What's Up With Scott Lee Cohen?

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 19, 2010 5:20PM

What a long, strange trip it's been and it's apparently not over. The Saga of Scott Lee Cohen continued last week as Michael Sneed claimed Cohen was going to announce a run at Governor as an independent. The problem? Cohen didn't show up to the event where he was going to allegedly make the announcement. According to Chicago Current, Cohen was due to appear at the inaugural meeting of Reform Chicago Now, a group formed by former Republican comptroller candidate William J. Kelly. But Kelly told Current that Cohen skipped the event because he claimed the restaurant - Cafe Erie - told him the event was canceled out of fear of "retaliation from the city." Cafe Erie denied that allegation so there seem to be some sort of shenanigans going on.

Indeed, Fox Chicago is reporting that Cohen met with State House Speaker Mike Madigan over the weekend. Or so they think:

At the 13th Ward Democratic headquarters, where party Chairman Mike Madigan has an office, we were initially told by an office aide that there was in fact a meeting between Madigan and Scott Lee Cohen Saturday. Then we were abruptly told by another office aide that, "No.", there was not a meeting.

We asked, "Is it a secret meeting? You guys just have no answers? Is Speaker Madigan here right now?" We were told Madigan wasn't in the office. After seeing his office door open and asking again, we were told he had just arrived. We were then told Madigan had no comment and the office was being closed for the day.

Shady dealings and denials surrounding controversial state political figures? We're shocked. If Cohen is looking at running as an independent, his campaign is off to a rocky start. And if he did meet with Madigan, perhaps some sort of offer was made to keep him off the ballot and causing even more havoc with this fall's gubernatorial election. Either way, it's politics as usual for an election year.