ELECTION UPDATE – AT 7:24 P.M. ET:  This is bigger than the abdication of Eddie the 8th in 36.  Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, son of the real Mayor Daley and one of the most powerful figures in American politics, has announced that he won't run for another term.  The political implications for Illinois, and even Washington job-seeking, are profound:

Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago said Tuesday that he would not run for re-election when his term expires next year, an announcement that could have implications from the Windy City to the White House.

“I’ve done my all. I’ve done my best,” Mr. Daley told reporters during a news conference at City Hall in Chicago. “Now, I’m ready with my family to begin the new phase of our lives.”

The news created an immediate stir inside the West Wing.

“No mayor in America has loved a city more or served a community with greater passion than Rich Daley,” President Obama said in a statement. “He helped build Chicago’s image as a world class city, and leaves a legacy of progress that will be appreciated for generations to come.”

He was also, in effect, Obama's "guiding force," a nice term for it, when Obama was an Illinois politician.

Rahm Emanuel, the chief of staff to President Obama, has talked openly about his desire to run for mayor of his hometown. He has said that he would only consider running if Mr. Daley decided to step aside.

This gives Obama a chance to replace the hard-edged Emanuel.  It also dramatically reduces Daley's influence in Illinois politics in the midst of a critical election campaign.  Obama's Senate seat is up for grabs.  If it's lost to the GOP, that would be a severe psychological blow to the president, and might make the difference in control of the U.S. Senate.

When I was a student at the University of Chicago many decades ago, the current mayor's father was mayor.  He was famous for running a tight, if ruthless ship, and for mangling the English language in ways that make George W. Bush sound like Winston Churchill.  The elder Daley would, for example, refer to O'Hare Airport as O'Hara Airport. 

He liked to call Chicago "the city that works."  That led some political wags to ask, "For whom?"  The Daleys have always run an efficient machine that paid great attention to citizens' basic needs, like traffic lights and street signs.  Education didn't quite make it up to that level of priority.

There is already a movement building among the Democratic left to deny Rahm Emanuel the mayoralty, and it may succeed.  He doesn't make friends easily, and he's white in a heavily minority city.

If Rahm leaves to try for the job, though, Obama could reach for the stars and appoint a highly popular national figure as chief of staff, even offering the job to a willing Republican, and doing so before the November election.  But Obama is Obama, and he will probably stick with a member of the Chicago crowd, like Valerie Jarrett.

A major political power is leaving the stage at a time when his party is in disarray.  The mayoralty election is in February of next year.  The next months in Chicago will be fascinating, with national implications.

September 7, 2010