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| EMANUEL: From his indecisive days |
All
you had to do was ask him who he was supporting for his party’s presidential
nomination. He couldn’t get away from you quick enough, and would go through
extreme physical and verbal contortions to avoid committing himself.
WHAT
MADE FOR that action by Emanuel was the fact that Rahm knew very well the
people of his home state (he was a member of Congress from the Northwest Side,
the seat now held by Mike Quigley) were strong for Barack Obama.
Yet
he had been a significant part of the Bill Clinton presidential administration,
and it was clear that Hillary Rodham Clinton was counting on all of her husband’s
backers to back her as well.
But
if he had done that, then Emanuel would have made so many enemies back home. He
could have lost his Congressional district.
Backing
Obama, however, would have caused so much resentment from the Clinton camp that
had she managed to prevail and win the presidency, she would have been an
Emanuel enemy. Considering that he had aspirations to be Speaker of the House
someday, that’s not an enemy he’d want to have.
AS
THINGS WORKED out, Emanuel waited until the absolute end of the primary process
when even Clinton had to admit it was mathematically impossible for her to beat
Obama. THEN, Rahm endorsed Barack – who after eventually winning the presidency
got to be Obama’s chief of staff.
Until,
of course, he decided to come back to Chicago to be our city’s mayor! Which may
have some people wishing they could go back in time and change circumstances so
that Hillary Clinton could have crushed Emanuel for good.
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| HILLARY: Rahm now backs her |
This
time, things are going to be different.
Obama
can’t seek a third term in office. The only real question is whether he will
ever return to Chicago or that Hyde Park neighborhood home after leaving office
in January 2017.
HILLARY
HASN’T OFFICIALLY said what she’s doing with her political future. But she’s
not doing a thing to discourage all the speculation that she’ll try again to
get the Democratic nomination for president.
 |
| BILL: Will return the favor June 20 |
And
Emanuel doesn’t seem to want to tick her off any more than he might already
have done so. He’s already come out in support of her. The Chicago Sun-Times
reported how he’s going to be one of the top speakers of a Hillary SuperPac
fundraiser to be held June 5.
To
return the favor, Bill Clinton will be in Chicago June 20 for another
fundraising event – although the focus of that one is on Rahm himself. He’s in
need of more campaign cash to support his desired outcome of the 2015 mayoral
election cycle – that he crush to dust whichever person dares to challenge his
re-election dream.
Emanuel
was the guy who in 2008 tried to quip his way out of taking a stance by saying
he was hiding under his desk to avoid answering the endorsement question.
NOW,
HE’S THE guy who can’t wait for his chance to be seen publicly with the
potential future first “Madame President.”
Although
I’ll be big enough to think that his support of her is NOT just because she’s
willing to help him raise some money for his own upcoming campaign cycle.
Emanuel’s
refusal to commit back in 2008 was part of his strategy to avoid making
political enemies at all costs. Just as his rush to be seen with her
presidential dreams is an equal strategy to do the exact same thing.
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