I will discuss the candidates in order of how I predict the race will finish. This does not reflect my desire as to who “should” be the great mayor of Chicago. I will keep my opinions brief and will elaborate in due time. I did not go into political views in my discussions, as the candidates are all fairly similar and although I do oppose some views, I do agree on a few, but that’s boring talk.
4. Miguel del Ville is currently the City Clerk of Chicago and a former Illinois State Senator for 20 years. He certainly brings a number of years of political “expertise” (loosely used). He was also the first candidate to declare his Mayoral bid and also a first to air a campaign ad, have a website and a Facebook page and the first candidate to declare that he will not accept campaign contributions from companies that do business in the city. He campaigns as a reformer and this is proven by his declaration of not accepting campaign contributions from companies that do business in the city, but unfortunately that decision has taken his exposure and his backing from a number of political powerhouses. Who wants to back a loser? Not the Sun Times or Tribune. I do like his passion for helping those that are often ignored and he really does seem to want to help the Chicago people in his mayoral bid. He has served on various educational boards and as a director for the Boys and Girls Club. Again, without money and power in Chicago, it just does not look like it is going to happen. One more thing is that with two Hispanic mayoral candidates, the votes will be split and unless one wants to relinquish their bid, del Ville seems like the odd man out.
3. Carol Moseley Braun is a former United States Senator who represented Illinois. She was the first, and to date, only African-American women elected to the U.S. Senate. She has also dedicated a majority of her life to politics. She has even ran for a Democratic National Bid, but subsequently dropped out. I am going to say that I am just not a fan of this candidate. It seems that controversy has always followed her and although she was given a silver platter of positions and power in the Senate, she threw it all away of numerous controversies (none proven). One of these “allegations” was unaccounted campaign funds and she admitted to bookkeeping errors. I don’t know about you but where my money goes and where it is used is something that I want to make sure is accounted for. If you can't handle your own election bookkeeping how do you figure to handle that of the big city of Chicago... I'm just saying. She is too liberal for my own taste but she does have a significant backing and is popular amongst African Americans. She wants a second chance but I just doubt that “Chicago” is going to provide her that stage. People want to trust their Mayor (haha Chicago Mayor trust, that’s funny) and she seems to have lost that.
2. Gery Chico is well known for a few things mainly being the former chief of staff of Mayor Richard Daley and was a former president of the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Park District and former Chairman of the City Colleges of Chicago. He is the big rival to who my number prediction as winner of the Chicago Mayoral bid. I bet he was a little happy and very sad regarding the residency controversy with Rahm. Other than his involvement as Chief of Staff, his primary political contribution is minimal. He is, on the other hand, considered a “political insider” who probably means he has a lot of clout in the City. I mean just knowing and having been endorsed by Richard “I am Chicago” Daley is enough to get you at least 10 percent of the votes. That being said, he has dedicated a lot of his years to various different posts as I stated before including CPS and the Park District. Only problem is that controversy seems to follow this man as well. He was a senior partner in a law firm, Arnstein and Lehr, which later went insolvent and dissolved and many have blamed this to poor management, which included Chico. Like, Mosley Braun, how do you expect to run Chicago if you cannot truthfully and honestly run a law firm (hey lawyers are honest!, I swear). Although, his final records as CPS and Park District were adequate, they also did not come without a little controversy. He is a little too liberal for my good as well but he has done a fairly decent job and with the endorsement of Richard Daley, he will certainly make some noise (but will fall short).
1. Finally, the candidate I believe will win this little election is none other than, Ashish…..Rahm Emanuel. I want him to win because then Entourage has to film a couple of shows in Chicago on behalf of his brother! (Ari Emanuel). Oh yea, politics, I tend to forget that when this guy is involved, just kidding that is just the cynic in me. Rahm has held elected political positions in the United States House of Representatives (5th district) but he is what many have called a political strategist. He has strategized for numerous political powerhouses including the President of the United States, Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton. He also played a vital role in numerous campaign elections for Richard Daley, who has endorsed his rival Gery Chico. This guy is certainly fiery and two things that he has going for him is money and the entire Jewish Faith backing him. Like his rivals in this election, he has both the political aspect but also a dab of religion and race. We clearly have to acknowledge this fact. If no one already knew, there was a little controversy over his residency in Chicago and his eligibility to run for Mayor of Chicago. Long story short, he can run not only triathlons but also for Mayor of Chicago. My two cents, he should be allowed to run, it was always his intention to run for Mayor (Daley surprised everyone) and he proved that and now we just get to sit back and let Ari…I mean Rahm do his magic. Finally, he is the big time player who will follow the footsteps of Daley. Daley did a great job running Chicago. Yea there is a little muscle being pushed around by Daley but hey he got the job done and I think Rahm has the clout, the knowledge and the expertise to run Chicago for decades to come.
- Shijo Mullappallil
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