Progress Illinois

Back in September, we criticized former Sen. Peter Fitzgerald's baseless prediction at the Republican National Convention that, if elected president, Barack Obama would remove Patrick Fitzgerald as U.S. Attorney.  Yesterday, the Tribune's John Kass devoted a column to this topic, suggesting that an Obama administration may take such action out of deference and indebtedness to Mayor Daley:

What are political promises worth from politicians with debts to pay? [...]

Mayoral brother Bill Daley has been rumored for a Cabinet post in an Obama administration, and is expected to be on the transition team if Obama is elected. Bill Daley will look to protect his brother first. Although Bill is a thoughtful politician, somehow I just don't see the phrase "Barack, we've gotta keep Pat Fitzgerald" on Billy's lips in the personnel meetings.

Another Chicago connection, U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak), is being rumored as a possible White House chief of staff. Emanuel would also look first to protect the mayor.

I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous.  First of all, what "debts" does Obama himself owe to Daley?  As the Reader's Ben Joravsky recently wrote, the mayor hasn't exactly been an Barack-booster from the get-go:

[H]e hasn’t significantly helped Obama at any stage of his career. He didn’t endorse him during his successful bid for the state senate or his unsuccessful attempt to unseat Congressman Bobby Rush. He didn’t even back him in the 2004 Senate primary. Daley only endorsed Obama in the presidential campaign because he didn’t really have a choice—he had to look enthusiastic about the hometown guy, especially since he didn’t want to alienate black voters in last year’s mayoral election. [...]

Like every other liberal Democrat in this state, Obama had to make a monumental decision when he started his career. He could fight the machine, join it, or pretend it didn’t exist. He chose the third option, which put him in the company of most of the other liberals around here.

Second, while some of Obama's Chicago-based aides have benefited from Daley's rule, his strategists have to know that getting rid of Fitzgerald would be a disaster.  Beyond the great respect for him among many Illinois residents, Democrats and progressives nationwide hold the prosecutor in great esteem thanks to his spearheading of the CIA leak investigation.  The mainstream media is also intimately familiar with Fitzgerald thanks to that prolonged legal battle. If he were removed, it would become an instant national controversy.  There's no way the cautious, media-savvy Obama braintrust is going to let that happen.