Speaking on Fox News Sunday, White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod announced that he would be leaving the Obama Administration sometime in the first half of next year to begin planning Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign. more ›

Obama advisor David Axelrod will eventually leave the White House and return to Chicago but it's not for a new job. Rather, Axelrod will begin work on what's looking like a tougher and tougher task: President Obama's reelection. And even that departure still is a few months off, sometime "well into 2011." From the Tribune: more ›

• The warmer weather means more violence: 15 people were shot within six hours last night.
• Reports say State Senator Susan Garrett has the inside track to be the Democrats' Lt. Gov. nominee.
• Ozzie Guillen's son Oney is no longer with the White Sox.

The Obama administration has gone into spin control in regards to Obama's trip to Copenhagen to support Chicago 2016's failed Olympic bid and is using the classic, "Well, they told us it'd be fine" method. A report in this morning's Tribune reveals behind-the-scenes details describing the way in which the Chicago 2016 bid committee persuaded Obama to make his much-talked-about whirlwind trip to Copenhagen on behalf of the city's bid. Worried that the heated health care bill would head to the floor of either the House or Senate for debate with him in Europe, Obama was still hesitant to make the trip until a few days before he took off. more ›

It's a busy start to his first full week as governor for Pat Quinn. He met yesterday with Mayor Daley here in Chicago and pledged his full support to the Chicago 2016 cause, saying, "We want to have the greenest Olympics ever held." At issue was the $150 million ex-gov Rod Blagojevich had promised to the $1.15 billion financial package to help Chicago in its bid. All indications are that Quinn will back that money as well, saying, "I support whatever is necessary...The General Assembly will have to act on that, and it's an opportunity that I think will happen in the next couple of months." more ›

It's been a busy day for the President-Elect. more ›

President-Elect Barack Obama is set to announce long-time campaign adviser Valerie Jarrett as a Senior Aide in the White House. Jarrett has been associated with the Obamas for almost 17 years, going back to before Michelle and Barack got married. Her experience in the city of Chicago (for better or for worse, depending on your point of view), is extensive.

All told, Jarrett served eight years with the city of Chicago, as deputy corporation counsel for finance and development and then as deputy chief of staff. She later became commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development. more ›

David Axelrod, the man who laid out the plan to get Sen. Barack Obama to the White House, is following Obama as Senior Advisor in the White House. Axlerod has his own consulting firm, AKP&D, and also worked for Deval Patrick, who became the first black governor of Massachusetts. Axelrod is a University of Chicago graduate and a former reporter for the Trib. more ›

We had a nice spit take while drinking our morning coffee and reading the front-page headline of the Sun-Times. The headline accompanying Fran Spielman's story about His Elective Majesty's advice to Senator Barack Obama in the wake of his win in the Iowa Caucuses was to "always be the underdog." more ›

Now that Barack and Rich Daley have given each other a big warm hug in front of the press, is it too early to start calling him O'Bama? In a press conference at Daley '07 HQ, Obama gave Richie the treatment, saying "I see a lot of cities... I don't think there is a city in America that has blossomed so much over the last couple of decades." Daley, in turn, has endorsed O'Bama, saying... more ›

After careful thought and consideration about whether he will run for President in 2008, Senator Barack Obama announced today that he will begin even more serious thought and consideration today. more ›

Last week was yet another stressful week for poor Antonio Davis. On Thursday, his wife Kendra was charged with battery stemming from an October "road rage" incident in Naperville in which she allegedly flug hot coffee at another motorist. Just as the hype surrounding her United Center bruhaha started to die down this comes to light! Did Antonio know about that run-in? Maybe he was trying to protect David Axelrod from his wife and not the other way around... more ›

In a joint statement released yesterday, Antonio Davis and Michael Axelrod announced that they were putting their little tiff behind them that resulted from last week's incident at the United Center. more ›

The Bears’ lazy Sunday started off a slow week on Chicagoist before things heated up with spirited discussions about the unique charms of Antonio Davis’s wife, the Central time zone and Thax Douglas. more ›

Chicagoist wonders if that Barenaked Ladies song is running through the head of Michael Axelrod, one of the fans involved in the incident at the UC the other night that caused the Knicks Antonio Davis to jump into the stands to protect his wife. Yesterday, Axelrod's lawyer Jay Paul Deratany said they planned to sue Davis and his wife for more than $1 million, alleging that Kendra Davis battered him and Antonio Davis slander him... more ›