Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr., who flirted with challenging Mayor Richard M. Daley four years ago before deciding not to run, was among the first local elected officials to issue a statement on the mayor’s announcement this afternoon that he will step down after his term ends next year.
“Mayor Daley loves Chicago and clearly loved being mayor. He built or rebuilt many iconic structures and turned Chicago into an international center for business and tourism. But he also leaves the city in extremely poor fiscal shape. And, after 21 years, we still need a third airport; we need to redevelop the old USX site; and we must guarantee that all Chicagoans have access to high-quality jobs, health care, transportation and education. I was never close to the mayor, but he certainly left a major imprint on America’s greatest city.
“Regarding potential successors, I expect there will be numerous candidates, but only a few can mount a serious bid for mayor.”
The statement is mostly interesting if you read between the lines. Jackson’s signature issue since being elected to Congress has been the push for a third major Chicago-area airport in Peotone, south of the city limits. His wife, Seventh Ward Alderman Sandi Jackson, is currently working on redeveloping the massive US Works site on the south lakefront. Jackson is wasting no time lobbying Daley’s successor for support on those projects.
The other issues on Jackson’s list were part of his campaign pitch when he formed an exploratory committee in 2006. Yet at the top of the list of those who are probably unable to “mount a serious bid” for Daley’s job is Jackson himself, who is widely viewed as damaged politically by association with Rod Blagojevich, to whom he expressed interest in being appointed to President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat in 2008.