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This is a general issue. See also: Thiel, the Mercer's, the Koch's, Sheldon Adelson, the Illinois Democratic political machine, the Harry Reid Nevada political

• saalweachter 8y ago
  Are there still functional political machines in the US? The Chicago machine survived the 40's but was killed by the Shakman Decrees 20 years ago. (There's still a formidable political party to be sure and a bit of graft wouldn't surprise me, but it seems almost sarcastic to compare that to eg the New Deal political machine, or the Chicago machine of ol'.)
  • toomuchtodo 8y ago
    > Are there still functional political machines in the US? Rahm Emanuel, Michael Madigan, and Lisa Madigan come to mind.
    • deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    • saalweachter 8y ago
      Those are all Chicago politicians, yes. While people sometimes use "political machine" to mean "a functioning, robust party" nowadays, a "political machine" refers to a specific system of patronage, where campaigning for a politician or political party is rewarded with government jobs, and anyone supporting the opposing party was rewarded with unemployment. At the height of the Chicago political machine (and New York, and ...) tens of thousands of city jobs were used to reward campaign workers, not just big donors and campaign managers but the people who knocked on doors or district leaders who ensured good turnout in their districts. At the height of the New Deal political machine, the WPA was used to do the same. Rahm Emanuel, meanwhile, has "good relations" with Chicago businessmen and receives giant campaign donations; Michael Madigan tried to get jobs for a half dozen people and was shutdown hard.