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* More and more people are saying privately that they believe Danny Davis will do what he usually does and pull the plug on his mayoral race, even though he was picked as the so-called “consensus” candidate by a large group of African-American leaders. ABC7’s Charles Thomas is so far unimpressed…
Pols began whispering doubts about Davis’ mayoral ambitions as long ago as his mid-November announcement. Many of the prominent Coalition members who named him their “consensus” candidate did not bother to show up.
And Davis’ Congressional colleague Rep. Bobby Rush–who was one of the original movers in the effort to rally financial and political backing around a single black candidate–announced his support for Carol Moseley Braun.
There is also whispered concern that Davis has not been able to raise enough cash for a campaign.
What Danny Davis does have is great name recognition, an admirable record serving Chicago in Washington and a voter base that stretches from the lakefront to the city limits on the west side.
What I’m sure he does not have is a lot of time between now and the February 22nd city election.
If he’s serious about running for mayor…he’d be advised to begin acting like it.
* Oops…
When Rahm Emanuel originally filed his 2009 Illinois tax return, he indicated he was only a “part-year resident’’ of the state that year, since he had moved to Washington D.C. to serve as President Obama’s chief of staff.
But after he decided to return to Chicago to run for mayor this fall — and after several people challenged whether he was eligible to run based on the fact that he hadn’t lived in the city for a full-year prior to the Feb. 2 election — he filed an amended return.
“The original return’s statements regarding part-year residency were not accurate and were inconsistent with our continued payments of Illinois estimated tax, both in the original 2009 return and subsequently,” the form reads. “The amended return makes clear that we were full year residents of Illinois in 2009 and it reports all of our income.”
More…
Washington D.C. law requires payment of local income tax by individuals present in Washington for 183 or more days even if they are residents of another state, according to a statement from Emanuel spokesman Ben LaBolt. “Rahm’s tax return makes clear that he always remained a Chicago resident and continued to pay income taxes in Chicago in 2010, in addition to property taxes, maintaining car and voter registration in Chicago and being clear that he intended to return to Chicago once his service to President Obama was complete,” the statement said.
* Emanuel submitted hundreds of pages of documents for Tuesday’s hearing. I have a few of them. You can click here to browse through them. An e-mail exchange between Emanuel’s wife and the couple’s realtor makes it pretty darned clear that the two fully intended to return to Chicago to live.
* Speaking of his wife, the objectors want to call Amy Rule, Emanuel’s wife. Emanuel’s attorney objected, but it wasn’t his finest moment, to say the least…
We object strenuously, she is a mother of three young children,” said Michael Kasper, one of Emanuel’s attorneys. “It’s no secret they are in Washington D. C.”
That response brought catcalls from the room. “Where she lives!” one man shouted.
Objector Alice Coffey said it’s pertinent that Rule would have to fly from Washington to testify the family lives in Chicago. “Am I missing something?” Coffey said.
Morris warned Emanuel’s lawyers that the stipulation needs to cover all issues that might relate to Rule’s testimony.
“You’re going to have to comprehensively pursuade me” that Rule doesn’t need to be called, Morris said.
Morris said he would hold another status hearing at 9 a.m. Monday to address the stipulations.
* Burt Odelson had his own weekend document dump…
Odelson responded Sunday with his own exhibits, including electric and gas bills for the house, which are in the name of the tenant, Robert Halpin, who briefly joined the race for mayor himself.
* Using video trackers is standard procedure in campaigns. But Rahm Emanuel’s trackers are going too far. For instance, one showed up at a private meeting between not-for-profit groups and rival candidate Gery Chico. When asked who he was, the tracker said he was just a private citizen interested in learning about Chico’s positions. Others, when confronted, denied at first that they were with Emanuel’s campaign. These are apparently college kids, so they’re really not at fault here. The Emanuel campaign is training them to deceive, and that’s just wrong…
Chico spokesperson Brooke Anderson responded to the Emanuel campaign’s claim that it was merely “attending a public event to see what is said about the campaign.”
“We would welcome Team Rahm to attend our public events,” Anderson said, “but they shouldn’t lie about who they are. And I would also point out that one of those was not a public event. It was a private meeting with nonprofit leaders. They [Rahm’s campaign] were not invited. They came anyway, and they misrepresented themselves.”
Emanuel needs to get control of his campaign.
* Roundup…
* Rahm: Make parents vow to help
* Braun’s finacial angel - TV station owner in racially charged case lent her $250,000
* Emanuel campaigns on South Side
* Vallas praises Chico, ribs Emanuel
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 5:31 am
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Dave Axelrod didn’t move his family. Prez Obama maintains a residence in Chicago, Dick Durbin still has his residence in downstate Illinois and I am at a loss to find other job holders who moved lock, stock and barrel with family in tow to the Potomac.
Comment by Stormy Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 8:20 am
Axelrod’s kids are old enough to live on their own, and President Obama has 24/7 Secret Service protection for his Chicago residence. As a representative of Illinois, Dick Durbin travels between the two states, just as Emanuel did when he was a Congressman from the 5th.
If Emanuel paid full time taxes in Chicago and maintained voter registration in Chicago, he must be considered a resident of Chicago, with D.C.rental home being a temporary residence while on business of the United States.
Comment by SR Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 8:39 am
Danny Davis=all talk, no action. Unsurprising.
Comment by Free Ike Carrothers Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 8:42 am
Be that as it may, making “track the tracker” videos is even dumber.
Comment by Dirt Digger Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 8:48 am
As long as Danny Davis can gather the signatures to get on a ballot, he’ll run for everything and hope that lightning strikes. Not exactly a fire in the belly type.
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 9:35 am
Stormy: I believe one of Axelrod’s kids either is a resident or is in a program at Misericordia. But more importantly think of what you’re saying. Imagine it’s not Rahm Emmanuel but somebody who worked as a low-level White House aid and rented — no way to keep ANY tie to Chicago no matter that he/she lived here for the preceding years. THey’d be disqualified too. This residency attack is stupid, regardless what one thinks of Rham.
Comment by lake county democrat Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 9:41 am
Just man up and admit who you are working for… Golly…
Comment by OneMan Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 9:44 am
Wordslinger, I totally agree.
I attended the IVI-IPO mayoral endorsement session on Saturday and someone asked Davis how anyone could trust that he was really staying in the race after he dropped out of the Cook County Board President’s race. He became very defensive and said that he had just been “exploring” a possible run and weren’t people allowed to do that? He was then asked if he was perhaps just “exploring” now and — just as he did when he was running for Cook County Board — swore up and down that yes, he was in it for the long haul.
Personally my preferred candidate is Miguel del Valle. Rahm is not progressive enough for me, plus I think the last thing the city needs is another dictator. Chico’s ties to Daley and involvement with Blago rule him out, Davis isn’t serious, Meeks lost me on social issues, and Braun took herself out of my consideration when she hired Victor Reyes and Mike Noonan to run her campaign. I have no idea if del Valle stands a chance but I don’t see another option for me.
Comment by Lakefront Liberal Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 9:57 am
Bill Foster had one of these Trackers following Randy Hultgren at local parades. I thought it was a pretty sad thing to do and I don’t think Foster got anything useful out of the exercise. I just hope the kids got paid well for all of it.
Comment by Bill Baar Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 10:15 am
Was there media at this “private event”? I’m no Rahm fan, but c’mon every event turns “private” when the candidate being filmed spots a tracker.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 10:16 am
Actually, not every campaign is “private,” with or without a tracker. If it’s on private property, with a door between you and the general public, it’s a private event and you can ask the trackers to leave. If it’s on public property, it’s a public event. Pretty simple, actually.
Comment by soccermom Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 10:25 am
soccermom that’s my point. Campaigns send out pressers advertising “public forums” that magically turn private when a tracker is spotted. Sounds like Chico’s people are just upset they let him get through the door. I just about guarantee Chico has people doing the same thing
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 10:30 am
Good news about the Chicago mayoral race: It is blessedly short.
Comment by Cincinnatus Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 10:46 am
Rahm’s campaign screwed up. They don’t need to have these punks running around using deception.
Comment by downstate Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 11:06 am
Bottom line though, IMHO, if you’re going to try and make a story out of something a tracker did, you best come with something better than “they snuck into an event and tried to trick us”…they pretty much all do that. Their job is to get in and get video, campaign’s job is to find out who they are and keep them out. Some are just better at it than others.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 11:39 am
===Emanuel’s attorney objected, but it wasn’t his finest moment, to say the least…====
He has been too busy winning his honorable mention in the Golden Horseshoe awards.
His statement at the hearing “We object strenuously” reminded me when Sam Weinberg reamed Lt Galloway (Demi Moore), in “A Few Good Men”
“I strenuously object?” Is that how it works? Hm? “Objection your honor. Overruled. No, no, I STRENUOUSLY object.” “Oh. You strenuously object. Then I will take some time and reconsider.”
That being said, he is actually pretty darn good at balancing both lobbying and lawyering.
Comment by Been There Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 11:46 am
Rahm Emanuel is a multi-millionaire. He did not need to rent out the house, but he chose to do so. The residency challenge is a valid strategy and he has no one but himself to blame for getting caught in this trick bag.
Comment by QRBSNT Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 12:09 pm
Funny video coming from a mayoral campaign with some of the rudest canvassers out there, who have gone so far as to grab handfuls of signed Rahm petitions and then took off with them. To bad we didn’t catch that on camera.
Comment by Matt Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 12:28 pm
QRBSNT, I’ll bet Emanuel’s neighbors are happy he has a tenant. I live next door to a house that’s been empty for 5 years. Apparently the owner has enough money to let it sit there and be a magnet for all the homeless to come and sleep on the porch/in the garage. I am not happy about constantly calling 911 to have them come out and get these guys off the property, but that’s what I have to do to keep them from constantly harassing people who do live in the neighborhood.
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 12:38 pm
Wow, Chico really uncovered the smoking gun in this race. Maybe next he can tell us who is paying all of the “concerned citizens” to get up and shout things at the Rahm residency hearing. Ok, maybe not…
Comment by 44 Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 12:42 pm
Chairman Langdon Neal’s very important view notwithstanding, can a candidate really establish residency with just “intent,” given the other evidence that a new residence is established and the supposed Chicago residence is completely possessed by an other under a lease? I have a problem with that, and know that others do. As a principle, it’s so open to abuse in the future.
I thought this thing was pretty silly when it started. I was wrong.
Comment by Bubs Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 12:53 pm
===He did not need to rent out the house, but he chose to do so.===
He did if he was concerned about leaving an empty house in Chicago.
Everything ain’t about money.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 2:18 pm
In case anyone is interested, there’s a really good interview with Tom Dart in Chicago Magazine. He seems like a really good guy. Wish he were running.
Comment by centrist Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 2:18 pm
At the same IVI-IPO endorsement session that Lakefront Liberal attended, I asked Congressman Davis about his website and Facebook page and why he is the only candidate not to have one. He responded that the Davis site went online that same morning but I’ve tried several times to locate it online and have not located it yet.
Comment by Alonso Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 2:31 pm
I’m surprised he didn’t put in a 60 or 90 day kick-out clause.
Comment by Lincoln Parker Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 2:33 pm
I’m certainly no fan of Rahm, but I did think that the next phrase that was going to be yelled at the hearing re Amy Rule, was “she’s a witch!” in true Monty Python style….
Comment by amalia Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 3:02 pm
the link to the Vallas story is only the home page for the Southtown Star. who did the story? was it a column?
Comment by amalia Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 3:08 pm
All White House personnel from Chicago who went to the White House to work for President Obama were allowed to maintain their residency and vote in Chicago elections. It did not matter whether they rented their home, or sublet their apartments.
The residency law as it applies to candidates for public office is intended to stop carpetbaggers. As a longtime Chicago resident who left at the President’s request to serve as his Chief of Staff and intended to return once that service was over, Emanuel is not a carpetbagger.
The law also makes an exception for those away on business of the United States. Chief of Staff falls under that category, as does military service. If the authors of this law wanted to limit it to military service, they could have limited it to military service.
The residency laws as they apply to teachers, firemen, and police do not apply here because they only stipulate that you must be a resident while on the job. They do not state how long you have to be a resident before applying for, or taking, a job.
Comment by SR Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 5:06 pm
Danny Davis has been a complete waste of everyone’s time, including himself. The media should just ignore him. The Coalition needs to be disbanded because picking him was the worst thing. The absurdity of it all. The Coalition should’ve just stuck with Braun or threw support to Chico.
With Chico they have a chance with Braun they have somewhat of a chance, but with Davis they have no chance of winning. Davis will finish a very disappointing fourth or fifth.
Comment by BF Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 7:04 pm
Tuesday’s going to be a big press party. Lots of crazies at the hearing. Let’s see how far the hearing officer lets it go. Going to have to sneak in somehow to see it.
The real work will be done in the Daley center on review. Let’s get it there ASAP. That’s where the law will get decided. Rahm, ol’ boy, it’s 50/50 at best. Daley shoulda announced earlier.
Comment by Park Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 8:17 pm
Park, I’d put Rahm Emanuel’s chances of staying on the ballot at 90% plus. I don’t like it, but reality can be a cruel thing.
Comment by Bubs Monday, Dec 13, 10 @ 8:42 pm