I couldn't find the Obama library thread but this article works here too.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ick-is-delayed
March 09, 2015
What's behind the news that the Obama library pick is delayed?
Greg Hinz on Politics
Bloomberg By now, you've heard the AP report that the Barack Obama Foundation's library decision is being delayed by the Chicago mayoral runoff. But what's really behind this development?
So, what should one make of today's news that the Barack Obama Foundation will delay its decision on where to locate the facility until after Chicago's April 7 mayoral runoff election?
The three or four folks who really know aren't talking. But I hear some fascinating buzz out there today, ...some of it aimed right at mayoral challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, who's trying to oust incumbent Rahm Emanuel.
First, the Associated Press story reporting the delay is accurate. ...
But the reason the AP cited—that President Barack Obama didn't want to avoid politicizing the decision—strikes me as a bunch of hooey.
Yes, it's true that, when the late-March timetable was selected, pretty much everyone in politics expected Emanuel to win a second term by now. But the president managed to deliver on making Pullman a national monument just a few days before the first round of the mayoral vote, so it's a little hard to suggest with a straight face that the president isn't trying to help his former chief of staff.
Another theory out there is that the foundation has decided that the prize will come not to Chicago but to New York City, where Columbia University is bidding, and wants to avoid embarrassing Emanuel now. That theoretically is possible,
but unlikely, ...
A third theory comes from a source very close the process who backs Emanuel, but has no particular reason to help him.
That source suggests this: In the same way that the foundation wanted certainty when it let it be known that two sites in Washington and Jackson Parks would have to be owned by the city, it now is concerned about Garcia's support for those sites.
Though Garcia recently did appear to drop his opposition to using park land for the library, he hasn't detailed whether he would use the city's full powers and legal staff to defend a, say, Washington Park pick against a lawsuit by Friends of the Parks or other green groups. Putting out informal word that
Obama doesn't trust Garcia might well motivate some African-American voters to cast their ballots for Emanuel, one could argue.
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