Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.) is a hockey-loving, hard-fightin’ type of guy who has a lot to live up to — or reform — while holding Rod Blagojevich’s and Rahm Emanuel’s old seat.
by Politikos' -Anne Shredder Mills:
What’s the hardest thing to get used to in Washington?
When you come in on a special election, there’s no pause for orientation. It’s kind of like being transferred to a new high school halfway through the year. Besides the steep learning curve and catching up on institutional memory, it’s hard to figure out where the cool kids’ table is, but Barney Franks and Danny Davis let me into the cool caucuses. We goof on the squares and punk Dan Lipinski. Oh, and the pizza. I miss my Chicago deep dish and Ann Sather’s cinnamon rolls. Another thing is the door knobs are all changed. In the County Building, Forrest had them drop them down for me.
You’re a hockey enthusiast. How many fights have you gotten into while playing hockey?
One too many, and I have the stitches to prove it. That Jan Schakowsky thought I was the help.
What was the worst fight?
The one that Mr. Daly - the father of Mary Ellen Daly - which I avoided that was the worst fight I never had - like all ones I fought and never had on the County Board, I guess.
Would you rather check a guy or make a great pass?
Pass. I never accept a check. I learned from Bernie Hanson that cash is King!
And what about this fight at the Blackhawks game a few months ago? What happened there?
I did my part beating back the evil horde from Tiny Town.
You’re one of these “sleeps in his office” types. Why?
I'll sleep anywhere. The County. The Ward. Oh, Congress! Here, you mean. Not when CSPan's panning, It’s a short commute. Now if I could just convince the cleaning crew not to vacuum at 2 p.m.
Has Emanuel given you any advice on his old district?
Before the election, his advice was to never forget who the #$%^ got you to Washington, you half-pint mother#$%^&er: the voters - #$%^ them!. We may have slightly different vocabularies, but at around 5 feet 7 inches, we see eye to knee.
Blago’s book just came out. Have you read it? Do you plan to?
Probably not, I don't know that many words. I prefer history to fiction and cartoons to landscape painting.
There’s an open seat next to each of the following: Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) and John Conyers (D-Mich.). Which one do you choose and why?
Oh, so that’s where the cool kids’ table is. I’d actually like to spend more time with [Rep.] John Lewis (D-Ga.); I’ve been reading his book. A few weeks after being sworn in, my first co-sponsored bill — the Civil Rights Oral History Project — was signed into law, and the president invited me to join him and some colleagues in the Oval Office for the bill signing. I got a P-51 model that I built here its cool and one like them Colored Guys Flew in that War. There I was, standing with Congressman Lewis and the president. And I showed them the model and they said it was cool too. Just three weeks before that, I was standing on the floor of the Cook County Board and looking right at Tony Peraica's shoe laces. He busted up my first model of the plane the Colored Guys Flew - Tusk-something. Tony's Republican and Republicans Hate Coloreds and I Love Coloreds. Without hesitation I thought to myself, “Yeah, this is better.” The paint on the tail of this one is so much cooler. The President said so.
TAGS: Mike Quigley, Illinois, Hockey
