Chicago - Mayoral Race - Rahm Emanuel Wins

[ametz]

I don’t know that there are a lot of meaningful endorsements to be had, but Vallas is one of them although, given his common background with Chico, this was expected. The article cites ‘balanced budgets and labor peace’ in the CPS system but, as shown in recent stories in the Trib, these budgets were smoke and mirrors at the expense of their now totally f’d up pension situation. They kept the peace by giving raises and making promises that no person in his right mind would ever think could be kept (but the teacher’s union will cite Illinois law and force the city to pay up, one way or another). On one hand, I like that Chico has hands on experience with the CPS and did good work by most accounts. On the other hand, is his relationship with the system too cozy for the looming showdown? We need to pass a no-strike law for Chicago teachers. CPS already has criminally short days and short years, and the union isn’t budging….i’m not sure Chico is the one to sort that out. 37 states have no-strike laws for teachers on the books- time for us to do the same, or you’ll see the endless strikes that plagued the city in the 70’s and 80’s. The next mayor is going to gave a major fight on his hands.

[Chase Unperson]

It seems like Rahm may not be eligible to run as he didn't have a residence in the last year as he rented his out (so technically he owned property but it wasn't his residence).

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rahm-20101127,0,1124557.story

[ametz]

The clause about suspending this requirement if you're elsewhere "in the service of the United States" is what they're banking on. The guy bringing the claim says it only applies to the military, but that doesn't seem clear at all. I won't be shocked if Rahm gets bounced because of some narrow reading of this rule, but I'll be pretty damned surprised.

[Steely Dan]

As mayoral candidate who is also a minister, Meeks walks a fine line
Political rhetoric fills his sermons, but IRS rules prohibit campaign activity by churches
By John Chase, Tribune reporter
December 11, 2010


Pacing as he dabbed his sweaty face with a towel, the Rev. James T. Meeks fired up his large crowd with an energetic rant about City Hall's shortcomings — poor garbage pickup, red-light cameras, underperforming public schools.

"It's time for us to stand up. It's time for us to get up. It's time for us to wake up!" he exhorted.

While it sounded like many of the political speeches the state senator and candidate for Chicago mayor makes on the campaign trail, this was a sermon Meeks delivered last Sunday as pastor of Salem Baptist Church. The fiery preacher has built a career on social and political activism, but his entry into the high-profile mayor's race brings a new focus on federal law restricting political campaign activity by churches.

full article:http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/elect...or-meeks-sermon-20101211,0,3796511.story

[the urban politician]

^ zzzz...

Yeah, that's who I want running Chicago--a Baptist minister..

[ametz]

Meeks doesn't have a chance, but I don't think he knows or accepts that. He's primarily an activist with very specific concerns- if he's smart, he fires up his supporters and takes his candidacy as far as he can, then he elicits promises from one of the front runners (Rahm, Chico) that address his concerns, then throws his weight behind that candidate. He could very well be a deciding factor between Chico & Rahm, and he could get the changes he wants to boot. I don't get the feeling that Meeks is power hungry. I think he sincerely wants to address the disparity between Chicago's haves and have nots, and he'd be willing to step aside if it helped his causes.

[Baronvonellis]

Thank god Rham's renter is out now. What a douche, with all this negative publicity I hope he never gets to do business in Chicago again. I would never want to work with him on anything. Committing election fraud is a great way to start off a Mayoral campaign. Though, maybe it's a good way in Chicago as long as no one finds out, right.

[Nowhereman1280]

One of the principles at the firm I work at is really good friends with Rahm's renter. He is a tea bagger and needless to say motivated by an irrational hatred of Obama and therefore Rahm...

[Baronvonellis]

Which one is a tea bagger? The principle at your firm or Rahm's renter?

[Steely Dan]

Emanuel takes early lead in race for Chicago mayor
But poll finds plenty of room for others to catch up

By Hal Dardick, Tribune reporter
11:04 p.m. CST, December 14, 2010


Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is off to an early lead in the race for Chicago mayor, but there is plenty of room for other contenders in the crowded field as the fluid contest takes shape, a new Tribune/WGN poll found.

Emanuel had the support of 32 percent of voters, just ahead of 30 percent who were undecided, making him the only candidate in double-digits with more than two months before the Feb. 22 city election. He was well short of the outright majority needed to avoid an April runoff between the top two finishers.

First though, Emanuel has to survive a ballot challenge by those who say he doesn't qualify under rules requiring mayoral candidates to be Chicago residents for a year before the election. While several more of the 15 current candidates could be knocked off or drop out as the race gets serious, the poll showed a splintered field largely defined by name recognition.

full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-chicago-mayor-poll-1215-20101214,0,3381315.story




source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local...-poll-gfx.eps-20101214,0,3168658.graphic

[OhioGuy]

Board of Elections: Emanuel can run for mayor

After hearing objectors' final arguments, the Chicago Board of Elections ruled Thursday that ex-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel can remain in the race to become the city's next mayor.

A hearing officer released his recommendation earlier Thursday, saying Emanuel-- whose residency in Chicago was in question-- should be on the ballot. The recommendation was not binding but was approved by the three-member Board of Elections, which is made up of two Democrats and one Republican.

The board had been expected to side with Morris' recommendation favoring Emanuel, although he moved his family to Washington and rented out his North Side home. State law requires mayoral candidates to be city residents for one year before an election.

Objectors to Rahm Emanuel's candidacy said they would challenge in court a decision by the board to follow the hearing officer's recommendation and allow Emanuel to run.

[Steely Dan]

^ i'm glad the board sided with rahm, but now this nonsense just goes to the courts so that we can have several more weeks of this idiotic distraction instead of focusing on debates and the issues the next mayor is going to have to face. the objectors are ultimately going to lose, everyone knows they're gonna lose. i wish they'd just drop it already. we need to move on to a real election with real debates so that we voters can make an informed decision on election day, which is coming up sooner than i think most people expect.

[ametz]

If any of the other candidates were clever, they'd have spent a little time every day for the past few weeks vociferously insisting that Rahm SHOULD be on the ballot, even though we all know each and every other candidate wants Rahm off. It's not as if that would've influenced the board's decision, so it wouldn't have jeopardized a negative verdict (which, I think, most people knew wasn't likely). Had someone been out in front of this issue, it would've, at least in some way, established him or her as an "equal" to Rahm, ready and willing to take him on in a venue of ideas. Instead, most gave mealy-mouthed answers when asked about this idiotic residency sideshow, nobody beat the drum and said "enough already, Rahm's a Chicagoan, put him on the ballot, and let's start the debates", and now they all look like lesser people in Rahm's shadow.

[Steely Dan]

and then there were 5.



Meeks withdraws from mayor's race
December 23, 2010 4:07 PM | No Comments | BREAKING STORY

State Sen. James Meeks has ended his bid for Chicago mayor today.

Meeks, a pastor of a South Side mega-church, issued a statement explaining his decision:

"Unfortunately, though, our house is divided. I have met with each of the four other African-American candidates and urged them in the strongest terms to consider withdrawing from the race in the interest of unity and for the greater good of our community.

"It is long past time that we build on the tremendous successes of the great Harold Washington and his administration by electing another African-American to become our mayor. But as long as our community remains divided and splintered - to the specific advantage of the front-running, status quo candidates - we will never see things improve. We need to speak with one voice.

full article: http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/12/meeks-withdraws-from-mayors-race.html



it's heartening to know that this unrelenting racist & bigot is now gone from the candidate pool. not that i ever gave him a snowball's chance in hell anyway, but still, i'm glad he's gone.

[HowardL]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

it's heartening to know that this unrelenting racist & bigot is now gone from the candidate pool. not that i ever gave him a snowball's chance in hell anyway, but still, i'm glad he's gone.

And homophobe. If that little South Side trash peddler had made it to LaSalle Street, it would have been a sad day in this city's history.

[Nowhereman1280]

The other candidates are all being ruined by this residency thing. Rahm already has a massive lead in name recognition. If 75% of voters knew who he was before now, that number is probably 99% now that every Chicago newspaper has had "Rahm Residency Hearing" headline every day for the past two weeks straight. Rahmbo looks like he's just loving this circus, a bunch of wingnuts asking him ridiculous, slowball questions for him to just knock out of the park over and over again. He really shamed some of the question askers the other day. It just makes me think he'll be a great Chicago mayor with a hearty ability to mercilessly crush dissenting aldermanic opinions.

The longer this goes on, the less the media pays attention to anyone else and the better for Rahm. By the time this is resolved it will be election time and only Chico and Rahm will be on the ballot.

[k1052]

I don't know why people are still pretending this is actually an election, Rahm and other circumstances already knocked any real challengers a while back. If anyone thinks Daley was going to hand the city over to anyone less capable or tough than himself they were delusional. The groans coming out of city hall when Rahm came into the picture were epic because the alderbeasts knew they would not get to roam free.

[Chicago103]

Originally Posted by k1052

I don't know why people are still pretending this is actually an election, Rahm and other circumstances already knocked any real challengers a while back. If anyone thinks Daley was going to hand the city over to anyone less capable or tough than himself they were delusional. The groans coming out of city hall when Rahm came into the picture were epic because the alderbeasts knew they would not get to roam free.

I wouldn't go that far, no poll gives Rahm the 50% to avoid a runoff and I think its certain there will be a runoff. However the only person who really has a chance I think against Rahm in the runoff is Gery Chico. I don't think even Danny Davis or Carol Mosely Braun has what it takes to win against Rahm in a runoff, maybe a small chance depending on what happens between now and then.

[Chicago103]

Originally Posted by ametz

If any of the other candidates were clever, they'd have spent a little time every day for the past few weeks vociferously insisting that Rahm SHOULD be on the ballot, even though we all know each and every other candidate wants Rahm off.

Gery Chico came the closest to this in making a point that his campaign had no interest whatsoever in challenging Rahm's residency.

[bnk]

not directly about the election but still noteworthy.



www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-daley-milestone-1226-20101226,0,7649215.story

Daley the son eclipses father's tenure as mayor
Richard M. Daley surpasses father's record of 7,916 days in office; experts offer views of each mayor's reign

By Ron Grossman, Tribune reporter

December 26, 2010


The likeness of the late Richard J. Daley dominates as his son, Sen. Richard M. Daley hushes supporters who booed at the mention of Mayor Jane Byrne during an 11th Ward rally in 1980. (Tribune file photo)



On the 34th anniversary of the death of the City Hall dynasty's founder, the proprietor of Schaller's Pump in Bridgeport was thinking about Daleys past and present.

"They say the son is never as good as the father," said Jack Schaller, quoting a favorite saying of his grandfather, who opened the longtime rendezvous of South Side politicians in the distant days before the reign of Daley.

On Sunday, Richard M. Daley surpasses his father's record of 7,916 days in office, becoming the city's longest-serving mayor. Not many remember enough to compare the two.

...

"They were most similar in their love for the city," said James Grossman, executive director of the American Historical Association and a scholar of Chicago. "They wanted nothing other than to be mayor of Chicago."

...

Yet no matter how many cronies of either Daley went to prison, neither ever had much of a problem getting re-elected, amassing so much power that opposition seemed almost futile.

...

History will side with the Daleys, Teaford predicted. The Democrats brought their national convention back to Chicago in 1996, and it was considered a rousing success.

"Who now remembers Eugene McCarthy?" Teaford said, referring to the Minnesota senator and darling of liberals who in the aftermath of '68 wanted to exile Richard J. Daley from the Democratic Party.

Surely the Daleys will long be remembered, perhaps as overlapping images of the father and son: Both with the face of a leprechaun, a roller-coaster temperament and a gift for deconstructing the English language just short of James Joyce's.

Proud to be the city's guardian, critics be damned, fanatically loyal to kin and incapable of imagining that as a fault.

...