Do Chicagoans want former cop as mayor? Could he learn from namesake?

It’s not surprising that former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy is peeved enough with Mayor Rahm Emanuel that he’d contemplate running against him come the 2019 municipal election cycle.

McCARTHY, G.: The future mayor?

As the Chicago Sun-Times has reported, McCarthy has gone so far as to hire a political strategist who theoretically would run his campaign – should he decide to seek the mayor’s office.

QUITE AMBITIOUS FOR a native New Yorker who came up through the NYPD ranks and eventually became the top cop in Newark, N.J., before his Chicago police stint from 2011-15.

Is Chicago anxious to give control of city government to a Noo Yawker? Are we ready to put someone originally from the Bronx (rather than the Sout’ Side) in the mayor’s Fifth floor suite of offices at City Hall?

It would seem that McCarthy thinks he can be the candidate of choice for all the people who are determined to “Dump Rahm” following two terms in office.

With the major offense being that it was under his watch the Chicago police became embroiled in the ongoing criminal proceedings against a police officer who allegedly fired 16 shots into a 17-year-old boy – ultimately killing him.

ACTUALLY, IT’S NOT really alleged that the officer now facing murder charges fired the shots. There’s police video (lacking accompanying audio) that clearly shows him firing the shots.

McCARTHY, T.: The failed politico

What’s questionable is the motivation for using force in subduing the 17-year-old. Defense attorneys for the officer have said they’re going to claim the lack of audio means the video has no context – and that the images by themselves are meaningless.

Not that any of this meant anything. When it became apparent nearly three years ago that this 2014 shooting wasn’t going to go away, Emanuel took the action of firing the police superintendent.

Meaning McCarthy had to go. He had to take the blame so as to save the mayor’s keister. Now McCarthy wants to return the favor by helping to deliver a blow to the mayor’s future political viability.

I QUESTION WHY anybody who wants to see Rahm Emanuel voted out of office because of this incident would want to have McCarthy as his replacement. I think Garry is the last person they’d consider voting for – and might well be enough to make them hold their noses pinched shut while casting a vote for Rahm’s re-election.

Can same political operatives drive Rahm Emanuel's rep ...

But McCarthy is likely to fight all-out. I find his choice of a political strategist interesting. It’s Joe Trippi, who most recently was working for the U.S. Senate campaign of Doug Jones of Alabama. Meaning he’s able to take credit for the campaign that caused the political downfall of Republican Roy Moore.

Does McCarthy think he can turn Rahm into as hated a politico as Moore – the former judge who liked to tout the 10 Commandments and other religious dogma, but now faces allegations of how he used to be attracted to teenage girls even though he was well into his 30s.

If that’s the case, the Chicago municipal elections that will come on the verge of the ugly brawl we’re going to face in 2018 for Illinois governor may become so vicious that the potential Rauner/Pritzker battle may come off as a few “love taps” by comparison. Because we all know if challenged, Rahm will fight back equally hard.

I HAVE TO admit that as I watch McCarthy’s preparatory actions, I’m reminded of the 1998 election cycle when Orland Park Police Chief Tim McCarthy (no relation) tried running for statewide office – specifically Illinois secretary of state.

... as low as that of Roy Moore in Ala.?

Tim McCarthy is the one-time Secret Service agent who actually wound up getting shot during a 1981 assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan. He had hopes that memories of that moment could build up enough good will toward him that he could win office despite never having held a political post.

But Tim McCarthy became pushy and his backers wound up leading an effort against would-be opponent Penny Severns to get her kicked off the ballot – thinking he could clear the path for his own election. Even the Democratic operatives who liked the idea of feeding off a bit of Reagan love for their own benefit quickly turned on him – and we wound up getting Jesse White in the post. One he continues to hold to this day.

Is Garry McCarthy going to make the same mistake of getting too pushy? Perhaps he ought to learn from the actions of Tim McCarthy, who has never run for office since his ’98 bid and remains a beloved police chief in his Chicago suburb.

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Quinn wants ban on assault weapons, willing to play nasty like opponents

It’s actually one of the oldest dirty tricks in the Illinois Statehouse playbook.

QUINN: How badly does gov want ban?

Take some concept that you want but that others despise, and amend it onto an already-existing bill whose sponsor is someone who particularly hates your idea.

TECHNICALLY, YOU’VE TURNED him into the sponsor for your idea, and if your opponent wants to get what he wants, he has to be willing to allow your idea to go through as well.

Either that, or else be prepared to watch as everything gets shot down big time!

That is what Gov. Pat Quinn will be doing in coming weeks with the General Assembly as he tries to get them to approve the concept of a ban on the sale of assault weapons all across Illinois.

That is an idea that many people in the rural parts of the state will vehemently oppose because they will view it as a “Chicago idea” being imposed, and they have been conned into thinking that such a restriction on high-powered weapons designed for combat are somehow essential to the hunter out looking for game either for food, or for sport.

SPECIFICALLY, QUINN ON Tuesday held an event at Fulton’s, 315 N. LaSalle St., with suburban Orland Park police Chief Tim McCarthy (who himself once tried running for Illinois secretary of state, but seems to now be content to be known as the police chief who was once the Secret Service agent who took a bullet for then-President Ronald Reagan).

Quinn and McCarthy talked about how it makes so much sense to reduce the level of violence to get the high-powered weapons off the street, particularly when they carry the magazines that let them fire off so many rounds of ammunition at once.

But Quinn knows any bill that deals with this issue straight-forward will get (bad pun intended) shot down.

LEUCHTEFELD: How angered is he?



It will become one of those issues in which suburban Republicans will band together with rural legislators of both parties to create a “drop dead” stance toward Chicago. It happens once or twice every legislative session – usually when firearms are the issue.

THAT IS WHAT caused Quinn to rely on the old trick.

Because rather than come up with his own bill, he gave an amendatory veto to a bill by state Sen. Dave Leuchtefeld, R-Okawville, that relates to restrictions on ammunition sales for people who make their purchases from out-of-state companies.

The change that Quinn wants to make to the bill is to add on the ban – making it a much larger-scale measure than Leuchtefeld ever intended. It also makes Leuchtefeld the sponsor of a bill that would effectively ban assault weapons – a concept he has long been an outspoken critic of.

Personally, I expect that Leuchtefeld will now actively work against his own bill. He will want to ensure its defeat when it is considered again by the General Assembly during the veto session in November.

SOME WILL SAY that Quinn is being short-sighted because this tactic will create enemies among Leuchtefeld and his allies for putting them in the middle of such a stunt.

Although that really isn’t true, because those Leuchtefeld allies already are some of Quinn’s biggest critics. They were going to find reasons to bash the governor no matter what.

The fact that Quinn seems to realize that some people just cannot be worked with in the governmental process is encouraging. In fact, it is a lesson that Barack Obama seems to be slow to learn at the federal level.

Perhaps Quinn needs to school Obama on the ways of government?

SO YES, IT is true that the actions of Quinn on Tuesday weren’t done with the intent of building support for an assault weapons ban. I suspect Quinn knows he’s going into a headlong fight on this issue.

It allows him to feed off the amount of national attention being paid to firearms for at least a few more days (until the nation gets bored with the story) because of the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo.

For every person who despises Quinn because he’s a Chicago-oriented guy (and can’t get over the fact that the rural-oriented guy they preferred lost the last election), this may enable him to gain a few more supporters from the rest of the electorate.

If anything, it is meant to remind the people who should be Quinn’s allies but are largely apathetic about him just who will really come down on their side. It sure isn’t the Quinn critics!

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