Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Thursday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Chicago voters have grown sharply dissatisfied with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s job performance and have signaled a willingness to support his most prominent potential challenger, a new Chicago Tribune poll has found,” the paper reports.
“Facing concerns over crime, education and the economy, Emanuel now holds a 35 percent job approval rating – down from 50 percent a little more than a year ago. In addition, more than half of city voters now disapprove of how Emanuel has handled his first term, up from 40 percent.
“During the past year, the mayor’s approval rating has dropped across all major racial, income, age and gender lines. Perhaps most troubling to Emanuel’s re-election: crumbling support among white voters and an accelerating decline of support among African-American ones.
“The discontent has provided an opening to Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis should she decide to challenge Emanuel next year.
“In a head-to-head matchup, the survey found Lewis with 43 percent backing to 39 percent for Emanuel, with 14 percent undecided. Lewis’ advantage is just outside the 3.5 percentage point error margin for the poll, consisting of cellphone and landline interviews with 800 registered city voters from Aug. 6 to Tuesday.”
That’s pretty extraordinary. Just think what that poll would look like if Toni Preckwinkle was in the race. Why, Toni? Why? You still haven’t told us.


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“[T]he poll also found that even a mostly unknown potential challenger – 2nd Ward Ald. Bob Fioretti – has gained surprising traction.
“While 4 out of 5 voters had no opinion of Fioretti, 1 out of 4 said they’d back Fioretti over Emanuel – a sign that there’s a sizable contingent of anyone-but-Emanuel voters. The mayor had 43 percent in the hypothetical matchup with Fioretti, while 23 percent were undecided.”
The political class suspects this is why stories critical of Lewis and of Fioretti appeared in the Sun-Times on Wednesday – just as it did with Preckwinkle, the mayor’s political operation appears to be dumping opposition research on willing takers.
I don’t know if that’s true, by the way. If Team Rahm is responsible for trying to dirty up potential opponents – even if the facts are in order – reporters should say so. If Team Rahm isn’t responsible, reporters should say that too, just so we’re all clear.
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“All told, more white voters disapprove of Emanuel’s performance than approve – a first in a Tribune poll,” the paper reports.
“Emanuel’s backing among African-American voters continues to tumble. Nearly 6 in 10 black voters disapprove, while only about 1 in 4 approve of the mayor’s performance. In May 2013, 48 percent of black voters disapproved of the mayor’s job performance while 40 percent approved.
“Even a majority of Hispanics – a small but growing demographic in city voting – found Emanuel’s job performance lacking, a reversal from last year.”
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So basically Rahm plans to spend about $10 million to buy popularity – or scare out of the race candidates more desirable to voters. Democracy!
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And then there’s Ram’s military wing.
Red Light Rahm
“Chicago’s red light camera scandal deepened Wednesday with the federal indictment of a former Redflex Traffic Systems CEO on charges she and a top City Hall manager conspired to rig the camera business for a decade,” the Tribune reports.
“Karen Finley, one of several Redflex executives dumped amid the scandal, was indicted along with former city official John Bills and a longtime Bills friend accused of being the bagman in a $2 million bribery scheme that ran from 2002 until 2012, when the Tribune first disclosed Bills’ ties to the company.”
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Even the pro-camera editorial page of the Tribune is turning against them.
“At every turn, it seems, the red light cameras are less about safety than about dollar signs.”
Um, duh?
“If Mayor Rahm Emanuel can’t find a way to restore credibility to the program, he should take those cameras down.”
Agree!
And as long as we’re talking about credibility, how about the Trib demands restoring some to CPS?
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See also: Data Mayor Image Doesn’t Add Up.
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George Ryan Is Unrepentant
Says he hasn’t learned any lessons – and he’s right.
Mary Mitchell vs. Black Jesus
Wants Cartoon Network to get off her lawn.
Draiman Defends Israel
Plus: Enuff’s Not Enough, Crowdfunding Kath, Elmhurst Rock Opera, and Eye Of Survivor. In Local Music Notebook.
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BeachBook
* Why A Chicago Team Has Become The Little League World Series’ Biggest Story.
* We Tortured Some Folks: The Comic Strip.
* Patrick Kane Wins MVP Of Fattey Hockey League Championship.
* Obama Donors Embrace Corporate Inversions He Criticizes.
We inverted some folks.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Oppo repo.

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Posted on August 14, 2014