MetaFilter posts tagged with chicago and politics

Mr. Geoghegan Goes to Washington

kliuless — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 08:44:52 -0800

Perhaps something of an oddity in Chicago machine politics [I like to think in the spirit of Sean Tevis] Tom Geoghegan (pronounced "gay-gun") is running in a special election -- primary March 3rd and (hope me :) general April 7th -- for Rahm Emanuel's vacated 5th district Illinois seat. Kathy G. describes the campaign thusly:

What does his entry into this race feel like? Well, to start, think Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Like the iconic character played by Jimmy Stewart in that film, Tom is a tall, gangly political outsider, and he has every bit of Jefferson Smith's indefatigable idealism and rock-solid integrity. Only, there's a twist -- this Mr. Smith is no blushing innocent. Tom is a Mr. Smith who's kicked around the big city for a couple of decades and has become all too familiar with the ways of the world. Sadder maybe, in some ways, but also savvier, and wiser. And yet still utterly driven and consumed by a burning desire to make the world a better place.

James Fallows, Cosma Shalizi and Thomas Frank also heartily endorse (and <3) Geoghegan. You can follow Kathy G.'s efforts to help get him elected here. [note: if you're suffering from déjà vu this is a repost per jessamyn's helpful (and appreciated!) suggestions]

Please CLICK HERE to donate now!

azul — Tue, 17 Aug 2004 07:24:59 -0800

The campaign website of Alan Keyes , Illinois Republican Party's nominee for the United States Senate. [via Chicagoist]

yippies, peace protests, police & Pigasus the pig

madamjujujive — Sun, 17 Aug 2003 00:20:10 -0800

Chicago 1968 - This month marks 35 years since the infamous 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Hope was at a low ebb in the wake of a turbulent year that saw the assassinations of MLK and RFK. Peace activists and yippies took to the streets to protest the Viet Nam war and to nominate a pig for president. Police responded with shocking brutality. The ensuing Chicago Seven Trial was theatre of the absurd, with a colorful and prominent cast of characters. So what's changed in 35 years? Can next year's conventions be expected to generate outrage or apathy? - more -

tsarfan — Tue, 19 Feb 2002 12:20:14 -0800

"This war would never have happened had I been president." Ralph Nader being interviewed by the Chicago Tribune yesterday. [reg. req'd] Nader says, "because for 30 years we have had an aviation safety group, and we have been urging the airlines to toughen cockpit doors and improve the strength of the locks, and they have been resisting for 30 years." [via Matt Welch.com]

tiaka — Sat, 02 Dec 2000 12:50:57 -0800

When you're an aiga member they send you e-mail, I usualy don't read them, because they're accouncements of conferences and such, but this one was about Chicago enlisting the help of AIGA to design new election ballots. 'Some possibilities for making Chicago ballots more user-friendly include enlarging candidates' names, changing the font size, altering the color of pages, making wider ballot booklets.' Since I couldn't find the article on-line, I'll just cut-n-paste the e-mail inside. :)

dhartung — Wed, 29 Nov 2000 19:27:05 -0800

Chicago to enlist graphic designers for friendlier ballots. [free reg may be req'd] There's been a bunch of discussion about the usability problems with various voting systems, notably punch-card ballots. Chicago didn't have anything as dramatic as a "butterfly" prexy ballot or two pages' worth of candidates, but we still had close to 120,000 discards from 2.1 million votes -- and when compared with jurisdictions using other systems, there's little evidence to suggest that voters are skipping the presidential ballot. That's just how bad manual punch card technology is. Even if we can't get rid of them just yet, at least we can make sure they aren't confusing. Did I just post the twenty-sixth link on Metafilter today? GO AWAY. METAFILTER IS FULL. :)