Turns out, Jesse, Jr. is Candidate #5. I can easily explain this mistake: I often don’t know what I’m talking about.

It’s possible that his “emissaries” were not acting with his knowledge, I guess. And if it’s true that he’s “not a target of this investigation,” then the feds must think he’s clean. It’s my guess that if he, or even one of his advisors, had offered to raise $500,000 for Blago, he’d be strung up, too. I’m not convinced of this point, since it’s possible that the feds aren’t targeting him because they want his testimony.

But still, I don’t see him getting the seat if he’s this closely linked to the whole mess. Please, stay tuned for further inaccurate “insights.”

Ever since Obama looked like he was going to win, and the big Party in the Park was planned, there’s been non-stop chatter about how good this will be for the city (especially among those who think bringing the Olympics here in 2016 is a good idea). But now, in the same way Obama has been tamping down expectations for his first-term, Chicagoans may want to dim their own expectations. Yesterday, Tribune Media, owner of the Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy. Given that the Sun-Times has been on its last legs since fish grew legs, this is bad news for the city.

Oh yeah, and now Illinois has two consecutive governors come under federal indictment (or will, very soon). Just as former guv George Ryan tries to weasel a pardon out of the departing Bush administration, it turns up that current guv Blagojevich attempted some exceedingly unsubtle horse-trading to get a new gig or a big payoff for appointing Obama’s senatorial replacement. Obama, for his part, comes off clean to my mind and many others’. So far as I can recall, Obama has never really been in Blago’s corner, despite the occasional meaningless ad, etc.

It’s been fun today to read the country’s reaction (and not only because every news account has to breakdown the pronounciation (bluh-GOY-uh-vitch). Here in Illinois, we’ve known Blago’s as corrupt as they come since he set foot in office, prompting a fairly strong recall movement here (In Cook County, 60 percent of voters approved an advisory constitutional amendment that would allow for the recall of elected officials in the state). This is a man who declared at a Cubs playoff rally that he often asked himself—when making executive decisions—”What would Lou do?” And he got booed. At a Cubs playoff rally! And lest you think it’s because he’s a Sox fan, watch this video from the statue dedication at the Cell. Booed. Mercilessly.

I told you I would be a sucker for stuff like this. Good thing I can’t concentrate at work:

Today, I’m going to be a sucker for stories like this one.

Last night, I told my wife the story of how, in 1990, shortly after my twelfth birthday, I went into the voting booth with my dad. It was a heated gubernatorial election that year, between former US Attorney Bill Weld (Republican) and former BU prez John Silber (Democrat). My dad let me punch the ballot for him, and when it came time to choose governor, I accidentally punched for Weld. I remember my dad letting out a stifled “No!” and then taking the stylus out of my hand.

That night, the ongoing joke in my family was that if Silber lost by one vote, it was going to be all my fault. I remember being very nervous that night that just such a result would play out. It was the first election that I stayed up all night to see the end of. Weld did narrowly win, but by about 76,000 x 1 votes. Of course, in an election settled by even 76,000 votes, one vote is more symbolic than it is game-changing, so I to this day feel bad that I altered my dad’s. But Weld ended up not being so bad, in the end. Though he did beget Cellucci (eh) who beget Swift (Holy hell what a trainwreck), so maybe it was worse than I thought.

The next time I stayed up deep into the night to watch an election unfold was, of course, 2000. I was working at Pioneer Press at the time, and my pal John and I were in the basement of the County building downtown, calling in results to our editors back in the offices. It was maybe the most fun I’ve had during an election, getting the print-outs of county-by-county tallies, racing out to a phone bank in the hallway and calling them in. Yes, even in 2000 this was how it was done. I remember watching on the giant screens in the basement as Florida was called for Gore. And then as the call was rescinded. I later went home and fell asleep on the couch, watching Tom Brokaw lose his mind.

In 2004, I was up in Milwaukee with my boy Sosenko, canvassing for Kerry. On election day, it was mostly about driving to various polling places, and giving snacks and juice to voters in line, to make sure they stay there. By the time we headed home, we’d gotten word from the Kerry Wisconsin office that it looked good for him in the state. It was such a satisfying experience, to work all day (not to mention previous trips) and at the end have it look like we were going to win. But on the long drive home, listening to the radio, it became clear that we weren’t going to win nationwide. Again, I fell asleep on the couch, reluctantly hoping that Kerry would challenge the vote in Ohio.

I’m not going downtown to the rally tonight. I sort of feel like an idiot for not being in Grant Park when Obama gives his speech, but M and I decided it’d be better to be around friends. We’re going to hit a couple of election night parties and, once again, get ready for a long night.

FiveThirtyEight has Obama with a 98.1% chance of winning. Hoo boy.

Anyone see that coming two years ago?