What’s in a Name?

By Sean O’Driscoll

“Hello, this is Patrick O’Brien, formerly Frederick Rhine, please leave a message.”

Fred Rhine might think he has pulled a fast on the Chicago electorate, but the public aren’t that easily fooled.

Rhine, who was defeated three years ago when he ran for a Chicago judgeship, has legally changed his name to Patrick Michael O’Brien in the hope of cashing on the city’s huge Irish ethnic vote.

However, Rhine’s slick move has been exposed and he had to go on Chicago radio this week to defend himself, saying he was up against an unfair system in which people know nothing about the candidates’ records and just picked a name from their own ethnic group.

His attempts to change his identity have gone all the way — he has even changed the answering machine message at the Chicago law firm where he is a senior partner.

Rhine hopes to become the sixth O’Brien elected judge in Chicago, following on from the man who defeated him in 2002.

The Irish Voice has since learned that he is far from the only one trying this trick. A senior Chicago attorney tipped us off to the list of people seeking associate judge positions in Chicago, including some who have added nonsensical fadas, or accents over their names, in an attempt to look Irish for the selection panel.

Successfully elected candidates in the past have included L. Michael Getty, who was defeated in 1984 but elected in 1999 when he changed his name to Michael Brennan Getty.

Attorney James Smith lost an election in 1992 but won two years later by adding “Fitzgerald,” as a middle name.

Cook County Judge David Donnersberger lost the 1994 election but discovered his grandmother’s maiden name, Riley, as a middle name, and was subsequently elected.

According to Carrie K. Huff, president of the Chicago Council of Lawyers, having an Irish name has a statistically significant impact on getting elected.

However, she said that Rhine’s actions was a gimmick and unhelpful to his cause. “Strategic name changes and other cheap gimmicks,” to fool voters “strongly suggests that a candidate lacks the character and judgment to be on the bench,” she said.

“I’d rather attack the system than the candidate,” she said, adding that most people have absolutely no clue about who is running for judgeship and so pick people from their own ethnic group on Election Day.