Courtesy of NBC Chicago's Ward Room:Obama [in 2002] sat down with a Democratic Party staffer in a room at Springfield’s Stratton Office Building known as the “inner sanctum,” with a very specific idea of what he wanted his new district to look like: a narrow band, following the Lake Michigan shoreline from 95th Street to downtown. Obama got rid of low-income Englewood and added the Gold Coast. He would no longer be a South Side Senator. He’d be a Lakefront Senator, representing most of Chicago’s monuments – Soldier Field, the Adler Planetarium, Grant Park – as well as the Magnificent Mile and its multi-million dollar high-rise condos. Mayor Daley would be a constituent. So would Oprah Winfrey. Obama wanted to run for U.S. Senate, and the new district was an ideal platform. Losing to Bobby Rush had taught him that his natural constituency wasn’t inner-city blacks, but well-educated eggheads of all races. Also, he’d be representing some of the most generous Democratic donors in the state. They’d see his name on a ballot, and his face on the “Legislative Update” every senator sends home.Well he learned how to play the political game very well. In starting his political career even after being largely rejected by Chicago's Black establishment, he was smart enough to engage in the tried and true tactic of objecting to candidate petitions.
What was this article about? Well the Republicans want to reform the redistricting process. And they're calling for more transparency in the process.
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