- Richard A. Chapman / Sun-Times
- Mayor Rahm Emanuel surrounded himself with a rainbow coalition of children to announce his reelection bid.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants voters to know the story of how he took office and began transforming Chicago from a decaying pit of corruption into a capital of opportunity that leaves no one behind, inspiring a rainbow coalition of children to come together and cheer—literally.
Emanuel noted that Cinespace was an abandoned factory not long ago but is now where Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and other shows and movies are made. He cited the facility as an example of the city’s economic rebirth.
At just after one o’clock, the mayor walked out with the phalanx of children.
Nearly every one of his claims could have been corrected or put into context: how he antagonized so many teachers, parents, and students with school closings and cuts; how the police ranks have grown thinner on his watch; how the city’s job creation programs have barely touched most of the city’s neighborhoods; how he only took up the minimum wage issue after seeing his approval ratings evaporate, and then may have undercut efforts for even stronger wage policies.
“This shadow group has one goal in mind: a rubber stamp City Council that will approve an Emanuel second-term agenda,” said Fioretti.
