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Because “anyone who doubts that a toxic political environment can be overcome should look to Chicago. Consensus has become more conspicuous than conflict. Deal-making is more important than showboating. In short, the city’s politics has become post-partisan. It’s a concept that should be familiar to anyone who has followed Obama’s presidential bid.”
And as for the screwed-over little guy who’s the hero of 10,000 newspaper columns, Conley bathes his tormentors in as gentle a light as will ever find them: “Critics might also argue that leaving a seat at the table open — and allowing a multitude of unelected leaders to emerge — opens the door to corruption. Chicagoans would respond that the true naif is anyone who thinks that citizens who are inactive in politics — who bring nothing to the table — should share equally in the largesse of government. Politics does not reward passivity.”
