HE SHOULD BE IN THE THIRD WAY PARTY:

Jackson blasts scandals, aldermanic response (FRAN SPIELMAN, January 8, 2005, Chicago Sun-Times)

The mayoral challenger Richard M. Daley fears most took another baby step toward City Hall on Friday.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) came out swinging about the seemingly endless parade of City Hall contracting scandals under Daley and about the deafening silence coming from a City Council Jackson views as under Daley's thumb. [...]

Asked point-blank whether he would run for mayor in 2007, Jackson said, "Well, I will not go that far. What I will say is that it's time for people to stand up for good government in the city of Chicago. It's time for people to stand up for fairness, and I'd like to be one of those saints that goes marching in." [...]

[D]aley has taken a political beating in the last year with the fast-moving Hired Truck scandal, the Building Department hiring scandal, allegations of bribe-paying by corrupt city contractor Marco Morales and the biggest tax package of his 16-year reign.

The scandals have so damaged Daley's reputation as a manager that at least some political observers wonder whether the current term could be Daley's last.

If that happens, or if Daley runs, but appears to be politically wounded, Jackson apparently wants to at least position himself or a candidate of his choosing as a possible challenger.

Offer Mr. Daley the Republican nomination, regardless of whether he wins the Democratic.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 8, 2005 6:08 AM