Daley on the Defensive

The most powerful political machine in the U.S. is run by Mayor Richard Daley in Chicago. Reformers have railed against it and disappeared; the machine endures. But now it is under a new kind of attack that may prove more damaging. For the first time since Daley moved into city hall almost 17 years ago, his rule has been challenged by a trusted lieutenant, and the case is being aired before a fascinated public. This unheard-of revolt could ultimately wreck Daley's machine, plunge the Illinois Democratic Party into disarray and throw a crucial state to Richard Nixon in the presidential election.

The trouble began last September, when it was revealed that Edward Hanrahan, state's attorney in Cook County, had been indicted by a special grand jury. He was charged with trying to prevent an honest investigation of the police raid on a Black Panther apartment in 1969 that resulted in the death of two blacks.* At first, Daley was willing to overlook his loyal protege's indiscretion; Hanrahan was on the 1972 slate of Democratic candidates proclaimed by Daley early in December. But Daley did not realize how badly Hanrahan had been hurt.

As the Democratic candidates hit the campaign trail, they discovered that voters were more concerned about Hanrahan than any other issue. Lieutenant Governor Paul Simon, who is running for Governor, told Daley that Hanrahan's presence on the ticket could defeat them all.

So Daley summoned the state's top political leaders to a marathon Sunday meeting to discuss the fate of Hanrahan. After heated argument, the caucus decided that Hanrahan had to go. Next day, Cook County's 80 ward and township committeemen met to vote to replace him on the ticket with Raymond Berg, chief judge of the traffic court. They had little time to make the change official. If Berg was going to qualify, they had to have about 6,000 names on petitions by 5 o'clock that afternoon. City business was ignored as jobholders scurried around with petitions, some bearing numerous forged signatures of names taken from polling lists. In a mere 5 1/2 hours, Daley loyalists ended up with almost 20,000 signatures--more than enough to withstand any challenge.

Hanrahan was offered a circuit court judgeship as a consolation prize, but he turned it down. He said he would prefer to serve on the Illinois appellate court. That seemed to be asking a bit much for a man currently under indictment, so Daley demurred. Hanrahan marched before television cameras and announced that he would not withdraw from the race for state's attorney. Said he: "That would be the Black Panthers' biggest campaign propaganda victory."

With the machine against him, he does not stand much chance of winning the primary. It is the trouble he can cause that alarms the Democrats. As state's attorney, says a top Chicago politician, "Hanrahan knows where all the bodies are buried and where all the skeletons hang. He's just bullheaded enough, if pushed, to declare war on the machine." In other words, though no one would have believed it a month ago, Hanrahan is in danger of becoming a reformer.

Fear of Knapp. The machine has been willing to lose almost any office in the state in order to keep the prosecutor's job in reliable hands.

With the Hanrahan defection, party regulars fear the worst--for example, a probe of Chicago cops in the style of New York City's Knapp Commission. Already the names of several dozen people who say their signatures were forged on Berg petitions have been handed to Hanrahan for investigation. Even if he is dropped from the ticket, Hanrahan still has another year in office in which to make trouble.

Still hoping to make a deal with Hanrahan, Daley is trying to put a bright face on the affair. "This shows the strength of the Democratic Party," he says gamely. "You can have differences of opinion and you can work them out at the polls. We're having an open primary."

That is the last thing he actually wants. His own power has been threatened not by a liberal Democrat who can be casually written off but by a loyal son of the machine--a sign of inner decay. By staying in the race, Hanrahan will boost the chances of the independent candidate for Governor, Dan Walker, a Chicago lawyer and onetime vice president of Montgomery Ward who authored the famed Walker Report on rioting at the 1968 Democratic Convention. If they emerge divided from a bruising primary, the Democrats will not be in the best shape to defeat Nixon --and once again Hanrahan may be keeping an eye on the voting machines. The Hanrahan affair could be the beginning of the end of Richard Daley.

* The Panthers charged that the cops came in shooting, while the police argued that the blacks fired first. A federal grand jury reported that there was evidence that only one bullet had been fired by the Panthers, v. at least 82 by the cops. Charges were dropped against the Panthers, and Hanrahan was accused of obstructing justice by covering up for the police and interfering with the defense of the surviving Panthers.

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