Hairston, Daley Play Nice For The Press

By Kevin Robinson in News on Aug 12, 2010 2:00PM

It's been quite a week for 5th Ward Ald. Leslie Hairston. After putting feelers out about running against Daley for mayor of Chicago she then backpedaled and played the "misunderstood" card. So it was only a little awkward yesterday when she appeared before the fourth estate with Mayor Daley to laud the opening of a Walgreens that sells fruit and vegetables in a South Side food desert that only a mega-corporation could love.

Of course, Daley's a classy guy and wouldn't draw any attention to Hairston's "will she/won't she" run, right? Of course not. Instead, he decided to, uh, heap praise upon an aldermen who challenged his parking meter deal and has mulled challenging his seat. “I want to thank Leslie Hairston. ... I really believe she is the best alderman. I don’t care. She is soooo good that she is No. 1 out of 50,” Daley said MayDay with, as Fran Speilman called it, a belly laugh. We imagine the look on his face was one of, "See what I did there?"

He continued: “Leslie has been a very dedicated public servant, not just in this community, but all over. She’s concerned about the quality of life in every part of her ward.” Ever the class act, Hairston yukked it up with Daley for the press, too. “When I come to him with weird ideas, he says ‘why not’ and, somehow, we make it happen,” she told the crowd. “Mayor Daley, I want to thank you for believing in some of my not-so-traditional ideas. No longer do I have to drive down Stony Island and only have an option of fried and fattening. I have the option to swing in here and get some fruit, vegetables and salad. And that means a whole lot.” Wow, they really know how to lather it on thick.

So apparently there are no hard feelings between the Mayor and one of his would-be challengers and it was so totally not awkward. No, not at all.