JEFFREY CARTER: The Wrong Take:

I am reading on Twitter, and in today’s Wall Street Journal that a Marxist was elected Mayor of Chicago because all the voters who would vote against him moved out. . . .

This is the exact wrong take.

A coalition of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, white Marxists, Blacks, and Marxist Hispanics elected a Marxist mayor. That should not be surprising to anyone.

I think Professor John McGinnis has a correct viewpoint. This election should be a bellwether, and wake up anyone that is a classical liberal or conservative.

First, it represents the triumph of the hard Left not on one of the coasts but in the heart of the Midwest, in a city known for its pragmatic, if machine-Democratic, politics. Second, it displays the raw power of public-sector unions in Illinois and in today’s Democratic Party. Johnson was not just supported by the unions; he is the paid agent of the most powerful and radical of them all—the Chicago Teachers Union. Third, Johnson’s victory will have national reverberations for years to come because his administration will test the Left’s attempt to transform urban policy.

Here is what really happened in Chicago. It didn’t happen overnight. My friend Matt Rosenberg has a nice expose on what it will take to change Chicago, but frankly, it’s not happening.

The Democratic Machine took power in the 1930s. They seized power over a Republican Machine. That Republican Machine elected Abe Lincoln. Chicago has been about Machine Politics and it’s been crooked since its founding.

Interestingly, Illinois is considered “The Land of Lincoln” but today the better moniker would be “The Land of Lenin”.

As the Democrats worked to exert power, they used the government as a cudgel over the head of the citizens. Get out of line, your garbage didn’t get picked up. Get out of line, a city inspector would visit your business and let you know it would be a shame for something to happen to your business.

They also stole lots of elections. As John Kass has expertly pointed out, who gets what office in Chicago isn’t competitive. It’s moving pieces around a chessboard. There are no surprises in the Chicago elections. The only drama is a faux drama created by the media and press. Today’s press in Chicago is merely a rubber stamp, a tool of the woke left. There are no true journalists in Chicago employed by the mainstream media. Not one.

It’s the model for the country as a whole, they hope.