Your point being? /s
Posted on 01/01/2011 11:59:29 AM PST by Graybeard58
A dramatic 2010 in Chicago politics ended with one last flourish Friday night as U.S. Rep. Danny Davis dropped out of the race to succeed Mayor Daley and threw his support behind Carol Moseley Braun.
“In unity there is strength. In strength there is success,” Davis said at his downtown campaign office, flanked by Braun and state Sen. James Meeks, two of his former opponents in the Feb. 22 election.
“I just want to unify behind the best candidate. Everyone I know thinks Carol is the best candidate.”
Braun and Davis had met repeatedly behind closed doors in recent days amid pressure to emerge with a single, consensus black candidate. The decisive meeting came earlier Friday, after Meeks returned to town.
Davis’ departure clears the way for Braun to run as the only major African American candidate in a crowded field that also includes former presidential chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, former School Board President Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle.
“I am totally dropping out of the race,” an upbeat Davis said, his famous deep voice booming. “I am supporting Carol Moseley Braun with every ounce of fervor that I have. I am even going to give her some money.
“I’m going to try to get every person who thought that they might support Danny Davis to switch their support to Carol Moseley Braun. I will start tonight.”
Davis called Braun “an outstanding woman” and introduced her as “the next mayor.”
A smiling Braun hugged both Davis and Meeks before saying their combined goal is to “reinvigorate our city.”
“We will create a city that works for all people in every neighborhood,” Braun said.
Davis’ press conference was kicked off by Meeks, who dropped out of the race last week.
“We’re here to stress unity,” Meeks said. “Unity is something our community desperately needs.”
Braun had been pressing her fund-raising advantage with Davis, releasing on Friday a list of black business leaders who have pledged to support her, a sign that she would be better able to compete financially with Emanuel.
Emanuel, who is vacationing in Thailand, released a statement saying: “Congressman Davis’ work on behalf of the people of Chicago goes back many years, and it certainly won’t stop today — his views will be needed in the dialogue about the city’s future. With all of the challenges we face, we must come together to work on behalf of all Chicagoans and address the needs of every neighborhood.”
Del Valle said he has “always had the utmost respect for Danny.”
“He’s been a warrior for the West Side for years. I wish him well. Voters in this race are going to look beyond race and ethnicity and decide who is best to lead this city.”
Chico, in his post-announcement statement, came out swinging.
“Regardless of who gets in or out of this race, I am the only candidate with a Chicago resume that is built for mayor.
“My two major opponents are Washington D.C. politicians. I served as chief-of-staff to the mayor in Chicago. I served as president of Chicago Public Schools in Chicago. I served as president of the Chicago Park District in Chicago. I served as chairman of the City Colleges in Chicago.
“I succeeded in every public service position I held because I built coalitions across ethnic and racial lines. That will be the type of leadership I bring to this campaign and to the mayor’s office. I have the best story to tell and the resources to tell it.”
Davis’ announcement follows a nearly four-hour meeting Wednesday night at the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH headquarters. Despite efforts that night to settle on a consensus candidate, both Davis and Braun insisted they were staying in the race. Davis had entered the meeting saying he was best candidate.
Davis had won the top coveted top spot on the ballot, and collected the endorsements of 15 African-American aldermen.
“It would be ludicrous for me to talk about any kind of thing other than trying to win the election,” Davis said on Dec. 22, the day he met with Meeks and Braun in an earlier effort to find a consensus candidate.
“You never say never to anything at all,” Davis also said that day. “But I do know I’m optimistic there is a unified approach to the campaign and we are going to be able to experience victory.”
Davis ran for mayor in 1991, but was soundly beaten in the mayoral primary by Daley, whose surprise announcement in September that he would not seek re-election launched the scramble to send a new mayor to City Hall’s Fifth Floor for the first time since 1989.
Davis’ departure doesn’t knock him out of politics. He was overwhelmingly re-elected to his eighth congressional term representing the West Side in November.
He plans to continue representing what he called “the greatest congressional district in the whole country.
They just hate Rahm... odds are good Carol Moseley Braun picks up the anti-Rahm vote in Chicago.
That is a political plus for Rahm.
It shows his worldly mindset.
Rahm probably thinks the election is his to lose. Just like his boss, he seems to think the voters will grateful to have him as mayor when he swoops back into town again.
I’ve been to Chicago. Its an amazing city. But I can’t stand the politics of the place.
Isn't Carol Moseley Braun the only one free of any legal concern as a liberal candidate?
That's a plus for her that she has no background of corruption or evasion.
Isn't Thailand known for its market in little boys and girls?
If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect Rahm secretly got the three major black candidates to run and then act like total racist idiots. One knucklehead said only blacks should get affirmative action city contracts. Danny Davis spouted off some race baiting then warned President Clinton not to campaign for Rahm. And Carol Moseley also spouted racist idiocy, warned Clinton and got into a public feud with a white columnist by branding him a racist. It’s like the Three Stooges turned black.
Its not cold there... beautiful beaches to snooze off and swim in.
At least he’s not going skiing this year.
I lived there less than a year, packed up and left in a day from decision to leave to quiting my job and relocating.
I swore never to go back!
Not that I would put down any of the wonders of Chicago that makes it a desirable place for many.
The Chicago Machine is more powerful than the strongest chipper. Whatever the Machine decides will be, will be. The Chicago Machine will turn a disfavored human into a thousand pieces of red goo.
I’ve lived in IL all my life (all 70 years) & two visits to Chicago did it for me. I’ll stay in my southern hick town & wish they would leave me alone.
They’ll always have two guys who’ve made it famous: the Daleys and Obama.
Your point being? /s
Thailand?
1. She was known to still cash government checks for her deceased mother and some other relative for years.
2. She took many 'official Trips' to Nigeria as a U.S. Senator in order to keep up a romance. She spent many tax payer dollars on this one.
The only distinction she has is that she is dumber than the competition for the Mayor's Office. In a city like Chicago, that usually means more corruption.
Chicago is not far from Detroit in more ways than one.
Chicago hasn’t gone as far as Detroit. But it could easily go that way.
No background of corruption? Surely you jest. She may not have a residency issue, but why do you think she left the Senate and was known as Carol Mostly Fraud? She is also as stupid as they come.
Yes, one doesn't qualify for Chicago mayor until they prove their Chicago homestead and that they are a visitor of Thailand.
This should help many understand why the homeland security czar is in Afghanistan presently helping them secure their borders also.
In the long run, it's for our benefit as tax paying citizens.
We need to understand this.
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