Rahm keeps his cool, wins the day and probably the mayors race

Chicago Mayoral Candidate: Only Blacks Should Be Considered Minorities
Don't you just love it when the mask drops and these Racists expose themselves for all to see?Mayoral challenger James Meeks came under fire Thursday for suggesting that only African-Americans should be eligible for city contracts set aside for Minorities and women. Meeks made the statement on Wednesday during an interview on WVON Radio. It happened during a discussion of why African-American businesses got a 7 percent sliver of Chicago’s $1 billion spending pie through Aug. 31, down from 8 ...

At Issue in Emanuel Hearing: Boxes in Basement
Chicago — The contents of Rahm Emanuel’s basement took center stage on Wednesday in an election board hearing to determine whether he can run for mayor. A tenant who is renting Mr. Emanuel’s home here told a hearing officer that she had never seen any of the boxes Mr. Emanuel said he stored in the basement when he left for Washington to work as President Obama’s Chief of Staff. The tenant, Lori Halpin, testified during the second day of hearings over whether Mr. Emanuel meets the

Meeks: No set asides for white women
* Rev. Sen. James Meeks has a well-known mouth problem. The problem is he continually inserts his foot into his mouth, particularly on the subject of race. From Fox Chicago… On Wednesday, Chicago Mayoral Candidate James Meeks said that only African-Americans should be able to participate in Affirmative Action programs- and that Hispanics, Asians, and women should be excluded. Later, he tried to clarify his remarks. Speaking to a Candidates’ forum Wednesday on black-oriented WVON ...

Emanuel tops Chicago mayoral poll
Published: Dec. 15, 2010 at 12:20 PM Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel laughs as he prepares to testify as a witness at a hearing before the Chicago Board of Elections in Chicago on December 14, 2010. Emanuel's candidacy for Mayor of Chicago is being challenged on the basis of a law that requires Chicago residency for one year prior to running for municipal office. UPI/Brian Kersey CHICAGO, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Rahm Emanuel is far ahead of his rivals in the Chicago mayor's race, a ...

Were Emanuels tenant demands for $100K related to residency case?
* The plot thickens… The Real Estate manager who helped Rahm Emanuel buy his North Side home testified in a residency hearing today that Emanuel’s renters wanted $100,000 to end their lease early when he returned to Chicago this fall to run for mayor. […] Levy said he passed the $100,000 figure to Emanuel, who called it “ridiculous.” The counter offer was $5,000 a month for every month early the Halpins left, Levy said. The lease is set to expire in mid-2011. * An...

Renter Testifies at Emanuel's Residency Hearing
(Chicago) — A friend of Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel's wife testified Wednesday that she helped pack away their family heirlooms and other mementos for storage before Emanuel moved to Washington to become President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. Mee Kim-Chavez spoke at a Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel's bid for the city's top job. She said she helped Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, store 20 to 30 boxes in a crawl space under a home add...

Renter Testifies at Emanuel's Residency Hearing
(Chicago) — A friend of Chicago mayoral hopeful Rahm Emanuel's wife testified Wednesday that she helped pack away their family heirlooms and other mementos for storage before Emanuel moved to Washington to become President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. Mee Kim-Chavez spoke at a Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel's bid for the city's top job. She said she helped Emanuel's wife, Amy Rule, store 20 to 30 boxes in a crawl space under a home add...

Emanuel takes early lead in race for Chicago mayor
Former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is off to an early lead in the race for Chicago mayor, but there is plenty of room for other contenders in the crowded field as the fluid contest takes shape, a new Tribune/WGN poll found. Emanuel had the support of 32 percent of voters, just ahead of 30 percent who were undecided, making him the only candidate in double-digits with more than two months before the Feb. 22 city election. He was well short of the outright majority needed to avoid an ...

Shakira the Star is Now Shakira the Author
Nov. 24, 2010: Shakira performs at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. Colombian singer and songwriter Shakira is making her debut in the publishing world. The hip shaking singer wrote a book entitled "Dora the Explorer in the International Day of School Adventure." In the Children's take, Dora goes on multiple adventures with her partner, Boots, in an effort to collect school supplies and other needed materials that schools lack. “Dora is an inspiration for all the children in the ...

Emanuels Chicago residency hearing enters 3rd day
CHICAGO (AP) — Attorneys for former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are focused on showing that he always planned to come back to Chicago after he finished working for President Barack Obama. A Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel’s mayoral bid enters its third day Thursday with more witnesses expected to testify. More than two dozen opponents say he doesn’t have a legal right to run because he lived for nearly two years in ...

Emanuel Leads in Chicago
A new Chicago Tribune poll finds Rahm Emanuel leading the Chicago mayoral race with 32%, followed by five Candidates in the single digits and another 30% still Undecided. If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in the Feb. 22 non-partisan primary the top two contenders face off on April 5. ...

Rahm Emanueuls Chicago residency still open to dabate
Attorneys for former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel are focused on showing that he always planned to come back to Chicago after he finished working for President Barack Obama. A Chicago Board of Election Commissioners hearing on residency challenges to Emanuel’s mayoral bid enters its third day Thursday with more witnesses expected to testify. More than two dozen opponents say he doesn’t have a legal right to run because he lived for nearly two years in Washington. Wednesday...

Poll: Emanuel front-runner in Chicago mayoral race
(CNN) - As Rahm Emanuel attempts to prove that he's a Chicago resident, a new poll indicates that the former White House Chief of Staff is far ahead of his rivals in the battle to be the city's next mayor. According to a Chicago Tribune/WGN survey, 32 percent of Chicago voters support Emanuel, with former Chicago City Colleges Board Chairman Gery Chico and Rep. Danny Davis each at nine percent, state Sen. James Meeks at six percent, former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun at six percent, City Clerk Migu...

Emanuel keeps cool during 11 hours of residency questions
Rahm Emanuel kept his famously sharp political tongue in check for more than 11 hours Tuesday as a phalanx of indignant Activists and a seasoned election attorney poked and prodded him during a hearing on whether he is eligible to run for Mayor of Chicago. The most serious attack on his candidacy came in the first 90 minutes of the hearing as the lead attorney challenging Emanuel bored in on the issue of whether the former White House Chief of Staff meets the requirement of being a Chicago res...

What's in Emanuel's basement?
The fight over Rahm Emanuel's eligibility to run for mayor turned into a debate Wednesday over what's in the basement of his Chicago home. On day two of a rambling hearing into claims that Emanuel doesn't meet the one-year residency rule for Candidates, Testimony focused on his contention that his family left prized possessions stored in their North Side house when they went to Washington for his job as President Barack Obama's Chief of Staff. Emanuel's attorneys argue that that shows he intend...

Groups urge diversity initiative
Four congressional minority staff associations sent a message to House administration officials on diversity: “We’re watching.” In a letter yesterday to House Administration Committee Chairman Robert Brady (D-Penn.) and House GOP Transition Team Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.), members of the organizations urged leaders to keep up with the House’s diversity initiative, despite a change in leadership. Continue Reading Text Size - + reset Politico 44 The four groups to s...

As mayoral candidate who is also a minister, Meeks walks a fine line
Pacing as he dabbed his sweaty face with a towel, the Rev. James T. Meeks fired up his large crowd with an energetic rant about City Hall's shortcomings — poor garbage pickup, red-light cameras, underperforming public schools. "It's time for us to stand up. It's time for us to get up. It's time for us to wake up!" he exhorted. While it sounded like many of the political speeches the State Senator and Candidate for Chicago mayor makes on the Campaign Trail, this was a sermon Meeks delivere...

New President for the Virginia Partisans
Congratulations to Tiffany Joslyn, who has been voted the new president of the Virginia Partisans Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club. According to a Press Release from Partisans Secretary Brian Cook: ...Terry Mansberger has stepped down as President of the Virginia Partisans. He will be working to help launch the LGBT Democratic Caucus of Virginia - a new body directly affiliated with the Virginia Democratic Party. This organization will serve with the Partisans as a voice for LGBT Democrats acros...

Mayoral hopefuls enlisting help from corporate, civic worlds
Chicago's leading Mayoral Candidates have lined up corporate executives to help them raise money. But some got around to it sooner than others. "I just accepted this responsibility a week and a half ago," said Willie Wilson, an entrepreneur and former McDonald's franchisee, who is volunteering as U.S. Rep. Danny Davis' finance chairman. "By the end of next week, I should have my arms around this thing." Meanwhile, front-runner Rahm Emanuel appears to be leading a well-organized backroom operat...

Teachers should retain the right to strike
There is currently a school Reform Bill that will soon be voted on in the Illinois General Assembly. There is wording in the bill that would limit the right of teachers to strike. These bills are ostensibly for the entire state, but everyone realizes that they are directed at Chicago. In a Democracy, there is no place for a restriction on the right of the People to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Sound familiar? It should. That’s contained in the First Amendment to the...

Otis Rolley shakes up the local political fund-raising scene with Bill Cosby
If you only read the Baltimore Sun on the Sun's website then you might have missed this article. Bill Cosby will be headlining a political Fundraiser for Otis Rolley in January 2011. This event should raise a boatload of money and propel Rolley into the legitimate Mayoral Candidate category. In November I wrote an article about Rolley. At the time I recognized him as the smartest of the potential mayoral Candidates, but I wondered if his lack of name recognition would doom him to second class ca...

Meeks backs off from set-aside remarks
Mayoral Candidate James Meeks today sought to tamp down a campaign Controversy following his assertion on a radio program yesterday that white women, Asians and Latinos should not be included in city minority contractor set-aside programs. Meeks, a State Senator and prominent minister, tried to shift the focus to what his campaign called systemic Corruption in the program and, in a statement, appeared to retract his comments. Read more on Clout Street. ...

Religious leaders keep the pressure on Cornyn, Hutchison to support DREAM Act
Religious groups advocating for the DREAM Act are ratcheting up the pressure on Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Both senators have said they'll vote 'no' on the bill should it come up in the Senate during the Lame Duck session, and thus far they've showed no signs of budging. A group of Texas clergy held a Conference Call for reporters this afternoon, urging the senators to support the bill. The call comes on the heels of a multifaith prayer summit and demonstration in the Se...

Potential Dark Horse: Herman Cain in 2012
RedState recently polled their readers to see who they would like to see as the GOP Presidential nominee. The winner was Herman Cain. Who is Herman Cain? Cain is a big Private Sector Candidate - he was a former Pillsbury executive and later ran Godfathers Pizza. He’s also a Talk Show host and PAC founder. He had previously ran for US Senate in Georgia in 2004 - he came in 2nd place, but did not garner enough support to force a runoff. He’s a great speaker who, apparentl...

Feds seize 11 tons of pot in 6 railroad cars
Seven people have been arrested after nearly 11 tons of marijuana was found packed into six railroad cars from Mexico in what could be the largest pot seizure in the Chicago area. The marijuana was found at a south suburban warehouse this month, according to the U.S. attorney's office, which valued the pot at $22 million. The arrests were announced the same day that a south suburban family, in a separate case, were charged with running a large pot growing operation out of their home. The wareh...