Socialist Progressives

I'm not from Chicago (although I lived in Michigan in the late '90s, and have fond memories of hours spent walking around Lake View, the Loop, and the Lakeshore area). But my guess is that Emanuel will pull out all the procedural stops on this one (and then some). His problem seems to be that he feels so entitled - the very cause of his possible undoing, as irony would have it.

And there's another problem with that strategy, as far as Emanuel's concerned: García's charisma. All things being equal, few things beat charisma not only as a political asset in itself, of course; but also as a motivator for voter turnout.

I have nothing against Mayor Emanuel; I don't care if he was a lobbyist, if he's a Third-Way DINO, if he's gay, or what have you. When he won the first time around, I felt happy for Obama; as it's common knowledge the two are close friends, Emanuel's victory must have been a nice consolation price for the president coming so soon after the 2010 tea bag shellacking.

But the minute I learned Hizzoner was closing 54 public schools in already desperately poor and underserved areas, and that he was doing so because he was being advised to do so by sworn enemies of public education like the Eli Broad Academy goons, that did it. If I lived in Chicago, I'd be hard pressed to support someone like that.