Chicago politics is filled with unwritten rules befitting the city’s clout-drenched history.
One such classic was once directed at a young Abner Mikva, who went on to become a federal judge and presidential adviser. As the story goes, Mikva, then a law student, showed up unannounced to volunteer at a Chicago ward office, and a committeeman asked who sent him. “Nobody,” responded Mikva, to which the incredulous committeeman retorted, “We don’t want nobody nobody sent.”
Then there is the old political chestnut: “Don’t make no waves, don’t back no losers.”
Another unwritten rule came into play Tuesday when Lori Lightfoot, a candidate for mayor, announced her ethics plan — an antidote to the aforementioned clout culture. Apparently, it turns out, a mayoral wannabe with an ethics agenda must have a human prop as proof of good intent. Lightftoot deployed Dick Simpson, a former Chicago alderman, at her ethics press conference.
