Mayor on message

Even as intramural sniping between delegates and surrogates for Barack Obama on one side and Hillary Clinton on the other continues, Mayor Richard M. Daley refuses to be pulled off message.

After making a strong appeal for unity to the assembled Illinois delegation at breakfast, Daley declined to comment to us about state Senate President Emil Jones' alleged labeling of Clinton supporter Delmarie Cobb as an "Uncle Tom."

He reached back 25 years to cite an example of the kind of unity he'd like to see now, and interestingly, his story involved bridging a racial divide.

"I went through a tough primary with Harold Washington, and I remember the next day I had breakfast with him, and I supported him. A lot of people didn't like that, but after the primary, you have to support the candidiate. It's like a sporting event; you go over and shake the hand of the person who won the event."

And again, the mayor would not waver from the week's theme of Obama, unity and defeating John McCain. The mayor brushed off speculation that his brother, Bill, might run for governor. Asked about the pace of O'Hare Airport expansion, Daley says he's generally pleased, if somewhat frustrated by continuing legal skirmishes being waged by suburban opponents, including concentrated opposition by Bensenville and Elk Grove Village. When does the city expect to raze mostly vacant Besenville houses scheduled for demolition?

"That's up to the courts," Daley says, "It's not an executive decision."