RIP Maggie Daley.

Chicago's former first lady is laid to rest today.

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will," Maggie Daley once said.
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She was private citizen Maggie Corbett when she met a young man named Richard M. Daley at a Christmas party in 1970. He asked her out for New Year's Eve. She said yes, and 15 months later, they were married.

Maggie concentrated on being a mother even as her husband ran for and was elected an Illinois state senator in 1972.

Nora, Patrick and then Kevin were born. But the death of 33-month-old Kevin from spina bifida was a traumatic blow to both Maggie and Richie.

Later, daughter Elizabeth completed the family. In recent years, grandchildren obviously became a joy.
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On Nov. 17, the Daleys' daughter Lally was married. The wedding was moved up from New Year's Eve because the couple wanted to be sure Maggie could "fully participate" in the celebration. It was a hint to the condition of Maggie's health.

One more emotional highlight to the ceremony was Lally wearing the dress Maggie wore when she married Richard Daley.

But more than anything, Maggie Daley's faith made her strong.

"I believe in the power of prayer, and that's why I think that prayer is such a gracious thing," she said.

Son Patrick Daley eulogized his mother.

Mom always lived in the present, enjoying life, laughter and the occasional piece of dark chocolate," Patrick Daley said. "She was the first one out and the last one off the dance floor.

"To us, she was a grandmother, aunt, sister, wife, and mother. We are so proud of our mother. She lived such a positive life, impacting so many. For such an accomplished woman with so many professional and personal commitments, she always had time to simply be our mother," he said.

He concluded with a mention of his toddler brother's death decades earlier.

"Mom, we thank you. We love you. We miss you. Hold Kevin close until we see you again."
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The Daley family has always been in the public spotlight, and they expected that reality even in their time of grief. They posed Sunday for a photo in front of the closed casket of their beloved Maggie. Her visitation at the Chicago Cultural Center drew many people. Everyday Chicagoans were there, along with family friends and politicians.

"It is very much a celebration of her life. The ceremony is very upbeat, and you know, I think the family is well served by the presentation that they have," said family friend Robert Abboud.

"You just never saw her without a smile on her face, and as I said, Rich may have had his friends and enemies, but Maggie was all friends," said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D), Ill.

Maggie's love of the arts was represented Sunday by the choirs and musicians from the After School Matters program she created. Many of the mourners were graduates.

"There is nobody that has done more nationally as an example for children and for the arts. I mean, her program, they talk about it every place you go around the country, and it was her heart," said Father Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina Catholic Church.

Officials say President Barack Obama could not be in attendance at the funeral because he has activities surrounding issues with the European Union.

In related news...

In practice, or perhaps out of necessity, the Democratic Party in 2006 and 2008 chose the upscale white-downscale minority approach that proved highly successful twice, but failed miserably in 2010, and appears to have a 50-50 chance in 2012.
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But preparations by Democratic operatives for the 2012 election make it clear for the first time that the party will explicitly abandon the white working class.

All pretense of trying to win a majority of the white working class has been effectively jettisoned in favor of cementing a center-left coalition made up, on the one hand, of voters who have gotten ahead on the basis of educational attainment — professors, artists, designers, editors, human resources managers, lawyers, librarians, social workers, teachers and therapists — and a second, substantial constituency of lower-income voters who are disproportionately African-American and Hispanic.

It is instructive to trace the evolution of a political strategy based on securing this coalition in the writings and comments, over time, of such Democratic analysts as Stanley Greenberg and Ruy Teixeira.

Both men were initially determined to win back the white working-class majority, but both currently advocate a revised Democratic alliance in which whites without college degrees are effectively replaced by well-educated socially liberal whites in alliance with the growing ranks of less affluent minority voters, especially Hispanics.

To quote ... Milli Vanilli:
It's... a... tragedy for me to see the dream is over.