Honestly, for about 25 seconds of my life I saw myself as the youngest elected mayor of the City of Chicago once I saw the first tweet that Hizzoner Richard M. Daley would not be seeking a seventh term in office.

And then I figured if nothing else, this blog was enough to keep me from being elected.

Not to mention the 12,500 signatures required, and not having a financial backer or anything like that.  I figured a council position would make more sense than that. However, running as a council person would undoubtedly mean getting “bought” out on some level before even running for a mayoral position.  That being said, after serious thought, I nixed that idea.

However, due to media influence, the presumptive Democratic nominee has been touted as White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.  And probably, the word former will be attached to that title by the afternoon of October 1st, 2010.  That being the case, this Chicago mayoral race is officially going to be one for the record books.

I figured all bets were going to be off with this one.  I can’t even decry the “splitting the black vote” this time because the number of blacks running this time are just all absolutely ludicrous as far as I’m concerned.  Thankfully Jesse Jackson, Jr. is out of the race as his wife, Sandi is, thanks to his random dalliances with waitresses and frankly he needs to clear his name as it relates to the Blagojevich situation.  Then we saw that State Senator Rev. James Meeks, pastor of the Salem Baptist Church on the far South Side is attempting to throw his hat in the ring.  I don’t even want to begin to deal with the problems surrounding being a pastor and an elected official–let alone a mayor.  And then if the black potential candidate list couldn’t get any more weird than it was, former U.S. Senator and U.S. Ambassador to Fiji Carol Moseley Braun is attempting to make a go at it.

Flat out, I don’t support nor endorse any of those potential candidates.

And then the media outlets had the nerve to even mention the names of other well known black politicians of State Sen. Emil Jones and U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis as potential candidates.

This was laughable to me as a black south sider planning to vote in the upcoming election cycle.

And not to mention the crowd of non-blacks who are planning to run coming from all kinds of political backgrounds who are expecting to run and some who have even declared their intent.

If Emanuel does intend to officially run, and get his signatures on the ballot, he’ll come into the fray with already $1,000,000 in a campaign war chest, certainly big bucks compared to the others attempting to run. This of course puts him at the advantage.  And the guy’s relatively telegenic and as far as Chicagoans are concerned, as unknown as he is, he still doesn’t have any baggage associated with him.

And he has the star power of Obama trailing him.

Well, for better or for worse he’ll be in Obama’s shadow.  I think it’s a bit up for grabs just how well that may go for him.  I’d be shocked if Obama actually endorsed the guy prior to the primary race–which of course like other major cities is the same as the general election with presumptive winners already determined.

I think the sad thing is that none of these candidates inspire me.  That secretly makes me wish I had some money lying around or had some business people I could just call up.  But, seeing as how the numbers in my bank account don’t even have the need for a comma, me running is out of the question.  Because of course, in cases such as this, if you’re going to complain so much, you might as well just do it yourself. But alas, I don’t quite see it that way this time.

Truth be told, if Rahm Emanuel gives it a go, barring him not saying anything outlandish in this “listening tour” he’s launching, I’m probably going to vote for him.

Although, I think this is a clear evidence of a crisis of leadership all around.  Seriously, Jackson, Jr. should have had it more together because it wouldn’t have been hard for me to endorse him, but clearly I can’t do that.  And aside from that, that’s all that the candidate pool has to offer?  Middle aged people who are trying to make a name for themselves who don’t even look the part?  Half of the potential candidates from U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez to Bill “Dock” Walls all look like they belong on a soccer field cheering their kids or grandkids along, not on the fifth floor of city hall governing Chicago.

I’m just saying.

The new mayor will have to deal with police chief Jodie Weiss as to whether he goes or stays, CTA issues and state funding, and naturally how to handle Ron Huberman and the behemoth that is big city education.

Oh yeah, and the budget.

Daley thought it was good practice to sell off the parking meters for $1,000,000,000 or and lease them to some independent company for 75 years, and it was a horrible PR move that most people disapproved.  And still the one shot-in-the-arm did nothing to really balance the budget.

Well, let’s just hope whoever gets picked for the city of Chicago does right by the city.  For those of you who know I just watched all five episodes of HBO’s The Wire you’ll know that officially, I have very little faith in the big city system anymore.  Certainly not when it comes to government.

So we’ll see.

Keep it uppity and keep it truthfully radical, JLL