Obama, Daley would make formidable political team (Illinois)

[chiburb]

Columnist in today's Chicago Sun-Times is suggesting that Daley (King Richard II) might endorse Obama for Dem. Senator because he needs to score points with blacks. This article is an excellent primer on Chicago and Illinois politics (though it is hard to find appropriate snips. Go read the whole thing).

Snip:

The controversy over the Chicago Police Board's failure to include an African American among the finalists for superintendent is likely to have an impact in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate.

Just as the late Harold Washington's historic mayoral bid was sparked by former Mayor Jane Byrne's ouster of African Americans from the Board of Education and CHA board, the exclusion of a black finalist for police chief has the potential to galvanize the African-American community.

In a multicandidate field with rivals splitting the white vote, state Sen. Barack Obama (D-Chicago) could win his party's nomination by taking most of the black vote and doing well among white progressives along the northern lakefront and in the suburbs.

Mayor Daley stands to gain the most if Obama wins the primary and goes on to make history as only the third African American elected to the Senate in the last century.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/neal/cst-edt-neal12.html