Barack Obama's hypocrisy -- and ignorance of Chicago and union history -- was fully exposed as Rahm Emanuel is defeated. Even with the massive support -- and even a 'Bro Hug' from Obama -- Rahm was forced into a runoff scheduled for April 7.
In no local election in American history has the President of the United States come down from his throne to tout the candidacy of one candidates as did Barack Obama during the month before the Chicago municipal election of February 24, 2015. And so, the defeat of Rahm Emanuel's expensive hopes to be elected to second term as Chicago's mayor exposed both the hypocrisy and the bankrupt neoliberal policies of the Obama administration, where Emanuel had once served as White House Chief of Staff.
Rarely in the long history of the United States of America has a sitting President of the United States devoted time to campaigning for a local mayor. But in January and February 2015, Barack Obama came to Chicago on behalf of the desperate campaign of incumbent Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Obama's first service to Emanuel saw Obama doing a radio ad that ran throughout the campaign up to the February 24 election day. Then, less than a week before the voting, Obama came to Chicago for a publicity stunt on behalf of Emanuel. Despite the White House support, at taxpayers' expense, Emanuel received only 45 percent of the vote on February 24 and as a result faces a runoff against Jesus "Chuy" Garcia on April 7.On February 24, 2015, Emanuel, running as a massively wealthy incumbent, failed to receive the necessary 50 percent plus one votes to avoid a runoff. And so, on April 7, 2015, Emanuel will face off against the Number Two candidates in the five-way February 24 race -- and against the growing outpouring of democracy that has shaken both the local and national Democratic Party leaderships to the core.
On February 19, 2015, Barack Obama, President of the United States, had come to Chicago in a desperate and transparent move to try and bolster Emanuel's faltering campaign for re-election. Obama's pretext for his Chicago visit was to dedicate a "national park" at the site of the Pullman works on Chicago's South Side. Obama not only got the 2015 politics wrong, but as revealed by several historians (see below) misrepresented the history of the union movements in Chicago -- in an area where Obama has supposedly been a high powered "community organizer" between his stints at two Ivy League universities in the 1990s.
By: Rod Estvan
Interview with Commissioner Garc�a
There was a very interesting interview last night on WTTW with Cook County Commissioner Garc�a and it can be watched at http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2015/02/25/mayoral-candidate-jes-s-chuy-garc-runoff-election
Of particular interest will be his comments relating to the CTU at about minute 2:50.
Rod Estvan