“Mayor” Mendoza?

Susana Mendoza got political people all stirred up recently what with the word that she’s already starting up work on campaign advertising spots promoting a spring 2019 campaign for Chicago mayor.

MENDOZA: A political realist

Even though she’s, strictly speaking, a candidate for Illinois comptroller come Tuesday.

THE PARTISANS WHO hate the idea of Mendoza winning anything are trying to claim her behavior is that of a political hypocrite. A selfish person who’s trying to put her grubby little paws all over everything in sight.

Why doesn’t she just make up her mind? The latter thought literally was expressed by my father, who admits he’s inclined to hold the whole affair against her.

Although I can’t help but think the people who are turning this whole situation into an issue are the ones who realize, deep-down, that they got nothin’ on Mendoza, and aren’t about to beat her any other way.

This issue is the work of political desperation. Darlene Senger likely isn’t going to go anywhere following Tuesday’s elections. As for Claire Ball, she’s likely to be as insignificant as every other person who has run under the Libertarian Party political banner.

SO WHAT SHOULD we think of Mendoza? Personally, I’m swayed by the notion there have been many political people throughout the years who have decided to move up to a higher-ranking political post – even though they already have a post in which to serve.

Who's Susana's real opponent -- Senger … 

Mendoza wouldn’t be a “first” if she were to try to run for mayor come the Feb. 26 election cycle (and again in an April run-off election, if one turns out to be necessary).

I also get that circumstances such as having the mayoral post open with no incumbent seeking it does not come up every election cycle. This could be a matter of a politically ambitious person deciding the circumstances are proper right now for a move up.

So it likely will wind up that Senger will complain all she wants about Mendoza, but a majority of the electorate won’t be swayed. That GOP label could become so tarnished by Trump that it drags her down to defeat with a lot of others.

… or Preckwinkle?

ALTHOUGH IN ALL honesty, the Republican label in Illinois is so weak that there are many political posts up for grabs come Tuesday that there are NO Republican challengers.

That’s why it’s hard to get a grasp locally on how strong the support is for President Donald Trump. He’s irrelevant locally.

If it turns out there is a “red tsunami” of voters that benefits backers of the Trumpster, it’s going to mean creation of a governmental structure that will go out of its way to snub Chicago interests.

Of course, Mendoza could turn out to be right about the “bluenami” that will benefit the political interests of those people wishing to undermine Trump for the next two years.

TO THAT END, Mendoza appears to have interests in becoming mayor (which is a more prominent post than that of Illinois comptroller, which many people stumble over when trying to pronounce).

TRUMP: How much of a factor is he, really?

I’m inclined to believe her when she says her political operatives shot some stray rough footage touting her for mayor, while also doing the work on comptroller campaign ads. She’s being real in admitting that she’d have to make a sudden shift in focus, IF she decides to make the move up.

So anybody who expects her to make a solid decision now and commit to one post is not being realistic. If anything, they’re showing their support for a political opponent who isn’t capable of running a credible opposition campaign.

And as for the idea of “Mayor” Mendoza, the real issue is whether voters think she’s too young (she’s 46) now, or whether they think other candidates (including Toni Preckwinkle, who’s 71) are a batch of old fuddy-duddies?

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