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The NPR program and the local authorities it had rounded up—John Kass and Laura Washington among them—reported that Emanuel is up to his ears in problems (crime, schools, finances) but almost certain to be reelected in 2015 if he wants to be. He’s got no apparent challengers, he’s got $5 million in his reelection bank account, and Washington said she expects him to triple that by the time the campaign starts.
The report began with mention of the era from 1955 to 2011—more than half a century—when City Hall was dominated by Daleys, father and son, each elected mayor six times. It was what they aspired to; it was all they wanted.
“I do agree that in general, Chicagoans think of our politics in royal terms,” she e-mailed me. “We think parochially in many ways, and we don’t (with the exception of Barack Obama) resonate with politicians who strive for the national stage. Perhaps we feel betrayed, or perhaps it’s because we take our politics so personally.”
