or border control or national energy policy or foreign policy.