Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Am I missing something or is the lead buried here?
“A little-known Cook County commissioner said Monday he’s preparing to run for Chicago mayor, hoping to tap into the support of ‘disaffected Chicagoans’ who feel Mayor Rahm Emanuel hasn’t lived up to his promises and doesn’t take their concerns seriously,” the Tribune reports.
“Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia, 58, is a former Southwest Side alderman and state senator who lost a bitter 1998 contest to Tony Munoz, a candidate backed by the Hispanic Democratic Organization allied with then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. Four years ago, Garcia made a political comeback and won election to the County Board.”
Okay. Pretty rote, and I could quibble with a couple things, but let’s zoom right to the very last sentence.


“Garcia had $3,160 to start the month and reported raising $15,000 since then, including $12,000 from County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.”
So Chuy is Preckwinkle’s guy? Sure, 12 grand ain’t a lot, but it’s a signal.
Also, Chuy reportedly met several times with Karen Lewis recently. Is Chuy her guy?
If Preckwinkle and Lewis – and their operations – both back Chuy, he becomes viable.
Also, wouldn’t that be a rebuke to Bob Fioretti?
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“I think this city is not headed in the right direction,” Garcia told Early & Often, the Chicago Sun-Times political portal. “I’m hearing from people all over the city that the mayor’s vision and style are not what the city wants.”
(Ring, ring)
REPORTER: Hello?
CHUY: Hi, is Early & Often there?
REPORTER: Huh?
CHUY: Early & Often, the Sun-Times political portal. I have something to tell it.
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“Who exactly would support Garcia is unclear,” Early & Often writes.
No it’s not. Chuy is a progressive darling. (He was an early name in the Beachwood Bookmaking Bureau’s compilation of potential mayoral challengers listed in our Political Odds feature.) The question is whether he can garner support outside of the city’s small progressive community.
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“He’s stronger than you may think,” Rich Miller writes on his Capitol Fax blog.
Early and Often could not be reached for comment.
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“But I’d like to take this opportunity to point out something to the ‘progressives’ who are so upset at the mayor, particularly over his refusal to support a $15 minimum wage,” Miller also writes. (Why progressives is in quotes I don’t understand; would you put liberals or conservatives in quotes?)
“So, they’re bashing Emanuel for backing a $13 minimum while dumping millions to support Gov. Pat Quinn – who supports a $10 minimum wage?”
Um, yeah. What’s so hard to understand about that? They’re not going to support Quinn against Bruce Rauner because Quinn only supports a minimum wage $10 higher than Rauner does?
Also, the “progressives” in question live in Chicago. They want a higher minimum wage here and, in fact, are part of a national movement fighting for $15 an hour.
Finally, the minimum wage arguably should be higher in Chicago than Cairo, given the differences in the cost of living.
“Kinda screwy if you ask me. [Also, Rahm has given the progressive darling Quinn $225K since March – more than any other Illinois politician.]”
Quinn is hardly a “progressive darling.” Progressives are almost as disenchanted with Quinn as with Obama. But they should give up their support of Not Rauner because that places them alongside a candidate ostensibly backed by their biggest nemesis – outside of Rauner?
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Miller also underestimates Fioretti’s support; or maybe it’s a disgust with Rahm that is far broader than just among the usual progressive suspects that he underestimates.
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It’s not just about money, even though that’s what too many reporters are obsessed with. Look at how much Rauner is spending to beat Pat Quinn, only to find himself doing worse than Bill Brady four years ago. Sure, Rahm Emanuel has better name recognition than Rauner (though barely, at this point); he also has a much higher disapproval rating. I’m not saying it isn’t an uphill climb for Chuy, but that’s more about getting started so late, as the third choice behind Preckwinkle and Lewis, and an alternative to Fioretti, than anything else. It’s the dynamic, that makes it a tough go – and that’s why raising money will be a problem. But not the other way around.
Code Of Silence
“Newly hired UNO chief executive Rick Cerda declined comment and referred questions to public-relations consultant Chris Mather, a former spokeswoman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel who also declined comment. UNO board chairman Freddy Santiago did not return calls. Mullins declined comment, and Francisco d’Escoto could not be reached.”
Rahm Bomb
“Arguing that the ‘world is different’ now, Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday defended his decision to randomly search the bags of riders at 145 CTA train stations in a hunt for terrorists bearing explosives,” the Sun-Times reports.
Different from last month? Last year? Come on.
“At a time when fears of homegrown terrorists are growing and the Islamic State is gaining steam, the mayor said it only makes sense to put would-be terrorists on edge and tilt the scales in the CTA’s favor.”
First, it’s moves like this that stoke fears of homegrown terrorists. Second, the Islamic State? Seriously? Attacking the CTA? Please.
“Asked how the random searches can be conducted without racial or ethnic profiling, the mayor said: ‘Police have addressed that and will continue to address that.'”
They won’t at all be looking for people who look like they belong to the Islamic State!
“Denying that the searches were prompted by any specific threat, police staged a mock demonstration of a search that randomly selected every 10th rider and escorted that passenger to a table where that person was handed an explanatory brochure.”
As if your CTA commute isn’t enough of a pain in the ass.
“Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), chairman of the City Council’s Transportation Committee, said he’s all for random bag searches on the CTA that put terrorists at risk of being caught or afraid they might be apprehended.

“Right now, we have these homegrown terrorists. It’s a way of trying to possibly catch one of these homegrown terrorists before anything happens,” Beale said.

Um, shouldn’t we leave that to the FBI? They’re the ones designing the plots.
“Pressed on whether he’s concerned about racial or ethnic profiling, Beale said, ‘Not at all. History has shown that homegrown terrorists can come in any nationality.”
In fact, they’re usually white! Let’s swab every Caucasian.
Oh yeah, we’re not looking for that kind of terrorist.
“We definitely want to make sure there’s no profiling going on, but this is in the best interest of the safety of people within the U.S.”
A relieved nation gives its eternal thanks to Anthony Beale of the 9th Ward.
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BREAKING: CPD will start swabbing CTA users for Ebola for the duration of the highly contagious election season.
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The Weekend In Chicago Rock
Featuring: The Coathangers, AJ Avila & Terror Amor, Cherry Glazerr, together PANGEA, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Meg Myers, Papadosio, Method Man, Bruce Hornsby, Ballyhoo!, Mozes and the Firstborn, Tribal Seeds, Run and Punch, and Banda Nueva Raza.
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BeachBook
* Public School Propaganda Again!
“Everybody swears by the NAEP. But nobody is willing to tell you what the NAEP data show!” TRUE. The achievement gap isn’t because poor minorities are doing worse; they are demonstrably doing much better. It’s just that the affluent are doing better by more.
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TweetWood
A sampling.


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The Beachwood Tip Line: Quarantinied.

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Posted on October 28, 2014