If you know anything about how politics work in Chicago, the recent drama surrounding Cook County Board President John Stroger won't surprise you. Stroger, who has been president since 1994, won the Democratic primary in March despite having suffered a massive stroke a week before the election. After spending the last four months on a feeding tube, Stroger officially resigned Tuesday, both as a board member and the Democratic nominee for board president in November. The Tribune has a good overview.

Cook County Board president is the third most powerful office in Illinois, and the Cook County budget was more than $3 billion in 2005.

The Lipinskis. Scariest part: these are apparently the best pictures they could find.

Chicago-style, Stroger's likely replacement on the ballot is his son, Alderman Todd Stroger. And one of the leading candidates to serve the remainder of John's term as president is board member John Daley, brother of Mayor Richard M. Daley and son of former mayor Richard J. Daley. Really.

My own member of congress, Rep. Dan Lipinski, is in office because of a neat little bait-and-switch by his father Bill, who held the same congressional seat for more than 20 years. After winning the Democratic primary in 2004, BIll promptly announced his retirement and had his son Dan put on the ballot in his place. (No, I don't know how you pull that off either.)

Republicans don't really even bother to run in the Illinois 3rd District, so winning the primary is tantamount to winning the office. Which Dan did. Incumbent reelection rates run about 98 percent in the House, so Lipinksi the Lesser is probably in until he dies, retires or is indicted.

We generally accept low levels of nepotism as a integral part of society. It's just how things work — especially in Chicago. Who hasn't gotten a son, brother or niece a job at some point? Who doesn't want to hand down the family business to their eldest?

That just doesn't fly for elected office, though. One of the (many) reasons that landed aristocracy doesn't work real well as a system of government is that breeding is not a good predictor of ability or character. Anyone who believes in the genetic trickle-down effect needs to take a long look at JFK Jr., George W. Bush and poor, poor Tucker Quayle.

Democracy is not only about letting people choose their own government, but ideally also letting the most qualified people rise to lead that government. We're obviously not there yet, but can we at least sample freely from the gene pool?

We should be naturally suspicious of the daughters, nephews, sisters and grandsons of those who have already led. George W. should have been judged by a higher standard because his father was president, not a lower one. He should have had to prove beyond all doubt that he was running on his own merits, not coasting on his father's name. (And let's not forget Al Gore Jr. held the same Senate seat his father had for 18 years.)

But hey, once we've gone this far, why stop with two Bushes? W.'s father has openly speculated about the presidential candidacy of his other son, Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.

Listen. Politics aside. I don't care how much you love George W.'s presidency and think he's doing a bang-up job. The whole reason we started this democracy thing in the first place was to avoid having the same asshole family in charge for decades at a time.

And former presidential spouses aren't much better.

Democracy is hard work, I know. But if you don't have time to learn where a candidate stands on the issues and to vote according to your interests, here's a rule of thumb you can use: If you see a familiar name on the ballot, vote for the other guy.