Politics as Usual
by Steve Bucaro

Early in February, just about the time the McCain/Feingold campaign finance reform bill was making its way through the House of Representatives, a certain newly elected New York billionaire mayor was giving his sister and daughter jobs in his administration. Emma Bloomberg, his 22-year-old daughter who recently graduated from Princeton with a major in English Lit and a thesis on medieval poetry, will be a "mayoral program coordinator," while his sister, Marjorie Tiven, will become the city's UN commissioner. When asked why she wanted to work in government, Ms. Bloomberg said excitedly that "it was an opportunity" she couldn't pass up.

Opportunity.

And in March, as the McCain/Feingold bill was making its way through the Senate with assured approval, Illinois held its state primaries, in which the daughter of the highest-ranking and most influential state senator won the nod for state attorney general, the son-in-law of a powerful Chicago alderman and Democratic bigwig won the nomination for governor and a former Clinton pit bull and Democratic National Committee crony won the nod for the highly visible and oft-coveted Fifth Congressional District (vacated by the son-in-law who won the governor nomination). Like Ms. Bloomberg, they couldn't pass up the opportunity.

The McCain/Feingold bill, often touted as the finance reform to end all reform, will no doubt drastically change the way in which we elect officials or, at least, level the playing field so that those not in certain inside circles have an opportunity to get elected. It may not give Rocky a shot at the title the way Apollo did, but it'll limit the flow of unregistered cash into the established parties and severely curtail their ability to monopolize politics.

But as big changes are being made at the national level and the politicians pat themselves on the back for doing the right thing (something they didn't want to do in the first place), politics at the state and local levels is, well, politics as usual. It's as if the whole debate about finance reform and giving everyone the opportunity to participate in government had never existed. Wiped away cleaner than Clinton's memory during Monica-gate or Reagan's during the Iran-Contra fiasco. At least Clinton and Reagan acknowledged the charges against them.

Sadly, in many city halls and state capitols, nepotism and cronyism rule. Even sadder is that it's become so common the public doesn't raise an eyebrow; a nuisance that has no direct bearing on our daily lives. Your congressman (or woman) would get more calls if "Friends" were pulled from TV.

And the politicians are well aware of the public's fickle fascinations; that's why Michael Madigan, the aforementioned Illinois state senator, could brazenly use his political muscle to get the votes needed for his 34 year-old daughter's nomination to states attorney. The younger Madigan has been practicing law for all of four years, yet in her (and her father's) mind, she's qualified enough to be the state's top lawyer (her opponent had 30 years of law experience, not to mention political experience serving as assistant states attorney). As such, she will be the public's representative on such matters as tobacco suits and the ongoing Microsoft case, neither of which afford much room for cronyism. Nevertheless, the nomination was signed, sealed and delivered with the help of the rest of the state's Democrats, whose blind allegiance will no doubt be rewarded with future favors that could only make Oliver North envious.

And the state's political honchos no doubt knew they could push through Rod Blagojavich's nomination for governor, even though those in the know and many community-based organizations said his opponent, Paul Vallas, was by far the better candidate. But Mr. Vallas didn't have Richard Mell as his father in-law and, therefore, the big backing, the cigar-smoking, backroom deal-making, portly white sages who historically control Illinois politics. Mr. Vallas would've had a better chance running as a cross-dresser under the Pat Buchanan "straight-talk express" Reform Party.

And let's not forget Rahm Emanuel, the former Clinton aide who, until last year, never lived in Chicago (he grew up in the northern burbs and lived the last 12 years in Washington). Emanuel, with the help and undying support of his party, defeated a grass-roots community activist for Chicago's adored Fifth Congressional District — a guaranteed one-way ticket to Washington with boundless opportunities, a stepping stone to bigger and better things. Emanuel, too, said it was an opportunity he couldn't pass up; indeed, he looked forward "to the opportunity to serve his community" (not to mention himself).

So what was New York's and Illinois' response to these flagrant abuses of political power? A ho-hum yawn. Bits and pieces of coverage here and there and an occasional pundit lamenting as loudly as he or she could that it wasn't right. Sadly, the louder one rants, the less seriously you're taken. Conformity is the sine qua non of today's politics — this isn't the '60s. It used to be if you had something to say you had an opportunity to get in the political game. Now the less you say the more opportunities you'll get.

E-mail Steve Bucaro at sab1970 at fictionfunhouse dot com.