Rahm Emanuel’s “Huge Embarrassment”: What It Means For Liberals — And America - Salon

[Divernan]

19. Even Obama's support and a $10 mill. advantage couldn't carry Rahm over the finish line.

POLITICO MAGAZINE
The Humbling of Rahm

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel fell short of an outright win in his reelection battle Tuesday — despite President Barack Obama putting his hometown political clout on the line to push his former top aide over the finish line — and will face the second-place finisher in an April runoff.

But the result is also a disappointment for Obama, who put himself at the forefront during the final days of the campaign. He cut radio ads for Emanuel, his first White House chief of staff. And on Thursday, just five days before the election, the president flew into Chicago to give the mayor a boost. They appeared together at a stop in the Pullman neighborhood, where the president declared that he could not “be prouder of [Emanuel] and the extraordinary service he’s provided.” The planning for Obama’s trip to Chicago was nearly three weeks in the making, the sources said.

Obama and Emanuel then made a trek to one of the mayor’s campaign headquarters, where the president told volunteers that Emanuel was “somebody who cares deeply about this city.” Video of the president’s testimonial ended up in the mayor’s final television ad before Tuesday’s vote. Those appeals, however, were not enough to give Emanuel, who was facing a group of underfunded and less well-known opponents, a majority of the vote.

Polls showed Emaunel closing in on a majority in recent weeks but never quite clearing the threshold. Emanuel vastly outraised his opponents, pulling in $13 million to Garcia’s $1 million. While Emanuel ran a slate of TV commercials, including one that featured Obama, Garcia was able to air only one TV ad.
The president and his political team now must decide how — or whether — to engage in a runoff election that will put Emanuel’s controversial tenure under the national microscope. Eric Schultz, a White House spokesman, declined to comment on Obama’s plans to buttress Emanuel other than to say he is “supportive and will do what we can to help.”


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/rahm-emanuel-chicago-mayoral-election-2015-runoff-115481.html#ixzz3SnjQqHK6