Selma, 30%, beating Rahm

How ironic! Seeing Barack Obama walk across the Edmund Pettus bridge in celebration of a march 50 years ago that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. And yet, there was only a 30% turnout of voters in the recent mayoral election in his hometown of Chicago. To think, all those demonstrators got their heads busted open back then, only to result in a 30% turnout now. To add further insult to injury, this election featured a candidate who the President himself saw fit to endorse.

And yet, only a 30% turnout for an election that was contested. So much so, there's going to be a runoff in April between the top two vote-getters - the incumbent Rahm Emanuel and long-time machine Democrat Jesus "Chuy"Garcia. Maybe, just maybe those who didn't vote knew that it wouldn't make any difference who won the election. Does it really matter which of these two assumes office in a system featuring a strong-mayor, weak/rubberstamp city council?

A Commercial for Chuy

I want to see Chuy on TV saying:

QUOTE:

When Rahm Emanuel left the Clinton administration, he got a job as an investment banker, earning $16M in three years. Rahm had no training or experience in finance, and yet he got this huge payout. Why? I figure he got paid off for services rendered to the financial elite, or for services about to be rendered. I figure Rahm is working harder for Chicago's financial elite than for the man in the street.

With Rahm as mayor, the rich will get richer and everybody else will be getting crumbs. Is that good enough for you and your children?

:UNQUOTE.

Chuy should be offering...

...to set up a second center of power in Chicago's depressed south/west sides. Set up a zone for finance and economic activity to compete with the only power center that currently exists - the monopoly centered in Chicago's downtown business district. Chuy could offer to use Tax Increment Financing money to kick-start this new zone. There are incentives at his disposal, and he'd be in a position to insist that only competitors of the downtown bankers be eligible for these incentives. And that they must invest in the local community.

The addition of a second power center, independent of the first, would mean competition. And the consumer - the voter - would benefit from such competition.

But...Chuy will do no such thing. He believes in the strong-mayor model as much as Rahm does. Which means, Chuy won't be advocating for voters to elect more independents to the council and for this council to have any real power to enact legislation at odds with mayoral preferences.

Hmm...maybe the voters of Chicago know all this, which would explain the 30% turnout. The lesson? It's okay to give people the power to vote as long as their votes won't matter.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle, just another member of
the Virtual Samgha of the Lotus and
former candidate for US President (2008 & 2012)

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com