President Emanuel, Or Possibly Next Dictator?

By Ray Hanania on March 7, 2013 • ( 0 )

President Emanuel, Or Possibly Next Dictator?
By RAY HANANIA
Southwest News-Herald Friday, March 08, 2013

The political circles are already ripe with rumors that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is planning to run for president, rumors probably fed by his own ego and high paid aides.

Why not get people started on it? That’s exactly how he became mayor of Chicago, when rumors began that he wanted to be mayor of Chicago and then essentially said that he might run, but only if Mayor Richard M. Daley decided not to seek re-election.

Lo and behold, Daley shocked everyone by becoming the first mayor in our generation to announce he had no plans to seek re-election, after exceeding the 22-year record set by his father, the original creator of the Chicago Machine, Richard J. Daley.

Emanuel is reportedly telling close confidants that he would run only if Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State under President Barack Obama, a former U.S. Senator from New York and the former first lady in the Bill Clinton Administration, decided not to run in 2016.

If Emanuel says he’d only do it if Hillary Clinton doesn’t run, you can bet he doesn’t think Hillary Clinton is going to run for president.

Hillary Clinton looks tired from her four years fighting the good fight for Obama across the globe, not often to great success. The job would age anyone and Hillary Clinton looks aged and tired. Would she run three years from now?

First, you can’t wait until 2015 to start running. In today’s political world and Internet-driven society, you have to start now. Now!

That’s why Emanuel, who has been mayor of Chicago just shy of two years, is already off and running. His first job will be to secure a successor. Maybe he might cut a deal with Gery Chico, who was always Chicago’s best choice for Chicago mayor but who was held back by bad choices on his friends. Chico does have the backing of one great political mind in Chicago, Chicago Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th).

Yet what gives Emanuel the right to aspire to such a high national office when he can’t seem to get his arms around the problems that continue to plague Chicago?

Crime and street gang violence is out of control in Chicago. It’s amazing how the media gives him a pass. The mainstream media loves Emanuel, and his honeymoon with the news media has never ended.

The schools are a wreck. Instead of building alliances with suburban voters, he is pillaging them by imposing draconian water rate increases and forcing suburbanites in Cook County — many of whom today are Democrats and no longer Republicans — to suffer excess water rate fee hikes that target seniors and others on fixed incomes.

Despite his claims of embracing diversity, his administration is less diverse than any previous Chicago mayor. And he’s played duplicitous politics, cutting deals with both sides of political warlords in the African American, Hispanic and white communities.

Emanuel is a guy who just wants to make everyone feel happy, while achieving what? What has Emanuel achieved in two years?

Had Emanuel cut down the violence, for example, and miraculously gotten the street gang shootings under control, I’d be cheering to push him for mayor. He’d have earned the spot. But he hasn’t done that.

Instead, Emanuel discriminates against community media, ignoring reporters based on race and politics.

Emanuel for President? He can raise the money. But does he have what it takes to make this a better country? He can’t even improve Chicago.

(Ray Hanania is an award winning columnist. Follow him on Twitter at @RayHanania.) — City & Suburban News-Herald