Moving the Democrat Party to Chicago.

[Tylergal]

Obama moves DNC operations to Chicago - Ben Smith, Politico, June 12, 2008, 12:21 PM. It has gotten surprisingly little attention.
+Logistics - Anglachel, Anglachel's Journal, June 15, 2008, 7:48 PM.

One of the angry supporters of HRC analyzes the DNC's move to Chicago, says it couldn't have been decided, planned, and implemented in just one week, and that it casts an interesting light on party leaders' previous actions affecting HRC's candidacy. Some such blogs get carried away with their conspiracy theories, but this post is interesting.


Another interesting thing is that some of them tend to call Obama a socialist, a marxist, etc., and seem to have no awareness that HRC's health care plan was more socialist than Obama's. Her 1990s plan involved a fine of up to $10,000 and prison time up to five years for going outside the system and paying on one's own for a medical test. That is far more draconian than the British NHS system, which won't pay for any of your care if you buy any non-NHS medicines on your own. HRC's 1990s plan also involved race quotas for medical students going into specialties or general practice; in both cases I remember reading the actual language of the proposed law. It was an attempt at the complete gov't takeover of the health care system - socialized medicine.

+The sleazy tactics of George Soros - Editorial, the Washington DC Examiner Newspaper, Sep 10, 2007. FEC's $775,000 fine against ACT (its 2004 field director Patrick Gaspard is the Obama campaign's new national political director). Washington State fine of $25,000 for voter fraud by ACORN.
+In Combine, cash is king, corruption is bipartisan - John Kass, Chicago Tribune, March 23, 2008. The Illinois Combine, a bipartisan political corruption machine.
 
*** Obama moves DNC operations to Chicago ***
Ben Smith, Politico, June 12, 2008, 12:21 PM, © 2008 Capitol News Company LLC.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0608/Obama_moves_DNC_operations_to_Chicago.html
 
In a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee - and a departure from tradition - large parts of the committee's operations are relocating to Chicago to be fully integrated with the Obama campaign.
 
The DNC's political department, housed in Washington, D.C., will be dramatically rebuilt, with staffers offered a choice of moving to Chicago, joining state operations, or staying in Washington, DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said.
 
But the power will clearly be shifting to a centralized Chicago hub.
 
The DNC's key role in coordinating political operations with state parties is expected to largely be taken over and overseen by Obama's senior staff in Chicago, state party officials said.
 
"This is part of the implementation of the plans Paul [Tewes] discussed last week with the state party chairs," Finney said. "As part of the efforts to fully integrate DNC operations with the Obama campaign here in Washington, in Chicago and in the states, political, field and constituency operations are moving to Chicago to work in the Obama headquarters. The goal is to consolidate these efforts into one operation and effectively drive one national strategy."
 
People familiar with the plan said that state party staffers paid for under Howard Dean's 50 State Program would be shifted to working for the presidential campaign, at least in targeted battleground states.
 
The move reflects Obama's desire to maintain an unusually streamlined campaign, as well as his swift and complete takeover of a Democratic Party that isn't always known for its unity. The move may also save the campaign money, as the Obama campaign can use DNC salaries and staff to pay for elements of its organizing campaign and avoid some of the duplication that has often dogged presidential efforts.

COMMENT:  There definitely was skullduggery afoot.  Try as they might, Al Gore and John Kerry were never successful in taking the DNC machine out of the Clinton's tight grip!

[WhiskeyGirl]

Chicago, and the great state of Illinois have always been special and will take this opportunity to share with the rest of the nation...

The Swamp
Obama: Sweet 'n sour home Chicago

by Bob Secter and John McCormick

He meant it as a joke, but when Barack Obama recently parodied a famous line from "The Untouchables" he also dredged up the reputation of his longtime home as a place that is rough, raw and unlikely to breed reform.

"If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun," Obama said during a Philadelphia fundraiser, explaining the Chicago-style approach to hard-nosed politics.

As the first African-American to lock up a major-party presidential nomination, Obama has been the subject of much analysis that understandably focuses on race.

But Americans also have never sent a Chicagoan to the White House, and one intriguing question posed by his candidacy is whether they are ready to now.

For all his talk about change, Obama remains a product of a Chicago and Illinois political culture renowned for corruption and filled with characters who range from felonious to just outrageous.

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones, Obama's mentor in Springfield, is about as old-school as they come. Just last month, the Chicago Democrat publicly ridiculed an attempt to block a pay raise for legislators by sarcastically declaring: "I've got to get me some food stamps."

"The germane point here about Barack Obama is not where he came up, but how," Axelrod said. "He was not a creature of a [city] political organization, and was first elected as a political independent and was a voice for reform in the legislature."

..."What plays locally doesn't necessarily play on a national stage," said U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.).

Timuel Black, a professor emeritus at the City Colleges of Chicago, said African-American churches in the city have traditionally been a center of social activism and that ministers often get quite earthy on the pulpit. "Much of the black political base in Chicago had its roots in the church," Black said.

That's a big reason mainstream Chicago politicians, Obama and Mayor Richard Daley included, actively court the support of influential pastors, including controversial ones.

The political dynamic is widely understood in Chicago, but less so elsewhere.

"It's something that's a novelty to most of white America," said Alton Miller, press secretary to Chicago's first black mayor, the late Harold Washington. Miller, who is white and was raised in Ohio, said his relatives back home have a hard time relating to the pulpit style of Obama's friends in the black clergy.

"That doesn't happen in their church," Miller said. "Part of it is a cultural differential that Obama and his team are going to have to deal with as a special case."

read more here ~
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-obama-chicago_23jun23,0,4206167.story


From the comments, apparently Mr. Daley is not always considered "articulate".

That's right Obama is just another Daley hack. Take a good look at him hanging with Rezko,Daley, Emil Jones, and Rev. Jeremiah Wright. This guy is a product of the Illinois legislature how lame is that. The only difference between him and Daley is he can speak.

Posted by: MR. D. | June 23, 2008 7:54 AM

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/06/obama_sweet_n_sour_home_chicag.html

[WhiskeyGirl]

Take a poll -

The Chicago connection - being from Chicago, helps or hurts?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-obamachicago-poll,0,701718.poll

[WhiskeyGirl]

When the party gets to Chicago, they can expect some wonderful food.  Food that may add diversity to the culinary landscape of D.C. some day.  imho

So What Exactly is a Chicago Style Hot Dog?

A Chicago Style Hot Dog is more than just a Hot Dog; it's a taste sensation with the perfect blend of toppings. So, what exactly is a Chicago Dog? A Chicago Style Hot Dog is a steamed all beef Hot Dog topped with yellow mustard, bright green relish, onions, tomato wedges, pickle spear or slice, sport peppers and a dash of celery salt served in the all-important steamed poppyseed bun.

http://www.hotdogchicagostyle.com/chicagodog.php
site includes pictures and ratings

http://www.viennabeef.com/culture/chicagostyle.asp


Chicago Style Pizza

Chicago-style pizza is a deep-dish pizza style developed in Chicago. The term also sometimes refers to "stuffed" pizza, another Chicago style. True Chicago-style pizza features a buttery crust, generous amounts of cheese and chunky tomato sauce. (Chicago also has many pizzerias serving thin-crust pizzas, some of which are in a style unique to the Windy City, but as a term Chicago-style pizza generally refers to deep-dish styles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago-style_pizza

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/524683
http://chicagolandpizza.com/


Chicago Style BBQ

I couldn't find an all-inclusive type web page, but here is one -

Two experts, Leon Finney Sr. and Hecky Powell, are models of the old and the new in Chicago-style barbecue. Both Finney, a dapper, patriarchal businessman who owns Leon's Bar-B-Q, and Powell, a spirited, entrepreneurial newcomer who owns Hecky's Barbecue, agree that good barbecue means well-seasoned, high-quality meat cooked slowly over wood and served with a spicy sauce.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1546/is_n4_v9/ai_15752034/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1


Taste of Chicago

www.tasteofchicago.us

Billy Goat Tavern and Home Run Inn Pizza...yummy

[Tylergal]

Er uh, food is not the reason for moving the Dem Party to Chicago.  It's called dirty politics.  That Chicago machine is mafia central where all dead people vote and only one party rules and it is the party of money, both for Democrats and Republicans.  No honest politicians in that state.  They are all beholden to the Daley Machine and Tony Rezko.

[WhiskeyGirl]

From the Wiki ~

The Outfit is the only criminal organization that has a monopoly on traditional organized crime in the city of Chicago, whereas the Five Families compete with each other for control of racketeering activities in New York. The Outfit's control reportedly reaches throughout the western United States to places as far away as Los Angeles, California and parts of Florida.

The Outfit has had other ethnic groups in its upper echelons since its earliest days. A prime example of this was that an unlikely Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik was the top "bagman" and "accountant" of the Chicago Mob for decades until his death. Yet, he was Jewish and either Polish or Russian depending on the source.

There were also allegations that The Outfit was involved in strong-arm tactics and voter fraud at polling places, under Salvatore ("Sam," "Momo," "Mooney") Giancana in the 1960 presidential election. The Outfit controlled casinos in Las Vegas and "skimmed" millions of dollars over the course of several decades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Outfit

[WhiskeyGirl]

Er uh, food is not the reason for moving the Dem Party to Chicago.  It's called dirty politics.  That Chicago machine is mafia central where all dead people vote and only one party rules and it is the party of money, both for Democrats and Republicans.  No honest politicians in that state.  They are all beholden to the Daley Machine and Tony Rezko.

I've been thinking about what you wrote and some personal observations I've made when I've voted in the past.

I've always pulled out my drivers license for identification purposes, but it's never been needed, all I've needed was to supply my name.  They look up my name on a list and then I vote.

Identity theft seems to be a common and growing problem in the United States.  There does not seem to be any punishment associated with identity fraud or theft, and people have no where to turn.

It makes me wonder how many of the living are voting 20, 30, or more times in a single voting day?

It's a simple thing to register with a utility bill or perhaps a drivers license.  It's a simple thing to vote as no identification is required.

It seems like it would be a simple thing for someone to vote at one polling place, drive to another and vote again, etc. without having to show any form of picture id.  It takes more than this to register one's children for school, or apply for a job.  People manage to evade these measures.

In urban areas with multiple polling places, what are the chances that any of the election judges will challenge anyone?  How would a judge or poll worker remember any one face in the crowd?  That any fraud or multiple voting will ever be detected?  Someone could vote 20 or 30 times one day within a single city, and move (drive) to another and continue voting.

In rural areas with just one polling place, people tend to know who lives in the community.

I've never seen anyone required to show a picture id, many provide a utility bill or lease or person with them.  No one is asked to provide a picture id like a drivers license, state id, or passport.  How easy would it be to vote numerous times in one day?  One city?  One state?

I do believe voter fraud is a different thing in the US than in other places and will be a growing problem in the future ~ lots of money and power at stake.

No one takes pictures of voters, records their images, asks for a photo identification, or fingerprint.  How would anyone track how many times a person votes?  I think voter/id fraud would be hard prove. 

A community may have a large percentage of people who do not vote, are not registered, may be illegal, may be shut in, etc. that make this possible.  In todays world, technology seems to make it easy to steal someone's identity and use is without their permission.

one person should equal one vote

I believe that any democracy has the obligation to ensure that every eligible vote is counted and that people only vote once.

just my humble opinions and observations