Golden by Jeff Coen Page A

Fifth District. Blagojevich undercut Kaszak’s support among women by getting help from several female legislators, including Ronen and Erwin, who found Kaszak cold compared to Blagojevich’s gregariousness.
    By the time the polls closed, only a handful of people were inside the Thirty-Third Ward’s new headquarters on Kedzie just north of Addison. While clusters of precinct workers were at a nearby tavern on the corner, Dick Mell, wearing reading glasses, wandered in and out of his back office area. The entire office was lit up, shining light onto the darkened street.
    A few minutes after 7:00 P M, Blagojevich arrived, smiling. So was Mell. In Mell’s office, Blagojevich took a moment to thank his father-in-law for all he had done.
    â€œI don’t know what else we could have done,” Blagojevich told Mell. “If we lose you get to go fishing, and if we win we have to do this all over again in November.”
    Minutes later they both realized Mell wasn’t going fishing anytime soon. Reports from his precinct workers were coming in from the liberal lakefront. Blagojevich, Mell, Axelrod, and his team had war-gamed that all Blagojevich had to do was win about 30 percent of the vote on the lakefront and he would win the whole race due to what they knew would be oversized support in the Bungalow Belt.
    The first precinct came in from Lincoln Park. Blagojevich had lost by only three votes. He instantly felt vindicated. He’d done better with the yuppies and reformers than most in his campaign thought he’d do.
    A jovial atmosphere quickly spread throughout the headquarters. Patti arrived, followed by Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, and his family. Jammed inside the cramped ward headquarters with dozens of precinct workers, the Mells and Blagojevichs began to celebrate Rod’s apparent victory. Cars were double-parked outside on the street, and the windows began to steam up. Vehicles driving by honked their horns. By nine o’clock, almost everybody headed over to Mell’s house to watch the returns even though Mell stayed back, continuing to crunch numbers and take calls.
    Though many finally began to feel confident about a Blagojevich victory, television reports still declared he was trailing. Those Bungalow Belt votes hadn’t come in yet to turn the tide. At Mell’s house, Blagojevich got on the phone with his mother, who was following the results on TV. She was in tears.
    â€œTV has you losing,” she told him.
    â€œNo, Mama, don’t worry about it. We’ve got the numbers, we’re going to win,” Blagojevich said.
    Incredulous, Mrs. Blagojevich asked her son, “Have you talked to Alderman Mell’s precinct captains? Ask them, they’ll tell you, you lost.”
    Blagojevich finally reassured his mother he had spoken to them and he was confident of his victory.
    After Blagojevich took a shower, the remaining votes came in as expected. Calls were pouring in for him to make his way to the victory party, being held at an antique mall on Western Avenue. When Blagojevich arrived, Mell still wasn’t there. Sitting in the car, Patti spoke to Axelrod, who told them to stay outside until Mell got there. Eventually, they called the campaign headquarters and discovered Mell was still there.
    â€œYou guys go without me,” Mell told them. “I’ll get there. Don’t worry.”
    During his speech, Blagojevich used no script. He publicly thanked Longo, an acknowledgment that would come to follow him for years because of Longo’s criminal and questionable past.
    When Kaszak called to congratulate him on his win, Blagojevich began the conversation with, “Boy, you really know how to raise money.”
    The day after the win President Clinton called to congratulate Blagojevich. As he was talking to the president, Blagojevich watched while Mell took down campaign signs.
    â€œYou and I, Mr. President, share a common fondness for