chiraq to the potomac - democrat racial politics Machine rotten to its core!!!

Tribune |  Call it rebellion, or pent-up resentment based on legitimate grievances. Whatever you call it, he's weak now.

After decades of hibernation under Daley, black political Chicago has begun to reassert itself. Young African-American leaders push for recognition. Black politics isn't the Rev. Jesse Jackson's show any longer.

One of the casualties of the old order appears to be Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez. Rahm's buddy, David Axelrod, publicly criticized her for not charging Van Dyke with murder sooner, just as black activists were calling for her political head.

Now black politicians who supported Emanuel and said nothing about how he sat on the video are busy directing African-American animosity Alvarez's way. Many of them won't say Emanuel should resign, they're still worried he'll bite. But Alvarez? They want her out.

Alvarez was left without a chair when the music stopped. And now she's their offering.

Is it fair? No, but then there's nothing fair about Chicago politics. It's a power game. There's arithmetic and technique in getting out the vote, but great swells of emotion help too, and those who win know how to aim all that pent-up animosity at their targets.

It's all taking place before the March primary, as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle pushes her candidate for state's attorney, Kimberly Foxx.

What's unsaid in polite circles but understood by all is that Foxx is black and Alvarez isn't. So the campaign for state's attorney becomes an exercise in political redemption and black political expectation, directed by Preckwinkle, who didn't have the steel to stand and challenge Rahm herself.