Hump Day Political News Roundup

By Kevin Robinson in News on Feb 7, 2007 5:45PM

With the sad news coming out of Miami this weekend, we've been a little distracted. Our usual passion for all the silly shenanigans and Machiavellian double-dealing has been without vigor this week. Maybe we need one of those light boxes? Regardless, there's always something wacky going on in these parts, so let's take a look back at the machinations of our local elected leaders this week:

• Barack Obama is going to try and quit smoking before the elections! If our own pack a day habit is any indication, it won't be easy, and we suspect that trying to quit before an event as stressful as a Presidential campaign isn't such a good idea. According to CBS, he is predicting victory. At least against Marlboro.
• Todd Stroger appointed his cousin to the position of Cook County Chief financial officer. Yep. Commence screaming in frustration.
• Mayor Daley is launching a new campaign commercial. Titled "Moving Forward", it features him riding in a car and talking about education reform. It's not on the web yet, but you can see part of the ad here, including Dorothy Brown talking about corruption, and Dock Walls citing the Hired Truck scandal.
• The state supreme court will decide if convicted felons can run for alderman.
• Wanna try your hand a predicting the outcome of aldermanic races? Felt like you were really good at statistics in college? Head on over to AlderTrack and check out the AlderTrack Challenge. You won't win as much as the soon-to-be privatized state lottery pays out, but they do have some nice gift certificates.