News Coverage: Facebook

In his quest to get on the ballot as an independent candidate for assessor, Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool is leaving no stone unturned.

His campaign was at yesterday's Tea Party protest at Daley Plaza, asking the 1,000 or so people there to support his bid.

It makes sense for Claypool - disenfranchised with Machine politics - to seek support from Tea Partiers, who are disenfranchised with high taxes and the government, in general. Read more...

There's nothing like a good Internet flame war to further political discussion.

Scott Cisek, the newly-minted political director of the Cook County Democratic Party, and Tom Bowen, County Commissioner Forrest Claypool's campaign manager, got into it on Facebook yesterday, in what appears to be the philosophical ouster of Claypool from the party.

On his Facebook page, Cisek wrote, "Cook County Democrats, remember what Benjamin Franklin said, 'We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.'" Read more...

Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool already faces an uphill battle in gathering 25,000 petition signatures to get him on the ballot in his independent run for assessor.

A caveat in state election law might present another challenge for the erstwhile Democrat.

The law states that no one who has sought petition signatures for a campaign can gather signatures for another candidate in the same election cycle. That could pose a problem for Claypool, as he ramps us bid for assessor. Read more...

Scott Cisek, who has led Alderman Toni Preckwinkle's campaign for Cook County board president, announced yesterday he is leaving the campaign to become political director for the Cook County Democratic Party.

He told the Current Preckwinkle suggested he take the job.

"She said we're in a strong position and some of the ticket is not in a strong position," he said. "She asked me if I would do it ... and I said I would do whatever she would want me to do." Read more...

Much has been made about the voyeuristic way people live their lives these days, displaying everything from musical tastes to questionable photos on the Internet.

Networking tools like Twitter and Facebook have millions of  users cementing their popularity, and state Sen. John Fritchey is no exception.

Fritchey, running unopposed for Commissioner Forrest Claypool’s 12^th District County Board seat, talked to The Week Behind, an online magazine, about living life on the Web, and how some of his colleagues think he’s crazy for not keeping it safe: Read more...