Posted on 09/06/2006 10:39:41 PM PDT by indcons
Jesse Jackson Jr. announced Wednesday that he is exploring a run for mayor of Chicago and said it is "more likely than not" that he will enter the February contest.
While he complimented Mayor Richard Daley, a fellow Democrat, for doing an "extraordinary" job in some ways, Jackson said: "What I'm hearing from the people is that it's time for a change."
The 41-year-old son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he would make up his mind after the November congressional election. He is up for re-election to the seat he has held for 11 years.
Daley is seen by some as politically vulnerable because of federal investigations into allegations of illegal political patronage and payoffs at City Hall. The mayor, who was first elected in 1989, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
"The taxpayers are ... footing the bill for waste, fraud and abuse," Jackson said outside his home on the South Side.
To help him make his decision, Jackson said he would embark on a "listening tour" to hear from voters.
Daley has not formally announced for re-election but has hinted at it, saying he traditionally doesn't announce his plans until after the fall elections.
Candidates already in the race include Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and William "Dock" Walls, who was an aide to Mayor Harold Washington.
"The more the merrier," Jackson said of the crowded field.
A candidate needs a majority of the vote in February to win outright and avoid an April runoff.
"Daley is no longer invincible if he doesn't win the first time out," said University of Illinois at Chicago political science professor Dick Simpson, who served as an alderman under Daley's father and was an outspoken critic of the elder Daley's administration.
Jackson said he supports Chicago's controversial new big-box ordinance, which requires giant retailers like Wal-Mart to pay their workers more.
Is he talking about his father, that crook and race baiter?
And the jokes just write themselves.
Hey maybe he's the "white sheep" of the family!
(crickets shirping)
""The taxpayers are ... footing the bill for waste, fraud and abuse," Jackson said outside his home on the South Side."
Does this mean he's going to go after his father, whose picture is associated with those three words in the dictionary?
Pimp mah city!
"may" run for mayor????
I hear it's already well in the works.
the "electornic voting machines are rigged" speech has already been written.
ROFL
Let the Daley and Jackson families get into a steel cage match and only the winner gets the leave alive. At least we could get rid of one horribly corrupt Chicago family that way. Since Celebrity Death Match is history, we need a new way to eliminate these types.
Thou shalt not whizz on a Daley in Chicago...
The fish off of Navy pier get mighty hungry.....
He jus doin' what his pa sez he po-da-do.
Loser gets to room with George Ryan!
Keep hype alive !
Is this the son that received the beer distributorship from Budweiser as a result of Jesse's racial extortion or a brother?
He is the race baiter's son.
This will make for one interesting mayoral election.
My bet: Daley will run and will win.
I'm not a fan of either and thank God, I don't live in the city... not that the near burbs are much better.
Does this mean he's going to go after his father, whose picture is associated with those three words in the dictionary?
Jesse invented them.
Give me strength! When will the public get enough of these folks?
Dailey disarmed the serfs.
The serfs are stuck with these folks.
What a joke. The only thing his candidacy will accomplish is making Daley look good.
RUN, JESSE, RUN! We need a good laugh!
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