It is Clear That John Stroger Won’t Return, so...

...the continuing mish-mash is diversionary about will he or won’t he run again? The struggle goes on behind the scenes over his successor. The successor should be African American: no apple-cheeked Irishman ala Jim Houlihan will do. The word is that House Speaker Mike Madigan is pushing for Secretary of State Jesse White to take it. White is in what hierarchically is a bigger job, but there is no bigger job than serving the Democratic Cook county machine. Dorothy Brown, the clerk of the circuit court, is a failure at administration no matter how well qualified she may seem on paper. The question is: now that Madigan seems to have made his choice, will that make White less attractive to Richard M. Daley? What Daley needs is someone who is loyal by blood oath.