Bill Daley has been talking to all the right people, working to position himself for the 2010 Democratic nomination for governor of Illinois. Brother of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Bill took a shot at the governor’s mansion in 2002. According to the Chicago Sun-Times:
Bill Daley flirted with a race for governor in 2002 only to be bullied out by Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), father-in-law of Gov. Blagojevich.
Mell threatened to dirty up the mayor’s brother with talk of Bill Daley’s divorce and Daley’s stint as president of Amalgamated Bank.
With federal investigators swarming over the Blagojevich administration, the governor’s former fundraiser Tony Rezko now a convicted felon and Mell now estranged from his son-in-law, Bill Daley is apparently looking to scratch his lifelong political itch.
Well, Blagojevich has certainly become quite the itch.
I’m willing to take a look at Daley.
Daley has name recognition in his own right. He served as Secretary of Commerce in President Bill Clinton’s second administration. In July 2000 he became chairman of Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign.
This man has a respectable history already, and throws his hat into a crowded field.
For years we’ve heard talk that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan was planning a run for governor. Madigan is exceptional. I’ve heard her speak on a number of occasions. While her father is very well-connected, Lisa is not Speaker Mike.
Lisa is not a Todd-Stroger-wannabe, running just because daddy already holds office. Neither is Bill Daley running because of his brother.
If these two throw their respective hats into the ring, Democrats are in for quite the ride. Democrats will have two very respectable candidates to consider.
Personally, I’ll probably offer my support to the one who does not go negative first.