POL, three candidates vying for chair of Cook County Dems

According to Rep. John Fritchey, who has a blog with an excessively long name, Rep. Lou Lang, Niles Township Committeeman, has joined the fray to become chair of the Cook County Dem Party.

Board of Review Commissioner Joe Berrios was the first candidate. Alderman Ike Carothers (29th Ward) was the second candidate. See Proviso Probe.

(BTW, Congressman Danny K. Davis staffer Tumia Romero withdrew her challenge to Carothers on January 12. See Chicago Board of Elections (page 6 of 16)(pdf). Carothers is now running unopposed.)

Back to Fritchey:

The biggest point of discussion has been why anybody would want the job. Many organizations are in disarray, and any County infrastructure is essentially non-existent. Accordingly, a lot of people envision the job as being a thankless one consisting of fundraising and headaches.

The latent enemy of a local Party organization has been various competing personal agendas and a certain level of distrust among many committeemen. But as the traditional (by Chicago terms) Democratic apparatus continues to erode, the focus needs to turn to ideology and methods to identify, attract and energize Democratic voters.

This would be a great opportunity for a discussion about what the County Party should look like and what it should be doing to help generate interest and expand the base in these changing political times in which we find ourselves.

How should the Cook County Dems organize the party?

How should the Proviso Democratic Party improve its organization?

And should Proviso Democratic Committeeman support her ally from the legislature, Lou Lang, or her ally from local politics, Ike Carothers?