ONE DOWN – AT 7:47 P.M. ET:  Rahm Emanuel has a dream.  Oh yes, oh lawd, he has a dream.  And his dream is to be mayor of Chicago.  You know, when you can hire all those meter maids, what else is there in life?

So, Rahm is now White House chief of staff, and the mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, has announced that he won't be running again.  Rahm is ready to jump in, but there are others in his way.  What to do, what to do?  Well, the first thing you do is to pray to the great god of Chicago politics – usually a prosecutor – that your opponents disappear.

Answered prayers.  One of Rahm's biggest obstacles appears to have bitten the dust:

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said Tuesday he is “deeply sorry” for having “disappointed some supporters” regarding his relationship with a female “social acquaintance.”

Yeah, just a social acquaintance.  We're just friends.

But the congressman vowed to stay in office in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times report that a major political fund-raiser has told federal authorities that Jackson directed him to offer former Gov. Rod Blagojevich millions of dollars in campaign cash in return for an appointment for Jackson to the U.S. Senate, to succeed President Obama.

A little confusing, so let me explain:  There is sworn testimony that Jackson sought to buy the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the president.

In his dealings with a go-between, Jackson apparently asked that some air tickets be purchased for...

...a Washington, D.C., restaurant hostess named Giovana Huidobro — described as a “social acquaintance” of the Democratic congressman — to Chicago to visit him.

If the guy's gonna cheat, you'd think he'd pay his own bills.

...Jackson acknowledged knowing Huidobro and that the relationship was something he an his wife, Ald. Sandi Jackson, have had to deal with.

“The reference to a social acquaintance is a private and personal matter between me and my wife that was handled some time ago,” Jackson said in his statement. “I ask that you respect our privacy..."

Have you noticed that all these guys who get caught at it sound exactly the same?  They must use the same law firm, Cheat, Sleaze and Explain, who are deeply respected among members of the excuse bar.

I think Jackson is, or was, the most formidable obstacle to Rahm Emanuel.  In Chicago, it is far better to have your opponent sink into a sea of corruption than to defeat him in a primary, which costs so much and wears out good shoes.

One down.  Chicago politics is absolutely fascinating.  And when someone in Chicago says he knows where the bodies are buried, he's talking about real bodies.

Stay tuned.

September 21, 2010