Cook County's Mean Mom Stomps Out Disloyalty

April 26, 2020

Democratic Party hack Toni Preckwinkle exiles two party officials in dispute over party slate.

If anyone is ever interested in learning techniques to survive in a claustrophobic environment, a Cook County Democratic Party meeting could be the optimum alternative.  A suffocating atmosphere, it is also one in which party disloyalty is unappreciated and unwelcome.

Though the meeting minutes of the April 15 gathering of the Democratic Party’s elite revealed a priority was to seat a replacement for former commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski, it as well served as a session in which the Cook County Democratic Party’s executive committee bid a fond adieu to a pair of longtime party stalwarts, Alderman Ariel Reboyras (30th) and Senator Laura Murphy (D-Des Plaines).  The latest subjects of Cook County Democratic Party Chair Toni Preckwinkle’s loathing, prior to being purged Reboyras fulfilled the role of party treasurer and Murphy served as party secretary.  Though the roles on the executive committee are virtually meaningless, Reboyras has served the City of Chicago for decades, the last 17 as 30th Ward alderman, and Murphy served as an alderwoman in Des Plaines before winning a seat in the Illinois Senate in 2015.  In addition to their elected offices, both Reboyras and Murphy served as Democratic committeemen for decades.  Nonetheless, despite these Mandarin-class resumes, the pair were summarily dismissed from their positions on the Cook County Democratic Party’s executive committee by Ms. Preckwinkle.  Their crime of crimes:  Both Reboyras and Murphy apparently naïvely believed their endorsement of Bill Conway over the Democratic Party’s slated candidate for Cook County state’s attorney, Kim Foxx, would go unnoticed by Ms. Preckwinkle.  An unpardonable act of apostasy against the Democratic party chair, though Preckwinkle declined to stoop to name calling or vitriol, she is known to keep a scorecard and refused to grant a reprieve to either Reboyras or Murphy for endorsing Conway over her anointed stooge in the prosecutor’s office.  While Reboyras was, at least, given an opportunity to clarify his grounds in front of Preckwinkle’s tribunal for refusing to endorse the uniquely incompetent Foxx, the leader of Cook County’s Democrats refused to lend support for Reboyras to return to his post.

Though Preckwinkle often coldly dismisses media inquiries into her decisions, as word leaked Reboyras and Murphy had fallen from her favor, Cook County’s mean mom referred to Foxx and stated:  “Her re-election was particularly important to me.”  One day following, when Preckwinkle was cornered about her resolve to banish Reboyras and Murphy from the executive committee, she told reporters:

“After that slating, my expectation as chair is people will rally around the slate that we’ve put together collectively … and Tracy (Katz Muhl) was one of the people who worked really hard on it.  Frankly, I had a conversation with Ariel, and I shared with him I couldn’t support him for treasurer since he was not supporting our candidate for Supreme Court, for state’s attorney or for clerk of [the Circuit Court] of the county,” Preckwinkle said to the Sun Times.

While many have become familiar with Ms. Preckwinkle’s dominion as president of the Cook County Board, few are ever given a window with which to gain a perspective over how she wields power as chairwoman of the Cook County Democratic Party.  We just got a peek and learned it is an unlovely view.

The ease and frequency with which Ms. Preckwinkle acts so vindictively is astonishing.

As president of the Cook County Board, Preckwinkle is recognized for her disastrous decision to impose a tax on sugary drinks, a tax on plastic bags, a scandal involving her security team, and her seeking refuge from the ethical mess which is Joe Berrios.  However, as chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, we are discovering she is unusually petty and immature. A woman who suffered an excruciating defeat in the 2019 mayoral contest, there are several reasons why Ms. Preckwinkle excommunicated Mr. Reboyras and Ms. Murphy from the Democratic Party’s executive committee, the first of which is rooted in her inclination to protect Cook County’s cack-handed prosecutor, Kim Foxx.  To Preckwinkle, Foxx is a political progeny who is deserving of protection from Cook County’s establishment politicians.  Embittered by the effrontery of Reboyras’ and Murphy’s endorsement of Foxx’s primary adversary, Preckwinkle’s protective instincts were aroused sufficiently to exact a swift and harsh punishment on both Murphy and Reboyras to silence their opposing views for publicly acknowledging Foxx had become an electoral burden.  Though Foxx has proven to be a repeated embarrassment to the Democratic Party chair, Preckwinkle’s critical mission is to nurture Foxx’s political career, and the duty to safeguard and advance Foxx eclipses any other interest.

Second, Ms. Preckwinkle is intent on ruthlessly quashing dissent.  A sad, almost tragicomic commentary on her term as chair of the Democratic Party, instead of quietly addressing Murphy’s and Reboyras’ endorsement of Conway over the incumbent Foxx in a behind-the-door meeting in the attempt to keep them in a box or on a leash, Preckwinkle’s reflexive gesture was to chase the two from the executive committee.  Had Preckwinkle held a proper chat with the two privately, she could have easily rapped Murphy and Reboyras on the knuckles for refusing to observe Foxx’s slating.  However, Ms. Preckwinkle’s political instinct interpreted Murphy’s and Reboyras’ endorsement of Conway over Foxx to be both failing a rigid loyalty test and a direct threat to Ms. Preckwinkle’s authority.  A committee suffering under a toxic chair, Ms. Preckwinkle sacking Murphy and Reboyras reveals she has a petty desire to shame others publicly, she intolerantly rejects any serious, considered or compelling arguments even from bone-deep loyalists, and her highest priority was political damage control and face-saving.  Moreover, Murphy’s and Reboyras’ exile demonstrates a condition to sit on the Democratic Party’s executive committee is consenting to a non-negotiable oath to submit.

Last, Ms. Preckwinkle’s gesture to remove Reboyras and Murphy represents her deficiency as a leader.  While atrocious leadership is a permanent attribute of Chicago’s and Cook County’s body politic, Ms. Preckwinkle may have set a new standard.  A woman who views herself in possession of monarchical powers, Preckwinkle’s personality is such she views resistance to her actions or positions as challenges to be met rather than judgments or independent thought which must be tolerated or respected.  Though Preckwinkle prefers to pose as broad in her perspective, dismissing Murphy and Reboyras exposes her to be remarkably resistant to any system of open inquiry which generates and tests best ideas or in which close political confidantes feel free to assert views.  From Preckwinkle’s view, Murphy and Reboyras must be guillotined rather than engaged because even the meager bleat of dissent could incite further discord, lead to periodic inter-party feuds, and may expose the limitations of her own perspectives.  In Ms. Preckwinkle’s worldview, differing ideas are not to be disputed; on the contrary, varying opinions are not to be engaged at all.  To Preckwinkle, opposing voices must always be silenced, opposed, controlled or destroyed because its intrinsic nature and existence is inimical to the advancement of her political imperatives and objectives.

Hardly the features of a first-class leader, what separates a selfish ideologue such as Preckwinkle with a sound leader is the fact a fine leader would have urged healthy, nuanced, and spirited debate in executive committee meetings over Reboyras’ and Murphy’s dispute with Foxx’s slating.  As essential cog in political discourse, the purpose of debate is not so much who can claim victory, but rather a moment in which one deepens an understanding of an opposing standpoint.  Wholesome discussion is not outshouting colleagues, but allowing opposing views to be shaped by sound arguments.  Opposing views can be worth hearing out and a matter from which one can learn.  While not all viewpoints contain an equal measure of wisdom and some can hold pernicious, false or even harmful views, it is quite clear, unlike Ms. Preckwinkle, Mr. Reboyras and Ms. Murphy did listen to voices which sounded alarm over the obvious failure Ms. Foxx’s tenure as prosecutor has become.   In contrast to Ms. Preckwinkle, Mr. Reboyras and Ms. Murphy listened and faithfully represented the views of their constituents and they were banished from the palace.  

Though Cook County residents discovered much from Ms. Preckwinkle’s style of leadership from her hostile takeover of the Cook County Health and Hospitals System, we are learning she operates little differently as Chair of the Cook County Democratic Party.  A verdict has been rendered:  Ms. Preckwinkle is a sovereign and her one idea of government consists of subordinates affirming and demonstrating clannish loyalty.

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