The Congressman sure sounds like a candidate to me.
Sketching out an ambitious plan that he promised could change politics in Chicago, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said Wednesday “it’s more likely than not” that he would run for mayor next year.
In announcing that a committee would be formed to explore his chances, Jackson said there was a 75 percent chance that he would run in February, and he sought to position himself as the most viable alternative to Mayor Richard Daley.
To conduct a credible campaign, Jackson said it would take registering 100,000 new voters and raising between $4 million and $6 million. He also said he is working to recruit a slate of candidates for city clerk, city treasurer and about 15 City Council seats.
But this buried bit shows that the West Side won’t be on board.
At an unrelated news conference, Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) let loose on Jackson.
Carothers, who defeated a Jackson-backed aldermanic challenger in 2003, accused Jackson of being a do-nothing congressman with “an ego as big as this building” and aspiring to be “king of the world.”
The vitriolic broadside unnerved Daley, who was nearby. The mayor turned to Carothers and said, “Ike, give it a rest.”
Carothers is most famous for putting together a strong patronage army and steering people into well-paid government jobs for an area long neglected by the Machine.