The Political Dance

First up, an opening on the City Council:

• Gov. Pat Quinn today named Chicago Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) as a top adviser on "social justice" issues, and the veteran council member said he would coordinate state services for Latinos. Ocasio will leave his City Council post.

This opening has probably already been filled by Daley. Someone tame who will take orders. Daley probably had it filled a year ago. Ocasio is no great loss.

Then a tacit admission that Illinois is still "pay-to-play:"

• Illinois senators are poised to vote Monday on a series of state government reform measures, a spokesman [...] said today.

  The legislation that emerges mostly will be the product of fine-tuning and negotiations between lawmakers and members of the Illinois Reform Commission, which is headed by former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins.

  Sticking points between the commission and lawmakers include how high the limits on campaign contributions should be in Illinois. The commission recommended setting the limit at $2,400 per election per person, which would reflect federal limits, but lawmakers are looking at limits as high as $10,000.

Gee, a $10,000 per person limit? $10,000 buys a lot of access.

And to top it off, Lisa Madigan is sending hints about a Senate run?

• Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who has been eyeing a run for the governor’s seat, is now also mulling a bid for the U.S. Senate, a move that could put her on a collision course with the beleaguered Sen. Roland Burris.

  “The governor’s race is still my main consideration,” Madigan told Sneed. But Madigan’s taking another look at the Senate race after recruitment phone calls from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

Of course the governorship is still her main consideration. She's been groomed for it for years. Blago's second term was a fluke but the legislature managed to end it early. Quinn is a caretaker. And the blanket denials that Madigan is just throwing her name into the Senate race to scare off other challengers to the seat are, of course, nonsense. The Machine doesn't want a reliably Democratic seat in the hands of a real Democrat. They want the seat and the ass sitting in it, in controllable hands. And that means scaring off legitimate candidates.