Oy. A US senator has no, zero, jurisdiction over the city of Chicago, and no influence on its politics.

1) Where did you get your figures for Iraq? Does it include Iraqis?
2) Governor Blogojevich and Mayor Daley are in charge of Chicago. I think both are corrupt.
3) A US Senator may have some political "clout," but it is not his place to tell the governor or the mayor what to do. It is his job to represent me in the Senate.
4)This question is just an Ad Hominim attack against Senator Obama.

As a fellow Illinoian, Illinois is in bad shape. Has been for a while and will be for many years to come. If Illinois got a honest politician (and i use honest liberally) it may turn around in a couple of terms if we are lucky. I too think that Obama is full of *explicit* and wouldnt vote for him if it meant my life depended upon it.

I didn't have enough room in the question for this additonal input:

Chicago is a combat zone. Who is in charge? The
leadership in Illinois.

And they are:
Senator Barack Obama (Democrat)
Senator Dick Durbin (Democrat)
Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (Democrat)
Governor. Rod Blogojevich (Democrat)
House leader Mike Madigan (Democrat)
Attorney. General. Lisa Madigan (daughter of
Mike),(Democrat)
Mayor Richard M. Daley (son of former Mayor Richard
J. Daley) (Democrat)

And who is to blame?
Of course they're all blaming each other.
Why?
They can't blame Republicans, there aren't any!

State pension fund $44 Billion in debt, worst in
country. Cook County (Chicago)
Sales tax 10.25% highest in country. (Look it up if
you want).
Chicago school system one of the worst in country.
This is the political culture that Obama comes from
in Illinois.
And he says he is going to 'fix' Washington
politics?

I don't know how much Obama could have done to change any of this but it's for sure that the democrats are the only ones who could do anything because they don't have any elected republicans. So, I agree with the question, "If these are all democrats and Obama is (apparently) their number one guy, what can he fix anywhere else when he can't even do anything to help Chicago or Illinois?"

And, there's my question.

It would be better if we did a "Brain count", some seem to be missing theirs.

In all fairness, Mr. Obama is now a US Senator, no longer a State Senator. He and Senator Durbin help run America, not Illinois. You are correct that Chicago is ran by all Democrats, and your list seemed to omit Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, the man who has stealing an election down to an art. And let us not forget about their Superintendant of Police. I forget his name, but what a bang up job he's doing.

I am no Senator Obama supporter, and many on this board may be surprised if they read my comments here, but it would be unfair to blame Senators Obama or Durbin for a mess they didn't create, not for the violence in the Chicago borders, anyway. One could easily blame the voters for them voting the same guys in over and over again, though they did get rid of Alderman Tillman, so they ain't all bad. ;-)

And, while we're at it, there really is nothing wrong with Attorney General Lisa Madigan, and if a Republican can't unseat Governor Blagojevich this nexy election, I hope she pulls a Governor Palin and unseats the governor of her own party.

Look, I don't think Obama can fix America, and I wouldn't vote for him for dogcatcher.

BUT this data is completely irrelevant and tangental to that fact. Obama is a US senator, and those aren't SUPPOSED to be running cities in their states. They're supposed to be representing their states on a national level. It's NOT Obama's job to cut the murder rate in Chicago. That'd be the mayor, the governor, and the other local officials.

Next time get SOME understanding of political mechanism before using irrelevant numbers to support your statements. It makes "our side" look bad. In fact, it makes "our side" bad. You don't have to be stupid to think Obama would be a bad leader, and using stupid-data to "prove" it makes people think you do.

I was not aware that Barack Obama was the dictator of Illinois.
**The More You Know!**

Where are you getting the idea that a Senator has anything to do with leading the people of a state?

A Senator is one of two representatives of a state in the US Senate, not a leader of said state.

I have seen some pretty ridiculous political contortions around here lately, but this is a quite an absurd stretch.

If you truly don't know that the leadership of a state resides with the Governor, you may want to brush up on your civics.

MrJosh
“We "miss the point" because your argument is partially irrelevant and partially false. There have been problems in Chicago for decades, probably longer”

Actually I think you missed the point.

“problems in Chicago for decades”

Yep true, and Obama has been involved with
Chicago politics for decades as well. Community organizer all the way through to Senator.
Considering nothing much has changed in Chicago, it would be fair to judge Obama as an abject failure for the people of Chicago and all of Illinois.


“Having not fixed them is not an argument against him.”

Uhm yes it is, unless you can convince me that “fixing” problems was not his job.

BTW what do you think his job as a Community organizer all the way through to Senator was? To ignore problems?

“Also, that bit about Senator Obama only voting "present" is false.”

Are you claiming Obama NEVER voted "present" as an Illinois senator?

BTW can you explain why on days when he was in DC he voted on something’s yet on the same day “missed” other votes? Votes that his fellow Senators did not miss? Kinda sorta like voting "present"