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But Preckwinkle is nothing if not practical, and before she decided to launch a campaign for Cook County Board president she went and sounded out the mayor.
Preckwinkle said Daley told her he hadn’t yet decided to back anyone, so she’s in. She said she’s got the backing of several City Council colleagues, received encouragement from U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, and reached out to committeemen and several other potential candidates, including circuit court clerk Dorothy Brown and assessor Jim Houlihan. Preckwinkle is now putting together a fund-raising operation—she thinks she’ll need $2 million to $3 million—and touching base with many people as she can. Todd Stroger has not been one of them.
Preckwinkle, of course, doesn’t think there’s need for concern. “Before I leave I’d have to get through the primary in February 2010 and then the general election in November, and by then we’ll know if we’ve won the Olympics, so some of this will be in place,” she said. “But the Olympics wouldn’t happen until 2016 anyway. Any time you leave an office there are things in the pipeline and not yet completed.”
