Campaign! [ペーパーバック]

Campaign! is a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of a pivotal election in Chicago's history, the 1983 race for mayor. Peter Nolan was right there the whole way, and interacts with Richard J Daley, Bernard Epton, Jane Byrne, Richard M Daley, and Harold Washington in ways not seen before. We're also privy to the inner machinations of campaign workers and street soldiers. A great book, especially now, as Chicago prepares to be the focus of another landmark election.

From Buffalo native, a fun romp through Chicago politics
Campaign!: The 1983 Election that Rocked Chicago By Peter Nolan Amika Press 199 pages, $16.95 paper

By: Robert J. McCarthy
Buffalo News Book Reviewer

March 25, 2012

This book is about politics--not just any politics -Chicago politics. Raw, sometimes brutal, democracy at it worst and sometimes even its best. But always entertaining.

Peter Nolan, a Buffalo native, Canisius High School graduate and veteran Chicago television newsman, has penned a riveting chronology of the 1983 campaign that elected Harold Washington as the first black mayor of Chicago. It's a well-documented history, for sure, but it's also a wonderfully told story full of the colorful characters that always rank the Chicago political scene as so captivating.

Almost three decades after the historic election that gained national attention, the reader is reacquainted with the top Chicago names of the 1980s--Harold Washington, Jane Byrne, Michael Bilandic, Bernard Epton, Richard M. Daley and, of course, Richard J. Daley. Nolan documents how Daley the elder ruled over Chicago as one of the last machine bosses. He was dictatorial and sometimes ruthless, and he never really cultivated a positive image beyond his native Chicago -- especially after his police force was seen beating demonstrators on prime-time TV during the 1968 Democratic National Convention.

So after his death, a new kind of politics embodied by the feisty Byrne took over Chicago. Nolan remembers her populist appeal, and eventual fall from grace in the eyes of Chicago voters. It all leads to Washington's election in 1983.

Nolan tells the story beautifully, often weaving in his own presence as he recreates key scenes of the campaign that he personally covered. It gives the book a truly personal flair, and saves it from devolving into a boring history.

But this could never be a boring history book anyway. "Campaign!" chronicles a watershed election that involved change from the old order. And, of course, this book examines race--as Epton launched a rare competitive GOP effort against Washington.

Nolan's work also offers a close look at the inner workings of a big-time campaign.

Even if you're not a political junkie, you'll like what Nolan has given us -- including his frequent references to Buffalo. After all, politics is an important part of our lives. And it can be entertaining-- just like "Campaign!".

Robert J. McCarthy is The News' busy political reporter.

Though I haven't lived in Chicago since leaving for school in 1971, my family lives there (in fact, my father, Vince, is mentioned several times in this book) and I have always had an interest in the rough and tumble politics of "The City That Works." Peter Nolan, veteran NBC television journalist and playwright, has crafted an entertaining book about the 1983 election. The election pitted Chicago royalty, Richard M. Daley, son of The Boss, against Jane Bryne, sitting and not-beloved mayor, and Congressman Harold Washington, an African-American, in the Democratic primary. Nolan inserts himself into the story, but parenthetically, as the newsman he was covering the political beat in Chicago. The events are nearly thirty years removed, but I admit to a bit of nostalgia for the way things were in the wily world of Chicago politics. Instead of today's sound bites and slick television ads, this was politics on the street level, knocking on doors and pounding the shoe leather.

Aldermen, mini-mayors, ward heelers, committeemen, "walking around money", getting out the vote, in a town where being a Republican is akin to being a vegetarian working in a butcher shop.

With Washington's stunning victory in the primary, Bernie Epton, the Republican candidate for mayor (at best an after thought in most elections) is suddenly catapulted into prominence and an even chance to win. Here was a campaign that drew the attention of the nation. Epton, a long-time social liberal, World War II veteran, and beta noire of state politics, is branded a racist for his questionable campaign slogan, "Epton, before it's too late."

Nolan does a good job of capturing the city itself, a warren of neighborhoods, each with an ethnic flavor. There are still areas of the city where the Irish live, or where the Italians live, or where the Ukrainians live, or where the Poles, Armenians, Greeks, etc. are the predominant ethnic group. Tribal politics, tribal views.

if you're a political junkie, or a current or past Chicagoan who can remember Mayor Michael Bilandic being defeated by the snow and Jane Bryne, then here's your book. A quick, entertaining read.