Chicago Has to Be Mentally Ill....

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Seriously. What kind of city elects such a horrid individual as this guy?

I thought he might win, but was hoping that the voters weren't this brainwashed/mentally deranged.

This is about as bad if Bush had been able to run for a 3rd term and people elected him again.

Truly a sad day for Chicago and American politics when garbage like this gets elected a mayor of a city.

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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20035263-503544.html

His victory was never really in doubt -- only the margin. Had Rahm Emanuel fallen short of 50 per cent of the vote on Tuesday, he would have been forced into an April 5 run-off against the second-place finisher. But it didn't happen. Not by a long shot.

The former White House chief of staff trounced all of his challengers in the race to become Chicago's mayor, racking up huge majorities in most of the city's wards and winning the night with 55 percent of the vote. He will be inaugurated in May as Chicago's first Jewish mayor, replacing Richard M. Daley who, in office since 1989, has been the only mayor many Chicagoans have ever known.

"All I can say , you sure know how to make a guy feel at home," a beaming Emanuel said at his victory celebration at Plumbers Hall. The reference was to a central issue in his campaign: whether Emanuel was authentically Chicagoan and whether, after two years living in Washington and working for President Obama, he fit the residency requirements to run for mayor. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that he did.

"Because of the people of Chicago," Emanuel said, "this is the warmest place in America."

Mr. Obama joined in the celebration by sending a congratulatory telegram to his former aide and a message to his home town:

"I want to extend my congratulations to Rahm Emanuel on a well-deserved victory tonight," the president said. "As a Chicagoan and a friend, I couldn't be prouder. Rahm will be a terrific mayor for all the people of Chicago."

Now comes the hard part. Chicago is a city beset by the recession, concentrations of extremely violent neighborhoods, a budget deficit and chronically under-performing public schools. Emanuel wants to lengthen the school day and year.

Known for his trademark pugnacity, Emanuel ran a campaign that was based on bringing the city together to work on all of those problems in a joint effort. In his victory remarks, Emanuel dealt extensively with the persistently high levels of crime in some of the city's most forlorn neighborhoods. By most comparisons to other big urban areas in the country, Chicago's police force is under-staffed. The mayor-elect has promised to get 1,000 more police officers on the streets by shifting some off desk jobs and by hiring others.

"We have not won anything until a child can go to school and not think of their safety -- we have not won anything. Until a parent can think of their work, and not where they're going to find work, we have not won anything," he said. "The plural pronoun of 'we' is how we're going to meet the challenges. ... I do not want to see another child's name in memorial killed by violence."

Mirroring the budget mess that has befallen states and cities across the country, Chicago was going to face some belt-tightening by whomever won this race. Emanuel has talked of saving $500 million through budgetary moves that involve an overhaul of the city's large bureaucracy. He also campaigned on pressing for benefit cuts from city workers, asking them to bear a larger burden involving health care costs and pension funding.

Emanuel amassed a huge campaign war chest for the race, upwards of $12 million. He can now be expected to shift some of the money he didn't spend to the aldermanic runoff races to help his favored candidates and shape a City Council more to his liking and better able to take on some of the old lions who have prowled the halls of power since Emanuel was in grade school here. City Hall without Daley on the fifth floor will take some adjusting to.

His victory was assured in large part from the outset, and helped immeasurably along the way by the missteps of his opponents, especially former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley Braun. Her debate performances were deemed intemperate by pundits in this town. When in a debate she called a fellow African-American candidate an erstwhile crack user, Braun's standing within the city's black wards plummeted. Analysts said much of her support shifted to Emanuel -- perhaps enough to allow him to avoid that dreaded run-off.

The cheers and smiles of election night will no doubt fade over time. But in the full flush of victory, this often dour and confrontational man promised a new and positive future for Chicago.

"I am determined, with your help, to meet our challenges head-on and make our city even greater," he said.

.

[^_^ 5,021]

Mr. Obama joined in the celebration by sending a congratulatory telegram to his former aide...

Telegram?????

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Telegram?????

the 'Chicago way.'

can't use internet chat/phone convos. It would be monitored and stored later for political gain.

[^_^ 5,021]

Now comes the hard part. Chicago is a city beset by the recession, concentrations of extremely violent neighborhoods, a budget deficit and chronically under-performing public schools.

Being chief executive of one of America's biggest cities is a huge responsibility, far more than being chief executive of one of the many states in this country with hardly any people. The people willing to take on jobs like this - Rahm, Bloomberg, Villaraigosa - are in a class of their own. I wish them luck.

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Paul would be a good fit in Chicago.

[Zero Sum 305]

I voted for Del Valle.

[milimelo 4,554]

People voted and Rahm is in.

Mosley-Brown shot herself in the leg when she wouldn't provide her tax returns. Then she also bad mouthed another aspiring mayor by saying something about her drug abuse (crack or something). And the last thing would be her failed business - she can't run a successful business - she couldn't run the city.

Gery Chico - way too involved with dealings with the city - I believe people took it against him. Boasted support from some unions just as the WI union issue was brought to the center of attention.

De Valle - already was on city payroll and it didn't fare well with the voters.

[Saddle Bronc 124]

Given that Chicago has a history of electing rather unsavouries such as the Daley family.....

[Zero Sum 305]

People voted and Rahm is in.

Mosley-Brown shot herself in the leg when she wouldn't provide her tax returns. Then she also bad mouthed another aspiring mayor by saying something about her drug abuse (crack or something). And the last thing would be her failed business - she can't run a successful business - she couldn't run the city.

Gery Chico - way too involved with dealings with the city - I believe people took it against him. Boasted support from some unions just as the WI union issue was brought to the center of attention.

De Valle - already was on city payroll and it didn't fare well with the voters.

That's the way I see it. To give Del Valle credit, the city clerk office has had the best transparency record ever since he instituted availability of office records online for anyone to see. He could have won if he had sought to lower city sticker prices. And he's not the loudest public speaker. All the more reason to have him as mayor!

Chico never really convinced me, but he could have been interesting to see in office. Mosley-Braun... well... she was quiet and then chaotic. Plus I'm sick of the 'consensus' candidate issue for the African-American community. Its obvious she is what she is, and she should have emulated what Harold Washington did in the 80s to appeal to more than just one community.

Too much attention was given to Emanuel's 'eligibility' as a candidate instead of the issues affecting all Chicagoans, and this helped Emanuel by having him not have to speak on issues all that much and become more picky about what information he'd discuss on campaign.

I wish the best for Mayor-Elect Emanuel's upcoming term and hope he serves as mayor for all, not just his yuppie friends from the Loop up to Lakeview, Gold Coast to Wicker Park, or the Hollywood star power that donated to his campaign. Things should be ok, at least from what a mayor can get done, and I am not going to try to have a heart attach, become cynically upset about the intelligence of fellow voters, or otherwise pout and whine about yet another issue.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Seriously. What kind of city elects such a horrid individual as this guy?

I thought he might win, but was hoping that the voters weren't this brainwashed/mentally deranged.

This is about as bad if Bush had been able to run for a 3rd term and people elected him again.

Truly a sad day for Chicago and American politics when garbage like this gets elected a mayor of a city.

Paul - this guy may be a career politician, but to refer to him as "horrid garbage" is nothing more than emotionally loaded invective. There is no legitimate criticism being offered here.

Furthermore, when you endorse views such as The USA deserved 9/11, that modern wars are sadly lacking in civilian casualties and (not forgetting) that politicians should expect (and deserve) assassination because of their policies - you should probably look closer to home as far as "brainwashing/mental derangement" goes.

[Zero Sum 305]

Whaaaaaaat?