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| Could this yet-to-be-determined mayoral hopeful … |
Yet
Democratic nominee J.B. Pritzker has one disadvantage going against him – the fact
that the withdrawal of Rahm Emanuel as a candidate for mayor means that most
Chicago-area people who give a damn about anything political are going to be focusing
their attention on trying to figure out who’s going to run for mayor in next
year’s election cycle.
AT
THE VERY point in time when Chicagoans should be thinking about the governor’s
race come Nov. 6, Pritzker is going to face a great reality about the Chicago
political scene.
That
is the fact that many would-be voters could care less about state government activity.
They’re going to view the governor’s post as the least significant of the
top-level political posts that exist. Mayor and U.S. senator are much higher
priorities.
Which
could be the factor that makes incumbent Gov. Bruce Rauner not a totally
hopeless case in terms of his desires to be re-elected to a second term in
office.
The
Rauner campaign is one that is focusing its attention on trying to turn out the
vote in the rural parts of Illinois. Which most definitely means outside of
Chicago. In places where the fight over who will be the next mayor of Chicago
is one of no relevance.
 |
| … take attention away from Pritzker, … |
AS
MUCH AS us Chicago residents think such people live in isolation, it could be
that a strong vote for Rauner in the 96 counties outside the Chicago
metropolitan area could make him competitive electorally come Election Day.
Could
electoral apathy be the factor that enables Rauner to overcome his own
political complications and have a chance to actually win in November?
Could
the mayoral brawl, what with people like Toni Preckwinkle or Luis Gutierrez
deciding they want to rise to the political top and candidates like Paul Vallas
and Garry McCarthy trying to claim they deserve to be taken more seriously than
somebody who’s only now deciding they might want to run for office come February
26, wind up taking attention away from Pritzker?
 |
| … thereby bolstering Rauner's chances? |
I
couldn’t help but notice the event Friday in Urbana where Pritzker tried making
his electoral appeal to University of Illinois-types at a coffee shop.
PRITZKER
GOT ATTENTION because of who he brought along with him – former President Barack
Obama, who managed to steal the focus of the event to the point where I’m sure
there that the people who were at the Café Paradiso at the time of the event will
remember it as the time they got to see Obama in person.
Did
they even notice the heavy-set guy (who admittedly has lost some weight during
his past year on the campaign trail) who was off to the side? Did they give him
any thought whatsoever?
That
might start happening a lot more in coming weeks. Because at a time when the
candidates are supposed to step up their efforts full-throttle to try to
capture Election Day votes, many Chicago voters are going to have their
attention diverted.
Because
there is only so much attention one can pay to political matters; and I also
don’t doubt there will be others who will be more preoccupied with thoughts of
the Chicago Bears and trying to have delusional thoughts that this team could
be a Super Bowl contender.
I’M
SURE FEB. 26 (and April 2 in the likely event that a mayoral run-off election
is needed) are dates that will garner more attention amongst people than Nov.
6.
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| Was Barack the 'big man' in Urbana? |
Not
that I’m predicting a Rauner victory. That man has his own political issues,
and the fact that many Illinois voters living outside metro Chicago are
disgusted with his own performance to the point where they want "Anybody But
Bruce" to be the Election Day victor.
Which
means the next 58 days could wind up being a political period with a sense of
apathy amongst voters.
Almost
as though we can hardly wait for this silly election cycle to come to an end so
we can get on with the one that truly matters!
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