Of course a dogcatcher could beat Rahm... Dogcatchers spend their time in better company than Rahm and the billionaire boys clubs at which he lurks
A Saturday morning without the daily newspapers would be a typical Saturday morning in Chicago, but some days the Sun-Times or Tribune brings unexpected joy -- or at least a pleasant surprise. So it is on the morning of October 12, when the lead off the front page of the Sun-Times brings readers of a Page 8 story headlined: "Teachers: 'Dogcatcher' could beat Rahm. The story follows a weeklong period during which Chicago's Hollywood-Hypster mayor was booed at public events (plural, the most dramatic being the Northwestern football game) and ducked around town behind a screen of more than a dozen media hacks.
Lady was caught by the dog catcher...But the thought has to be: A dogcatcher spends his or her time in better company than Rahm, whose calendar long ago was shown to be filled with secret and private meetings with millionaires and billionaires, like those he is giving away TIF money to. To say Chicago is going to the dogs since Rahm's May 2011 inauguration would be to insult dogs.
SUN TIMES OCTOBER 12, 2013 by Natasha Korecki and Lauren Fitzpatrick
Teachers: 'Dogcatcher' could beat Rahm
The Chicago Teachers Union warned on Friday that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will need �every damn dime� of his already burgeoning $5 million war-chest when he runs for re-election and predicted that �even a dogcatcher� could beat him.
�He needs every damn dime because it�s not going to be his policies,� that get him re-elected, Stacy Davis Gates, political legislative director for the Chicago Teachers Union said on Friday.
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis added to that, saying she was not concerned with the size of Emanuel�s campaign fund.
�I honestly believe that someone with significantly less (money) could beat him,� she said. �I think a dogcatcher could beat him right now, if you had the election tomorrow. In certain parts of the city, he�s very unwelcome.�
The union was reacting to a Chicago Sun-Times story on Friday that showed the mayor is poised to report more than $5 million in the bank even though he�s still 16 months from re-election.
When the story first was posted, Lewis Tweeted that Emanuel would need �every penny.�
Fund-raising disclosures show Emanuel raised more than $1.1 million in contributions of $1,000 or more in the month of September alone � more than any of the five gubernatorial candidates who will face voters a year before the mayor does.
�It�s money from out of town. He�s able to channel his old script. They�re not talking to Karen are they? They�re just talking to Rahm,� Davis Gates said. �They�re not talking to people who live in Englewood. They�re just talking to him at a cocktail party where they�re drinking and eating nice food. Those people don�t vote here and they don�t live here.�
Lewis, who denies she wants the top city job, said money alone won�t win the 2015 election.
�We believe that even if you have a lot of money, if people don�t want you as their mayor, they will go vote,� she said. �We still believe there�s value in voter education.�
CTU�s knowledge of the mayor�s unpopularity goes beyond anecdotal evidence. Since last year�s two-week strike and since Emanuel closed 50 public schools, the union has been engaging its political arm.
That has meant running polls, registering people to vote and even reaching out to possible challengers to Emanuel.
For its part, Emanuel�s campaign told the Sun-Times on Thursday that it is prepared for a challenge and that Emanuel has been on out of town fund-raising trips even though there�s no opponent because he doesn�t want to take anything for granted.
Emanuel�s campaign had no additional comment on Friday.
Davis Gates said CTU�s polling shows Emanuel is struggling throughout the city and noted that he was recently booed at public events.
�When you go to Evanston, your alma mater, the town next to where you grew up and you�re booed, you�re doing terrible,� she said. �He�s going to need $5 million and some strong policy to help him through this.�
In April, shortly before the Board of Education voted to shutter a record number of public elementary schools, Lewis announced her union�s intention to beef up its political activity with one goal in mind: Get rid of Rahm.
Since then, CTU members have been learning how to register voters and the rules of running for office, Lewis said.
Some have shown interest in running for state representative or alderman. Their plan is to get 100,000 new voters on the rolls. They haven�t yet rolled out a new political action committee to raise money.
The CTU � nearly 30,000 members � will help identify and bolster candidates, she said.
�There�s a possibility of very good candidates, and I think they can raise money,� Lewis said.
No names yet, she said, adding, �Why put yourself out as a target now?� ?
