It's Chicago Political Circus Time!

Artist's rendition of the 2nd Congressional District Congressional Seat

It's official.  Jesse Jackson Jr. has resigned from his seat as Congressman of the 2nd Congressional District.  This came as an absolute shock to no one with a pulse and a brain stem.  Yes, you hear people like Danny Davis and Bobby Rush and others display a sense of disappointment and maybe even faux outrage at how all of this went down.  But please believe that very little in politics comes as a surprise.  The handwriting was on the wall during all of the events leading up to Jackson's resignation, including his non-campaign campaign in which he won handily.  You know that his campaign staff was working hard to assure that he overcame any general election challenges.

Don't mind us.  We're mobilized and waiting for orders from Congressman Jackson.

Now that Jesse Jackson, Jr. was easily reelected to another term as Congressman for the 2nd Congressional District, he did what any self-respecting politician would do.

He stepped down.  In his resignation letter (click on the link, and there's another link to the actual letter), Jackson cites his illness as part of the reason why he's stepping down.  And in a rare moment of political candor, he acknowledges his mistakes and plans on dealing with the responsibly.  And we wish (former) Congressman Jackson all the best in his recovery, as well as his legal shenanigans (side note:  His wife Sandi is an alderman... does she even represent her ward?  Ah, that's a question for someone else, I suppose).

What does this mean for voters of the 2nd Congressional District?  It means that for the second time in a row, this seat was vacated because the Congressman resigned.  Meet Mel Reynolds, Jackson's predecessor.  And pay attention, because his name will come up again.

Remember me?  I kinda hope you don't.

What this also means is that a special election will have to be held to replace Congressman Jackson.  For what it's worth, the law requires that unlike a senator, a new Congressman can't be appointed to his seat.  Had this law applied to the Senate, who knows how things would have turned out? 

'Sup.  Still no word on my appeal?  No worries... as Rudyard Kipling once said... 

ANYWAY, I digress.

A special election will have to be held, and already, some potential candidates are starting to stake their claims.

Debbie Halvorson

This is Debbie Halvorson.  As of yesterday, during an interview on the radio, she stated that she is not running for Jackson's seat.  However, it's still early on.  She was Jackson's most serious primary challenger, and she entered the race when the 2nd Congressional District lines were redrawn.  One of the things that I remember about this campaign was the idiocy of the ads.  Both camps must have found actors from the Tyler Perry Theatrical Academy, because the ads were horrible.  A typical Jesse ad had what sounded like old people saying "She voted against President Obama 88 times?"  Now, to get the full effect of how bad it sounded, imagine that in a Florida Evans voice.

You're welcome.

Her ads were no better, with ads featuring women that called him "Junior" in a derisive tone.  And they focused on Jesse Jackson Jr.'s pet project, a third airport in Peotone, IL.  And again, they sounded like graduates from the Tyler Perry Theatrical Academy.

If she does run, she has a bit of name recognition in her favor, and she also has the honor of giving Jackson his stiffest challenge in a primary in a long time.

Marcus Lewis

This is Marcus Lewis.  Not much is known about Mr. Lewis, except for the fact that he ran against Jackson as an Independent during the general election.  I never heard an ad from Mr. Lewis, and I discovered his Facebook profile after the election.  However, the fact that he was running as an independent was enough to earn my vote this time.  I couldn't vote for Jackson, and I CERTAINLY couldn't vote for the Republican.  Yes, Mr. Lewis was a long-shot, but in a vote guided by conscience, Mr. Lewis was the clear choice.  Since he has declared his candidacy, he should be able to mount a campaign to gain name recognition and to list his  plans for this district.

I'm sure that there are others who will stake their claim, especially once the date for the special election is announced.

But we are not finished yet.  There are some more candidates who are considering this seat, and here is where hubris and Chicago Style Politics come in to play.

Todd Stroger

This is Todd Stroger.  AKA The Toddler.  He was an alderman who became President of Cook County in a game of political switcheroo that typifies Chicago-style politics.  Stroger is the son of former Cook County President, the revered and late titan of Cook County, John Stroger.  John Stroger was gravely ill during his last election, and still managed to win.  Sound familiar?  When John passed away, Todd was appointed to his father's seat.  It is apparent that Todd was appointed to maintain the power base in Cook County, with Todd being a figurehead for the power brokers behind the scenes.  Todd was in over his head, and in the next election, he was easily defeated.  I distinctly remember seeing Todd at the train station on 95th street on election day.  He wasn't glad-handing like most of the other politicians that were there.  He looked almost like a commuter, hoping that this race would end and he can get back to his normal life.

Let's be serious for a minute.  NO one is going to look at Stroger and say "Hey, you know who can best represent my needs in Congress?  THAT guy!"  He was an ineffective President of Cook County, and his legacy of ineffective leadership should be remembered come Election Day.  Stroger shouldn't even make it out of the primaries.

But not to be outdone, I bring to you the Grand Champion of Political Cajones, Mel Reynolds.  As mentioned before, Mel Reynolds is Jackson's Congressional predecessor.  Reynolds resigned because he was convicted of sexual abuse charges, child pornography charges, and 15 unrelated counts of bank fraud.

I was hoping that you wouldn't remember that.

Even though he was pardoned by President Clinton, and even though people deserve a second chance in a lot of ways, you don't get to earn a second chance in elected office if your first chance in elected office ended in disgrace.

"You're kidding, right?  Riiiiiiiiiiiiight."

Reynolds has also expressed interest in Jackson's seat.  But there is no way that someone with HIS political baggage makes it out of the primaries.

I know that even now, the power brokers behind the scenes are looking to see who they will support.  And there is no way that the same brokers that supported Jackson will support the likes of Reynolds and Stroger.  Even though their ascension to the Congressional Seat of the 2nd District seems very unlikely, it WILL be kind of fun to watch it all unfold... the campaign ads from the Stroger and Reynolds camps should be VERY interesting.

Dear Jesse Jr... An Open Letter To Jesse Jackson Jr...

Hey Jesse.  Can I call you Jesse?  No?  Junior?  No, that's WAY too familiar.  Congressman Jackson.  Yes, that's it.  I don't know you well enough to call you Jesse, Junior, 3J, or Son of Jesse.

'Sup.

At any rate, it's me.  One of your constituents.  One of the guys that voted for you ever since you first became a Congressman.  In fact, I almost didn't vote for you the first time out, because of spite.  What happened was that your dad, Al Sharpton, and others were at the 95th Street El stop, shaking hands and whatnot.  I asked one of the guys there why should I vote for Jesse Jr.  He said "Go over there and shake Jesse's hand."

Ummm... seriously?  That's how you respond?

I almost walked away, determined to vote for anyone BUT you, Congressman.  However, I stepped over to Rev. Al Sharpton.  I asked him the same question.  He actually gave a reasonable, responsible answer about giving you a chance.  So, I dismissed the Old Guard response that a handshake from Jesse Sr. should be enough for me to vote for Jesse Jr.

Since then, I have supported you in every election.  I'm even giving you the benefit of the doubt with regards to whatever role you played (or not) in the whole Obama Senator Seat thing.  That was an unmitigated disasterbacle of epic proportions.  Gov. Blagojevich is stewing in prison as a result of those shenanigans.

'Sup.  How's my appeal coming?

But then, something happened.  

More allegations started to pour in, more investigations started to pop up, news about an affair leaked.  But that wasn't my biggest concern.

My biggest concern was that you went AWOL.  No one knew where you were.  It was as if we were suddenly playing a game of "Where's Jesse?"  The Congressman that I voted for was missing in action, and we had no idea what was going on.

Then, news started to leak, drip by drip.  You had (have?) medical conditions, and you had (have?) to seek treatment at places like the Mayo Clinic.  Now, don't get me wrong.  If there is something wrong with you physically, mentally, or spiritually, you SHOULD get help immediately.  No one is doubting that.  In fact, I'd wager that a huge majority of your constituents are praying Christians, who pray for your recovery and your return to work.  My issue wasn't that you were, or are ill.  My issue is the way in which it was handled, and the way the news was delivered to the public.

It may not be the actual case, but every time there was news released about your condition, it coincided greatly with political deadlines.  It gave the impression that you wanted to hold off on releasing anything, so that your seat can be kept warm until after the election.  And speaking of which, no one was asking you to hurry up and return to work.  And when your surrogates say that you're the Derrick Rose of Congress, it was insulting.  They also tried to compare your condition to that of Sen. Mark Kirk and Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.  One of them even tried to compare your return to work to a radio host who had some sort of brain injury/stroke or something.

These are completely different issues.  The Don Wade (the aforementioned radio host) is completely off the wall, because he's a radio host and not an elected official.  The other two are elected officials.  But here is the deal.  They kept everyone abreast of their issues.  Sen. Kirk even posted a video of him going through his remarkable recovery.  As for Congresswoman Giffords?

She resigned.

She didn't hold up her Congressional seat while her recovery continued.  She stepped down and allowed someone else to be appointed to that seat.  Even if you argue that those moves are politically motivated, the fact of the matter is that she DID step down.

Congressman Jackson, if your condition is so severe that doctors are telling you not to return to work until they give the say so, then you owe it to us as your constituents to make sure that we have representation in Congress.

Even if that representative is NOT named Jesse Jackson, Jr.  And we need to make sure that we're not getting a John Stroger/Todd Stroger bait-and-switch game getting run on us.

It bothers me that you did not campaign for your seat, because it gives credence to the thought that the Democratic Party takes the Black vote for granted.  In an election where President Obama needs all of the support that he can from the Legislative Branch, you didn't feel that it was worth your time (or recovery) to tell us why YOU should continue to be the voice of my legislative district?  Did you feel that your seat is so secure that you would be able to coast through Election Day and then make a decision about your status afterwards?

Sadly, this may be the case.  You may well coast into another victory, without campaigning for your right to do so.  

But at least I can say that if and when you do win, it won't be because of me.  I voted because I need representation in Congress, and not a place-holder and a Congressman to be named later.

Get well soon and be blessed.

And when you're ready to get back into the fight, let us know.  We'll be waiting.