The Candidate of Cool
So O’Connor figured an “Abraham Lincoln Republican” like himself would be good for the city’s soul and the party’s soul, and might even get elected. “I sent a note to the governor saying ‘I’m thinking of running for mayor. I think I can win. I think I would be a good mayor. I’m probably too chicken shit to do so, but you ought to know.’” Some black committeemen were encouraging, the Sun-Times did a story–there O’Connor was, a candidate.
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Paul O’Connor is the eldest son of retired TV commentator Len O’Connor. “He stood for something,” said Paul wryly. “And more important, he stood toe-to-toe against the Machine. And here’s his kid wading into the shark-infested waters.”
In ’67 O’Connor did something remarkable. He dropped out of the University of Chicago and joined the Army–his protest against what he now calls the country’s “racist and Darwinistic draft policies for Vietnam.” He wasn’t a civilian again until 1971. Then he enrolled at the School of the Art Institute under the GI Bill and studied color and sculpture. In 1972 Mike Royko hired him as his legman.
“It was a phenomenon. Everyone was mellow. There was a blanket of blacks here, a blanket of blacks there. Banter. Sharing of jokes. People being mellow.”
“So I just don’t see it. The emperor of racism has no clothes on. There’s a way to win [the mayoralty] and the key is to blow through racism, hit it hard, say bullshit on the deal, and in three days you’re out of there and you don’t do racism again.
Common Ground: George and Mikhail
