The (John) Fritchey Interview
John Fritchey is one of us. He's been blogging for at least four years now, and has been at the forefront of ethics reform in Springfield for as long as I've been in the state. Smart, determined, he's figured out how to get things done -- without having to succumb to the seductions of the Daley political machine. While Mayor Daley may not be endorsing anyone in the race, I am told by friends in City Hall that there is one person he doesn't want to see win. That is John Fritchey.
I can't tell you what that means in this race -- the mayor has ample support on the northside of Chicago -- but I do know what it means to me. Anyone the machine wants to defeat is okay in my book. Anyone who can divide machine pols (or what we call "Regular Dems" in this part of the planet) from Mayor Daley is even better. In the post-Harold Washington world, where the machine has learned to consolidate support among blacks and whites, reformers have to learn how to take voters from the machine in order to be successful. Fritchey is one of the few reformers in Chicago who have been successful at doing that.
I ask the same questions of every candidate. The questions I ask are derived from prior cycle's interviews, as well as my request for input. They split about half and half, half from prior election years and half the questions from the other area bloggers who posed questions for the candidates.
Candidates are provided the questions in advance. I tell every campaign that this isn't "Hardball" and I don't pretend to be Tim Russert. Rather, the point is to give voters the opportunity to compare the candidates side-by-side, to see how they answer the same questions, and to give them the opportunity to get their message out.
Other interviews in this series are:
Mike Quigley
Tom Geoghegan
Paul Bryar
Victor Forys
I can't tell you what that means in this race -- the mayor has ample support on the northside of Chicago -- but I do know what it means to me. Anyone the machine wants to defeat is okay in my book. Anyone who can divide machine pols (or what we call "Regular Dems" in this part of the planet) from Mayor Daley is even better. In the post-Harold Washington world, where the machine has learned to consolidate support among blacks and whites, reformers have to learn how to take voters from the machine in order to be successful. Fritchey is one of the few reformers in Chicago who have been successful at doing that.
I ask the same questions of every candidate. The questions I ask are derived from prior cycle's interviews, as well as my request for input. They split about half and half, half from prior election years and half the questions from the other area bloggers who posed questions for the candidates.
Candidates are provided the questions in advance. I tell every campaign that this isn't "Hardball" and I don't pretend to be Tim Russert. Rather, the point is to give voters the opportunity to compare the candidates side-by-side, to see how they answer the same questions, and to give them the opportunity to get their message out.
Other interviews in this series are:
Mike Quigley
Tom Geoghegan
Paul Bryar
Victor Forys
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