There was drama both mild and heavy at last night's mayoral debate on WTTW. Candidates Patricia Van Pelt Watkins and William "Dock" Walls sat in the Channel 11 lobby, demanding equal time and a presence at the debate. Carol Moseley Braun showed up with moments to spare before the debate commenced. Possibly the biggest surprise of the night was the mention of 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke's name. The powerful Finance Committee chair is in Gery Chico's corner, although he formally hasn't endorsed Chico. But that didn't stop the candidates, particularly Rahm Emanuel, from saying that, if elected, Burke would have to relinquish not only his ever present police detail, but some political power. more ›

Rahm Emanuel, looking to burnish his "Rahmformer" credentials, announced earlier this week that he would freeze spending on his first day in office, if elected, and ask department heads to find $75 million in spending cuts. Emanuel also said he would fix the city's pension system, which is way underfunded. more ›

Carol Moseley Braun, the Rev. James Meeks, Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle, four of the five primary politicians trailing Rahm Emanuel in the mayoral election polls, gathered at Walter Payton Magnet High School to debate education reform last night in a forum moderated by Better Government Association President Andy Shaw. None of them said that the Chicago Public Schools system was performing well, campaigning as much against the recent record of Mayor Daley as each other. more ›

Tonight is the mayoral candidate forum on educational policy sponsored by the Illinois Policy Forum and Northside Democracy for America. One notable candidate won't be there, but if you're a policy wonk, curious about how the other 15 or so candidates would fix the school system, or just want to spend some time online listening to moderator Andy Shaw make them squirm, the Better Government Association will be live streaming the forum starting at 7 p.m. more ›

Illinois Senate candidates Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias squared off in the second of three scheduled debates last night on ABC7. Much like their "Meet the Press" debate last week, the focus was on personal ethics. Kirk once again answered why he embellished his military record, while Giannoulias reiterated that investigations into his family's Broadway Bank did nothing wrong in making loans to people who were later outed as reputed mobsters. more ›

Governor Pat Quinn and his GOP challenger in next month's general election, Bill Brady, sparred with each other of Illinois' budget crisis during a debate at Southern Illinois University in downstate Carbondale last night. With a $13 billion budget deficit looming for the next governor to deal with, neither Quinn nor Brady offered any details as to how they would get the state out of the mess. more ›

Thank God last night's presidential debate wasn't a snoozer like the last one, which was so dull in comparison to the vice presidential debate. Both Senators John McCain and Barack Obama were more energized and aggressive this time around. So much so that the rules of the debate acted against them at numerous times (anyone for a cage-match style debate with mud and alligators?). more ›

Poor Gwen Ifill. The PBS newswoman, scheduled to moderate tomorrow night's Vice Presidential debate, tripped and fell in her Washington home earlier this week,a stumble that resulted in a broken ankle. Ouch. Despite the injury, Ifill has been give the go-ahead by her doctors to fly to St. Louis where Thursday's debate will be held. more ›

It's been an eventful week for Chicago's Barack Obama, the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States of America. He's battling critics, dealing with a loose cannon running mate, dealing with a guy bringing a gun to his house, and preparing for a debate this Friday - seriously, what the hell, John? Here I am, working my ass on this round-up, and you go and throw everything out of whack. This all about me, John. Why did you have to steal my thunder? Screw it, this election is still happening so I'm doing this news round-up anyway. Nice try, McCain! more ›

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the moderators and schedule for the upcoming presidential and vice presidential debates. Or as they say en español, duh-BAH-tays. The debates will be: Friday, September 26 at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, moderated by Jim Lehrer; Tuesday, October 7 at Belmont University, Nashville, moderated by Tom Brokaw; and Wednesday, October 15 at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York., moderated by Bob Schieffer. The VP debate is Thursday, October 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, moderated by Gwen Ifill. [MSNBC]
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