Sun-Times was wrong about Kirk being "poised" to jump in some weeks ago.
http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/2009/05/20/sneed-kennedy-is-in/Sneed claims a Chris Kennedy run is a done deal…
Scoopsville . . .
Bet the ranch.
Sneed has learned the Merchandise Mart’s Chris Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, will announce next week he is running for the U.S. Senate.
Sneed has also learned Kennedy, who lives with his wife, Sheila, and four children in Kenilworth, has hired the prestigious media consultant firm AKPD and has already shot his first TV campaign commercial.
AKPD was founded by President Obama’s senior adviser David Axelrod. Axelrod divested himself of the firm when he took the White house job.
More from her column…
• • The rationale: Top Dem party sources tell Sneed a Kennedy candidacy would come with instantaneous name recognition. “He’s also lived here for 25 years, is in his late 40s, comes from a business background, and has that Kennedy magic,” the source added.
• • The pol shot: The battle for Obama’s old seat is up for grabs. Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Bill Daley just opted out of the race; state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias held a fund-raiser for his Senate exploratory committee starring rocker Pete Wentz May 11 in Chicago, and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky is now seriously eyeing a bid.
* Sweet isn’t as sure, but filed this yesterday afternoon…
-Everything I am hearing on Tuesday points to Chris Kennedy getting into the Illinois 2010 Senate race. Maybe this will change but a Kennedy decision is close. As of Tuesday afternoon, the plan calls for him to be announcing sometime probably next week. Long time Kennedy family friend Jay Doherty is being tapped to head up the fund-raising effort. […]
I talked to Kennedy on Tuesday night. “I’m keeping my options alive and working through a whole series of issues still,” he told me.
* And Larry wonders why a Cleveland deal isn’t getting more press…
Chris Kennedy has been getting pretty glowing coverage lately–in Chicago–not so much in Cleveland. Kennedy’s Merchandise Mart company has clouted a deal through the Cuyahoga county board where the county will float $900 million in bonds to build a mart that Kennedy’s company will then own, having only to put up $20 million and get all the profits for 20 years and having all their property taxes comped.
There’s profanity there, so beware if you are or have to be sensitive, but check out this excerpt from a Cleveland Plain Dealer story…
The decision, if it holds, would mean the county has decided to spend nearly a half-billion public dollars without holding a meeting in public to discuss the basis for its decision.
To make it happen, Hagan overrode the concerns of the county’s $100,000 negotiator, who wanted time to bargain with landowners before committing to one site.
Why the sudden rush? Why all the secrecy? And why would a county government in the middle of a sweeping federal corruption investigation choose not to conduct its business in the most open way possible?
