Today Chicago mayor Richard Daley, 68, announced he’s not going to run for reelection next year. It was hard not to predict this would happen back in April, when his friend Rahm Emanuel told Charlie Rose that running for mayor of Chicago “will be something I’ll do.” Daley has kept the Windy City in line since 1989 (his father did the same from 1955-1976 — the two-decade mark seems to be about enough for that family) and will leave big shoes to fill. But the moment his announcement was made, the political press began tweeting excitedly about the possibility of Rahm taking the spot. It is two years into the Obama administration, after all, which is the normal time for mass turnover in the White House. Also, it was reported he’d quit after the midterms anyway. And Rahm was a reluctant chief of staff for the president — he long thought he could effect more change with his rising position in the House. If he does take the challenge, we look forward to hearing how his legendarily in-your-face tactics work on the notoriously difficult Chicago machine. And seeing whether he’d really “strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive” to get a vote.
Daley won’t run again in Chicago [Politico]
