Richard Daley blew his stack yesterday after seeing his brother targeted in a new ad for John McCain.  The spot showed William Daley linked to Barack Obama as a lobbyist as well as being the brother of the man who runs one of the more corrupt major cities in America.  Daley reacted as one would expect — with threats and bald-faced lies:

The ad described Bill Daley, a former U.S. Commerce secretary, as a “lobbyist” and “the mayor’s brother.”

“First of all, my brother is not a lobbyist. He’s not a lobbyist. He’s not a lobbyist. He’s never been a lobbyist,” the mayor said.

Oh, really?  The Chicago Tribune suggests that Mayor Daley keep up with the family’s Christmas newsletters:

In fact, Bill Daley was a key Washington lobbyist for top U.S. and foreign companies and President Bill Clinton picked him to lobby Congress for passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement. When he was president of SBC Communications Inc. in 2003 he coordinated lobbying campaigns to sway both state and federal lawmakers.

Daley then told the media that he might run a few ads on his own:

“I respect the candidates running for president on both sides of the aisle. I don’t have to bring their family in an ad, to really do disservice — you see an ad about Sen. McCain’s wife and how wealthy they are? That would be unfair,” Daley said.

Oh, you mean like the “seven houses” ads that Barack Obama is already running?  I’m glad that Daley thinks those are “really unfair”.  Maybe he can tell that to his protegé.  Or his brother, who can then tell Obama.

Asked if he is suggesting a Keating Five ad, Daley shot back: “It would be a great ad. People lost their life savings. Life savings, their own homes, for a guy named Keating out of Arizona.[“]

Actually, Daley shouldn’t waste his money.  I expect Obama to start running ads on this topic within the next few days, and it would be perfectly legitimate to do so.  The scandal is part of McCain’s record of public service.  McCain can note that this prompted his career-long dedication to reform, and to his great credit, has never run away from this event.  However, given recent events, the Keating scandal will likely have more resonance now, even though McCain was one of the few in Congress trying to blow the whistle on the impending crash of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

I think it’s time to step up the pressure on Daley himself.  McCain needs to expose Obama’s alliance with Daley, John and Todd Stroger, and the rest of the cronyist Machine in Chicago.  The more Daley gets prompted into defending Obama, the better America can see the kind of environment that produced Obama, and the utter lack of effort Obama put into reforming it.