By: Tracy Karol

“Read the papers here, and you might think little has changed from the days when Chicago politicians got money from Al Capone.”

So writes Amanda Paulson in The Christian Science Monitor on February 4, 2005. (http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0204/p02s01-ussc.html)

Unfortunately for the citizens of Chicago, Paulson was all too correct, and one of the worst offenders, the man who paints himself as an agent of “hope and change,” as non-partisan – indeed as a great reformer – the man who would be president – was none other than Barack Obama.

The story Paulson was writing about was known as the “Hired Truck” scandal and it’s a bit hard to follow if you aren’t familiar with the city’s politics – or have an accounting degree. It was one of many scandals to hit the city at the time, a year after Obama had made his debut on the national scene at the Democratic National Convention and was soon elected to the United States Senate. But before that, he was an Illinois State senator, and he played the game well, first in Chicago under his friend and ally Mayor Richard Daley, and later in Springfield under his mentor, State Senate President Emil Jones.

Daley, who is still mayor of Chicago, was defended at the time by his “handler,” and he has always avoided prosecution, though most people view him as skirting the line when it comes to ethics – hiring family members, known felons, etc. But what did his handler at the time say about him to deflect blame?

“He doesn't need contractors, he doesn't need patronage armies to get elected mayor of the city of Chicago. All he needs to do is run on his record," says David Axelrod, a political consultant who works for Daley. Corruption is "not something you can fully eradicate in any city, and it's not something that happens overnight." (Christian Science Monitor).

Axelrod, the same man who now handles Barack Obama. More about him in a later story.

But Obama’s dirty politics started nearly a decade earlier, in 1996, when he made his first bid for the Illinois legislature – and won. Of course, it would have been difficult to lose, since he ran uncontested – though not for lack of trying on his opponents’ parts. He simply had their names taken off the ballot, so voters had no choice but to elect him.

That was perhaps the beginning of Obama’s official dirty acts. One of his mentors, Alice Palmer, was the incumbent in that election, and she had promised to endorse Obama for her seat if she won her bid for the US Congress. But she lost, and she wasn’t ready to give up her seat after all. And Obama decided he didn’t want to wait for it, which was, of course, his choice – he could always run against her. However, he chose instead to have his campaign staff go through the signatures on her petition – which required 757 to get her on the ballot, but actually contained almost 1600 – and disqualify them.

Alice Palmer had been a state senator since 1991 and was a popular South Side activist. She was not the only other person on the ballot, besides Barack Obama. She was, however, arguably the most electable and probably would have won – had Obama’s campaign not, within a matter of days, found ways to disqualify more than half her petition signatures and get her thrown off the ballot – an incumbent senator.

They didn’t stop there, of course. To be safe, they ensured the other three candidates running were disqualified as well, leaving, literally, a clear path for Barack Obama to win his first election.

One of the candidates who tried to run told the Chicago Tribune about it in 2007: “Why say you’re for a new tomorrow, then do old-style Chicago politics to remove legitimate candidates? He talks about honor and democracy, but what honor is there in getting rid of every other candidate so you can run scot-free? Why not let the people decide?” (Showing his bare knuckles,” Chicago Tribune, Apr. 4. 2007).

This is the same man who had run “Project Vote” several years earlier, a campaign to register voters that was very successful in the black community and had people talking already about Obama as the kind of man, a “reformer,” who might one day run for office against opponents and win. Of course he did run, and he did win. He just managed to do so unopposed.

When Obama first ran for office, before Alice Palmer reneged on their “deal,” he had already begun fundraising. Palmer meanwhile, had the backing of Jesse Jackson Jr. She certainly should have won, but Obama stopped her cold. And Mayor Richard Daley was likely pleased: Palmer was considered, at the time, a possible mayoral candidate, and if not her, then her husband.

So who was backing the young Barack Obama? One of his earliest donors: Tony Rezko, who gave about $15,000 to Obama in that election. Rezko got a healthy return on his investment, just as Al Capone always did on his investments in politicians he backed.

Who is Tony Rezko ? He was convicted of more than a dozen felony counts dealing with public corruption, fraud, money laundering and bribery while Barack Obama was in a hotly contested primary with Hillary Clinton. Tony Rezko – who bought the empty lot next to the “dream house” the Obama’s wanted to buy and subsequently were able to purchase for $300,000 below the asking price (a “sweetheart” deal).

Tony Rezko – whose construction company (though he had no experience in construction) Obama steered public funds (millions of dollars) toward so Rezko could build low-income housing in and near Obama’s senate district – buildings that are now condemned as slums and that literally had no heat, because Rezko claimed not to have the money to turn it on while donating, the same day, $1000 to Obama’s campaign fund. (Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune, various articles).

Obama would say, after Rezko was convicted, “that’s not the Tony I know,” a familiar statement Obama has made about many of his associates, but one that doesn’t ring true, considering his close relationship with these people. He was friends and did business with Rezko for 15 years. He’s either a lousy judge of character, or a liar.

Rezko wasn’t the only developer Obama steered funds toward, but he’s the best known. And he’s a perfect example of the political patronage Obama engages in – just like in the dirty days of Al Capone. There are many more, beyond the scope of this article.
What Obama did wasn’t criminal – it was just politics as usual in Chicago. Dirty politics, but nothing new. And that’s the point: from the start of his career, Obama has never offered the promise of change, the hope of something new. And as we will see, once he got into office and became even more entrenched in the Chicago political machine, Barack Obama was just another dirty politician, doing dirty deeds for his pals.

Coming soon – Part 2: Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap

Tags: Barack Obama Dirty Chicago Obama Al Capone Tony Rezko Obama Daley Obama