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Abstract
After five terms in Springfield, [Abner Mikva] again broke with the party establishment a decade later when he took on 84-year-old Rep. Barratt O'Hara (D) in 1966. Mikva lost the Democratic primary but ran again for O'Hara's seat and won in 1968, an upset that exacerbated a "friction [that] continued all through [[Richard J. Daley]'s] life," Mikva recalled.
After Mikva's first two terms in Congress, the Daley machine had exacted its revenge for O'Hara's 1968 defeat, redrawing Mikva's district with his defeat in mind. Out of work after the 1972 elections, Mikva moved north to suburban Evanston, on the outer boundaries of the Democratic machine's direct reach, where Daley "never really had much influence," Mikva said.
After [Barack Obama]'s loss to [Bobby Rush], Mikva said Obama began making inroads with the party establishment in Springfield, alliances that would become invaluable during the perceived outsider's U.S. Senate run three years later. Obama won the loyalty of now-state Senate President Emil Jones (D) and other establishment black politicians. And when Obama decided to make a run for Senate in 2004, Mikva recalled how he and Obama discussed his steep odds in the primary, a race that would include multimillionaire Blair Hull (D) and machine candidate Dan Hynes (D).