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Marilyn Katz talks about a possible Valerie Jarrett bid for governor

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* Chicago PR guru Marilyn Katz was on The Daily Line’s podcast show this week. Among the topics she discussed was whether her longtime friend and ally Valerie Jarrett might run for mayor or governor. Jarrett has been one of President Obama’s closest advisors for a decade…

I think there’s a lot of interest. Valerie is an extraordinary woman. She came to government in Harold Washington’s era, worked all the way through Daley’s era, left government… and I think there’s a huge following. And people looking around the political landscape, watching how she has guided Barack’s campaign, but also his conduct in office and where she stood on the issues in the Obama administration that were most contentious, abortion, insurance issues, immigration - on which she was on the side of abortion coverage, reproductive rights coverage, taking on Obamacare and taking on the immigration issue, think that she would be a great candidate to come home and run for mayor or for governor.

She’s got leadership. She’s young enough. She knows the city like the back of her hand, has the requisite governmental experience and the relationships nationwide to make her an incredible asset.

When we look at what we need out of a governor and mayor, one is really a sense of the city and a vision of where it needs to go and how to get there. And also the infrastructure of contacts and experience that allows you to not only to have the vision, but also to fulfill it. Valerie can do anything she wants.

That sounds more like she’s pushing Jarrett for a mayoral bid.

* So, would Jarrett really run statewide?…

I’ve made a case for her. Before she decided to go to the White House, I made a case to her and for her that she should run for the Senate.

Now, Barack convinced her not to and said, “Well think about it this way, would you rather be eating a chicken dinner in Dubuque or wherever, Des Moines (oh, those are in Iowa) or Cairo, or would you rather be eating a state dinner and hanging out with me?” So, she made that choice, but I’ve always thought Valerie would be a tremendous candidate.

Um, OK. Again, there seems to be more of a case being made here for mayor than governor.

* And then Katz asked this rhetorical question…

So if she wanted to run for governor, and spend her life in Springfield, after DC…?

Yeah, that doesn’t make it sound like it’s gonna happen.

* Also…

I think she’s considering what to do after six months. She’s considering taking a rest… She’s going to take a vacation and think about putting herself at the center and where she wants to go. She has lived for Barack these last ten years, and her whole life has been determined by his career, his needs.

As has been reported by multiple outlets, there’s a real sense of urgency behind the scenes to coalesce as soon as possible behind a 2018 candidate. If Jarrett waits until June to start making a decision, the campaign may have already passed her by.

* And here’s Katz on the self-funders…

I believe that in this age of social media, that in fact while money counts, voters are actually smarter than that and will, in the end, vote for a better candidate, someone like Valerie. You need somebody with charisma. You need somebody who’s going to master social media, who’s got enough money to run the race, to get the name recognition. I believe that self-funders are fine, but really, I think people are really sick in this state of billionaires…

I think Chris, of the billionaires running, I think Chris Kennedy has the best chance among them… partly not because he’s a self-funder only, but because he’s got the name of Kennedy, which goes a long way towards recognition among older voters, particularly older voters in the African-American, the white Jewish community stands for liberalism and all that is good.

You can subscribe to the show’s podcast on iTunes or Android.

I’ll open comments on this post Monday morning.

posted by Rich Miller
Saturday, Jan 7, 17 @ 3:08 pm

Comments

No doubt that Valerie Jarrett is popular in Illinois. But, can she survive a political campaign when Donald Trump’s releases her e-mails from the White House years?

Comment by Steve Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 8:25 am
As much as I admire Valerie Jarrett, my first questions are, why would she want to run, who is her constituency, and — political junkies aside — even know who she is?

Methinkts this trial balloon won’t long float.

Comment by Northsider Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 8:56 am
Chris Kennedy is a billionaire who could self-fund? Says who?

As far as “mastering social media,” I take that as a reference to the Trump model. But Trump’s social media campaign was built on a foundation of free, wall-to-wall national cable news coverage — because his outrageous statements and behavior got good ratings, like a Kardashian show.

I doubt the national cable networks will turn over their programming days to cover every flatulent noise coming from an Illinois statewide candidate.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:14 am
Ms. Jarrett would be a good candidate for Mayor of Chicago or even Congress. Statewide would be a bit dicey - especially in a non-presidential year when the Obama voters of 2008 and 2012 are less likely to head to the polls. I am not doubting her abilities or her chops, but I would doubt her chances running statewide.

Comment by Team Sleep Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:22 am
Recruit Obama. Instant recognition and credibility would drive turnout and avoid the need to match Rauner’s spending. Bonus points if Rauner preempts this by recruiting Obama to a House seat for a run as speaker. /s

Comment by thechampaignlife Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:32 am
Would she still be able to collect her CTA pension while governor?

http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/the-watchdogs-cta-board-retirees-on-pension-gravy-train/

Comment by City Zen Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:55 am
Valerie Jarrett is a dream candidate… for Bruce Rauner.

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 9:55 am
==No doubt that Valerie Jarrett is popular in Illinois.==

I doubt it. I mean, I like Jarrett, but her public profile is that of, like, the third most prominent WH staffer of the Obama years. I would assume most voters don’t know her at all.

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 10:11 am
I guess Austan Goolsbee was busy. As others have shared, her trial balloon isn’t made of mylar and should come down by the weekend.

Comment by Jocko Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 10:59 am
Strategy right out of the gate - Insult everyone outside Chicago? Yea, that’s not happening.

I think Chicago people keep floating their name statewide and pushing hard on those bids to have money raised in the hope that Rahm won’t run for reelection (see: Pawar). A Chicago Mayor can’t back out too early, or they lose absolutely all power.

Comment by NIU Grad Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 11:15 am
Valerie Jarrett has a host of issues relating back to her service in the Daley Administration and her real estate holdings.

Comment by Bring It On Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 11:38 am
“”She has a wide following”"

Only among a pretty small group.

Comment by walker Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 11:54 am
Valarie Jarrett vs Alderman Pawar in the Democrat primary, a battle for the ages.

Comment by Rod Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 12:15 pm
Might be a library and foundation in Chicago she just might have some role with.

Comment by A guy Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 1:20 pm
No thanks…

Comment by Menard Guy Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 3:07 pm
No way. There is too much stuff to dig up on her. She will be blamed for so many things that Obama did or didn’t do.

Comment by denideni Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 4:11 pm
Marilyn Katz and Valerie Jarrett. I’m reliving the ’80s.

Comment by Amalia Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 4:17 pm
Give me a break. And “charisma”???

Comment by Molly Maguire Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 6:09 pm
Rich
this is a big joke are you kidding me VJ for Gov who is going to give 50m to run for GOV. the last 4 yrs are a disaster.

Comment by scott aster Monday, Jan 9, 17 @ 8:51 pm