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* Press release…
The Vallas for Mayor campaign is releasing a new television ad highlighting the mayoral candidate’s record of improving public education while he served as Chief Executive Officer of the Chicago Public Schools, complete with an authoritative source who saw the progress being made and praised it publicly in real time — President Bill Clinton. The ad shows footage from President Clinton’s 1999 State of the Union address, where he singled out CPS for praise as a national model for public education under Vallas’ leadership.
The ad is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiRdfFKxF-k
“At the time I was asked to lead our school district our children were being failed, but with the hard work of our entire dedicated team we turned it around and made Chicago Public Schools into a national model for excellence,” said Vallas. “Now, our schools are struggling again with declining enrollment, falling test scores and in many cases unsafe conditions. As Mayor, I will make schools part of the solution to both higher academic achievement and a safer community, and drive more decisions and resources into the hands of those closest to our kids. Because their safety and success is our safety and success.”
The spot…
Not mentioned…
Speculation that Mr. Vallas was on the way out had grown recently, owing largely to Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley’s public criticism of some stagnant and declining test scores.
* Meanwhile…
Watch for Paul Vallas to announce that Willie Wilson is supporting his campaign. Wilson placed fifth in last week’s mayoral election, but his base of 51,200 Black voters has been coveted by both Vallas and Johnson. Along with being aligned on public safety issues, Wilson and Vallas have a personal bond. They have both lost sons.
* Fran Spielman…
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Tuesday threw her formidable support behind Brandon Johnson in the April 4 mayoral runoff, but an even more potent endorsement awaits Johnson: from SEIU Local 1.
Local 1 President Genie Kastrup has called a news conference for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to announce the state council’s decision to back Johnson.
The union represents “more than 45,000 working people,” including janitors, security officers, window washers and employees for the contractors who work at O’Hare and Midway Airports.
…Adding… The national SEIU’s PAC has just transferred more than $300K to SEIU Local 73’s political action committee.
* Press release…
The Sierra Club Illinois Chapter PAC announced today its endorsement of Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson for mayor of Chicago.
“Commissioner Brandon Johnson stands out as the candidate with the most equitable vision for the climate and environmental justice crises Chicagoans face today, and Sierra Club is proud to endorse him for mayor,” said Sierra Club Illinois Director Jack Darin. “Brandon has demonstrated a deep dedication to fighting for environmental justice, and he is committed to building a Chicago that leads the way in the transition to 100% clean energy. We look forward to working alongside Brandon Johnson in City Hall to make environmental justice and our clean energy future a reality for all Chicagoans.”
“Chicago can and must lead the way in protecting the communities most harmed by pollution while also mitigating the climate crisis with a just transition to 100% clean energy,” said Brandon Johnson. “As mayor, I look forward to working alongside advocates at Sierra Club and environmental justice and community organizations across the city to reduce and mitigate air and water pollution, ensure every Chicagoan has access to clean, affordable, and reliable energy, and address environmental racism. No park, no neighborhood, no community in Chicago will ever be treated as a sacrifice zone in my administration.”
Sierra Club will host weekly phonebanks and canvassing events to urge our nearly 5,000 members in Chicago to support Brandon Johnson in the April 4 election.
“Sierra Club Chicago members are motivated by Brandon Johnson’s commitment to clean air, clean water, and equitable communities,” said Sierra Club Chicago Political Chair David Teeghman. “Building on the momentum from the February 28 election, we are excited to hit the ground running by knocking doors and making calls over the next month to help elect Brandon Johnson to the mayor’s office.”
Sierra Club’s contacts with Illinois voters on behalf of endorsed candidates are funded by Sierra Club Illinois PAC. Copies of our reports are available from the State Board of Elections in Springfield, Illinois.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:45 am
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Is Palos Paul gonna bring ska punk back from the 90s too?
Comment by Google Is Your Friend Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:55 am
There’s likely not enough time in this window for Johnson to re-hash all the “Daley” that Vallas is putting/injecting in his run, be it Chico or Clinton, the money types, the old guard, but what is quite interesting to this ad in particular is the idea that Vallas, and the Daley years, are something to harken backwards to, while wholly ignoring the Daley years with the parking meters, the decline of schools, and the tired insider pinstripe patronage.
Yet, Clinton will, in this snippet, make nostalgic the good Vallas did in the time of the 11th Ward power, Burke, Madigan, Hynes, O’Connor, all the old school days, and it’s an interesting turn to the “way back”
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:58 am
Equality Illinois also backed Johnson. Vallas is pretty close to 50% +1 if most of the Willie Wilson voters go with him.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 8:59 am
Shorter?
It’s not lost on me that Vallas wants “a look back”, not a vision of what’s ahead.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:01 am
Ah, yes, Vallas is harkening back to the good old days when there wasn’t all this talk of equity or acknowledgement of structural racism. Good times.
Comment by Montrose Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:20 am
**Vallas is pretty close to 50% +1 if most of the Willie Wilson voters go with him.**
Huh? Vallas + Willie = 41%. If you add Sawyer you get to 41.5%.
But, also, this is REALLY not how endorsements work and translate into votes.
Comment by JoeMaddon Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:22 am
Vallas may not be the best candidate, but he has run the best campaign by far. His past is his Achilles heel so he’s smart to recast it before his opponent reminds us of it. The Clinton ad like other Vallas ads puts Johnson on the defensive which is not where he wants to be with weeks left. And we’ve seen other candidates recast rather dark times as “great” and use nostalgia to suggest that things were better than they were. And if there’s no counter from Johnson it’s likely going to be effective. Johnson needed to get ahead of this days ago. Daylight continues to burn.
Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:25 am
Brandon Johnson will lose this race and replace Danny K Davis as Congressman
Comment by PP Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:29 am
==And if there’s no counter from Johnson it’s likely going to be effective. Johnson needed to get ahead of this days ago. Daylight continues to burn.==
Nailed it, @Pundent. BJ needs to go at PV hard, and yesterday.
Comment by The Truth Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:30 am
Maybe this Bill Clinton shoutout does something for old Dems, but does Team Vallas realize Bill Clinton was never even on the ballot for any voter under 45 years old?
This clip made me have to look up how old Paul Vallas is. I did not realize the guy is 69 years old already.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:31 am
===Huh? Vallas + Willie = 41%. If you add Sawyer you get to 41.5%.===
41.5% is much close to 50% than 22%. Plus, it would means Johnson has to win something like 4 out of 5 of the up for grabs voters to win. That’s pretty hard. I don’t know if Willie Wilson voters are naturally going to migrate to the police defunder candidate either. Politics is about addition and multiplication, not subtraction and division. I am not totally sold on Vallas, but he is doing a good job of adding to the lead he had coming out of the first round.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:33 am
Biggest thing for Vallas will be turning out the northwest and southwest sides of the city - Maybe the Local 150 will jump in and support him now.
Comment by Chicagonk Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:37 am
===41.5% is much close to 50% than 22%.===
Only if you assume a particular voter behavior in a vacuum. Doesn’t always work that way. People who voted for Wilson because they got some free gasoline may not be voting Vallas. They may not even vote, for that matter.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:39 am
And, conversely, some folks who voted for Chuy because he was a Latino hero may not vote for Johnson because he’s a progressive.
These are not playing cards that you can move around a table. They’re human beings.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:40 am
==does Team Vallas realize Bill Clinton was never even on the ballot for any voter under 45 years old?==
Not to nitpick but there are a small amount of people born from Mar. 9-Nov. 4, 1978 who haven’t turned 45 yet, but whom “Bill Clinton would have been on the ballot” for their first election after turning 18 in ‘96.
Comment by Stuck in Celliniland Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:41 am
=Brandon Johnson will lose this race and replace Danny K Davis as Congressman=
I believe a more likely scenario is should Brandon Johnson lose this race, he will replace a retiring Toni Preckwinkle as Cook County Board President.
Brandon will be in a key position to run for Mayor again, and burnish his bona fides, with such a move. He would have a difficult time running for Mayor from DC. Just as Chuy.
Paul Vallas is 70 years old. Brandon would be well-suited to wait for his next opportunity, should he lose of course.
Comment by Anon 9:42 Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:42 am
=Bill Clinton was never even on the ballot for any voter under 45 years old?=
The GOP reminisced about Regan decades after he was relevant. The goal is to appeal to those that show up to vote. That’s not to say the under 45 crowd won’t show up but Vallas needs to play to the fear of folks who long for the good old days where crime was not a constant headline. And even if the data suggests that things were just as bad then as they may be now, this is more about tapping into feelings than anything.
Comment by Pundent Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:42 am
And yes, I am suggesting that Preckwinkle would step down mid-term to facilitate such a move for Brandon Johnson.
Comment by Anon 9:42 Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:44 am
I guess if we’re going to speculate the ease one group flows to another or the idea(s) well after this election is over to moves yet to be foreseen in these last 4 weeks, I’m going to hold my powder until two-term governor Lisa Madigan chimes in with her endorsement and next move after finally leaving public life.
Rich has it best, and to that my take is this…
Vallas reaching backwards in his story without a clearer vision forward, how exactly is that bringing or alienating any of these alleged “bases” of Wilson, Chuy, or Preckwinkle?
Vallas is defining himself outside other candidates he defeated, not necessarily co-opting their stories. By doing so (especially with Jesse White) Vallas is offsetting his weaknesses, like “he’s a Republican”… with praise from Clinton… during the Daley years. It’s a two-fer inoculation
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:56 am
===People who voted for Wilson because they got some free gasoline may not be voting Vallas. They may not even vote, for that matter.===
Or most of the people who received free gas did not vote. The turnout did not change much in 2019 between February and April. I know, of course, all the Wilson voters don’t automatically vote for Vallas. They are human, and have some sympathy for Vallas’s positions on the issues. Vallas is much closer to Wilson on the issues than Johnson. You can’t ignore Vallas is building an actual coalition for April 2023.
Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 9:59 am
Brandon Johnson needs to keep doing what he is doing which is running a grassroots campaign that knocks on more doors and makes more in person phone calls by a huge margin. This approach allowed the Johnson to defeat two better known candidates and it will likely get him past Vallas too.
Comment by Corruption Committee Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:05 am
=These are not playing cards that you can move around a table. They’re human beings.=
Louder for the people in the back of the room. Even though voters don’t do nuance, the people voting are the epitome of nuance.
Comment by a revelator Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:06 am
Looking forward to watching the debate tonight. especially because that Sun Times article read like pundits before a big game. and because I’m wondering when Ferguson became a political consultant. and because if the Willie Wilson endorsement happens before, cue the rabbit quote.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:13 am
-Anon 9:42- good luck thinking that 16 + 1 being Johnson will turn over the Cook County Board to Johnson. Trust me Moore, Lowrey and Gaynor will fight that to the end.
Comment by Old time Independent Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:20 am
===will turn over the Cook County Board===
Let’s get back on-topic, please.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:21 am
Always good to hear from those who live nowhere near the City of Chicago who seem to have so much wisdom about the City’s politics and who will go with whom. Rule should be if you have never lived in the City just sit back and listen.
Comment by Always something Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:22 am
I checked to see if I could vote early at a polling place - nope. So, I can mail it or go on the 4th. If we thought the turnout and younger voter turnout was bad for the other one, the 55 and older vote will be even more prominant. Vallas’ bringing up the past may not be a bad move. Those days don’t look too bad now.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:49 am
==over 45==.
I guess by that same token you gotta be over that age to remember when Democratic activists had to really work to ensure Illinois would go to a Democrat. Or the Senate seats. When we went to bed on Election Night not really knowing who would be in the majority in the IL House and Senate.
Comment by low level Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 10:58 am
Vallas is going to have to explain in more detail his role in the financial decision making during the Daley years that has led to the city’s current financial problems. If he chooses to ignore that it will be very difficult for me to vote for him. And I’m in a targeted voting group for Vallas.
Comment by Original Rambler Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 11:12 am
**Brandon Johnson needs to keep doing what he is doing which is running a grassroots campaign**
Nope. Brandon needs to spend several million dollars on TV. And a good chunk of that needs to go negative against Vallas.
Comment by JoeMaddon Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 11:25 am
I really, really hate the end of this ad with Vallas awkwardly watching the teacher.
Comment by JoeMaddon Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 11:26 am
C on the ad. it feels fake. does Clinton ever say Vallas? and the end, pasted on. Vallas is an awkward dude. certainly not my big fat Greek mayoral candidate.
Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 12:38 pm
I recant part of my earlier comment. I was looking before it was posted. We can early vote starting March 20th. But will that motivate the younger voters? It didn’t last time.
Comment by levivotedforjudy Wednesday, Mar 8, 23 @ 1:37 pm