While Todd Stroger appears to have broken with the Daleys - who had already broken with him - it appears he may have another political heavyweight in his corner: Mike Madigan.
That's the buzz, anyway, coming out of the punditsphere.
For example, Tribune columnist Eric Zorn this week to find out who buried a bill that would have made it less ridiculously easy for Todd Stroger - and any Cook County Board president to follow him - to sustain a veto.
Zorn's journey ended at Madigan's doorstep.
Crain's political writer Greg Hinz found the same thing in a blog post titled "Stroger Wearing Madigan's Jacket."
"With dozens of political loyalists scattered throughout Mr. Stroger's government, the speaker has put a brick on pending legislation that would tone down Mr. Stroger's veto power," Hinz writes. "If you look through Mr. Madigan's financial disclosure reports, the contributions from county employees almost leap off the page."
A commenter on the Chicago Daily Observer thinks the analysis is slightly off - but still to Madigan's disfavor.
"You’re missing a key point," missing it writes, "one that Rich Miller pointed out today. Madigan doesn’t need a few county employees’ contributions for his giant state party coffer. He does need the votes of his black caucus members to pass a budget, capital bill, etc."
The Illinois Republican Party was happy to post Hinz's column.
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And the rest of the blogosphere is picking up on the theme.
"Yep, as much as I can't find enough ways to describe Todd Stroger in the most unfavorable terms possible, the fact remains that he's a part of a larger picture," a post on Mountain of Evidence says. "As an individual, he redefines 'chump' to a new low, but he's not alone. As they say, when you see a turtle on a fencepost, you know he didn't get there on his own. Could it be that Illinois voters need to take a look at Michael 'Fencepost' Madigan?"
Now the question is whether Madigan decides, like the Daleys, that Todd Stroger is too much of a burden. In the meantime, remember that that turtles don't get on fenceposts by themselves.
Steve Rhodes is the founder, editor and publisher of The Beachwood Reporter.
