By Steve Rhodes
Bob at the Beachwood is preparing for the transition. Who will be chief of bartenders?
Paper Tigers
I have to vehemently disagree with Robb Montgomery, who picked Wednesday’s Sun-Times as the nation’s best front page of the day. A static portrait? My interpretation of that was that the Sun-Times was unable to deliver a photo from the Grant Park rally because Obama appeared after its lame deadlines.
Looking through the gallery Robb provides, I liked the Tulsa World, the New Orleans Times-Picayune, the Omaha World-Herald, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and the New York Times.
I also liked what the Tribune did – at least in its second version, which is the one I received at home.
You can publish a portrait of Obama any day of the week. You can make it part of a special edition, or a poster. What you really wanted to show was history in the making – Obama (and his family) walking out on that stage in Grant Park as the president-elect. That was the (electric) moment to capture and convey.
And when Obama really does become the president, you want to show him taking the oath, or what he does in the moment just after.
Paper Lions
Mark Friesen also has a collection of front pages, and among these I like Newsday, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Seattle Times
Programming Note
I’ll be working through some Obama material as well as looking at other election results in the next couple of days, so, combined with my Internet problems yesterday, my subject matter may get a little scattershot, but I’m just trying to clear everything off my desk as best I can. So I’ll start here with today’s papers and see where it goes. Maybe tomorrow will be fun Obama stuff and local elections. Also, don’t forget to check out Election Day and Election Night material I posted on Division Street, as well as material I’ve already posted since.
Olympic Dreams
“Barack Obama’s victory doesn’t mean Chicago is a shoo-in to host the 2016 Olympic Games,” Fran Spielman reports. “But let’s put it this way: Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janiero are probably running scared right about now.”
Really?
“Tokyo has just taken the lead in the latest installment of GamesBids.com’s BidIndex, the original and most trusted formula for rating Olympic bids throughout their campaign,” GamesBids reports.
“Despite this week’s historic U.S. election victory by Barack Obama who has close ties to the city – Chicago’s bid fell to third behind Rio de Janeiro. While President-elect Obama will certainly be a valuable asset to the Chicago bid team, it’s too early to determine whether his politics or involvement in the bid will have a significant impact on the final vote next October.”
To be fair, the Tribune also a case of Obamania.
“Chicago’s hand just got hotter,” the paper states.
And Philip Hersh is already envisioning an appearance by President Obama before the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen next year. You know, if he isn’t busy with his day job.
Clout City
Forget all that talk about change.
* “State and local transit officials are buzzing about the federal grants that could come to northeastern Illinois with the help of the Obama administration. Some believe the potential Obama bonanza will far exceed the transit funding heyday years when Dennis Hastert, the Republican from Yorkville, was House speaker.”
* “Ald. Howard Brookins (21st) envisions Obama rewarding unions so that ‘maybe they will ease up on the local level. I might even be able to get a Wal-Mart now’.”
* “Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) wants Obama to make Chicago the Midwest hub of a high-speed rail network and to increase CTA funding.”
* “In Coles County, local supporters of the FutureGen project are optimistic that Barack Obama will breathe new life into the clean-coal plant.”
* “‘One word: money,’ said Ald. Emma Mitts (37th). ‘You’re supposed to take care of home first, aren’t you?'”
I’m sure the Adler Planetarium and University of Chicago are salivating as well.
The Truth About Turnout
Last I saw, it was about 61 percent – or the same as 2004.
That’s more important than raw numbers because the U.S. population has grown. Chances are, each successive president will win a record number of raw votes.
And it appears that it wasn’t higher turnout among young and black voters that made the difference, but that Obama simply captured more of those groups who did vote than John Kerry did.
Block That Kick
I’m sure the mayor was waiting for a day like the one after a historic election to propose another $12 million subsidy for Block 37.
Here’s an idea: dig a giant hole on Block 37 and invite tourists and taxpayers to watch city workers dump money into it every month.
Today’s Worst Person In Chicago
City revenue director Bea Reyna-Hickey was asked why the mayor’s proposed parking ticket amnesty isn’t as generous as the last one. Instead of saying “Because we need the money,” she said this:
“We’ve already got dollars committed through our payment plans, through the booting we’re already doing, through referral to collection agencies. We’re trying to tap new dollars. It would be a loss of revenue to do it the old way – the way we did it in 2002.”
Don’t think about it too hard, but if you do, I’m sure you’ll see a multitude of fallacies colliding.
Obama in the Beachwood
* The Obama Victory Set
* Grant Park, USA
* Bind our wounds.
The Moment
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Generally inspecting.
Posted on November 6, 2008