In the last few days, I’ve heard a lot of people say there’s no way Mayor Emanuel would have defeated Jesus “Chuy” Garcia had voters been able to see the video of police officer Jason Van Dyke fatally shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
This is something I know a little about—as I’m the guy who unsuccessfully begged and pleaded for voters to oust Rahm and Mayor Daley, for that matter.
By February, word had already emerged about the tape of the shooting.
My God, he no doubt would have made hay out of the incident in campaign commercials too, which would have made him out to be the most fearless public servant since Gary Cooper in High Noon.
It reminds me of Mayor Emanuel’s behavior in the Barbara Byrd-Bennett scandal. In that case, he gave the Board of Education a green light to approve a shady $20.5 million no-bid contract to a company that once employed Byrd-Bennett because he didn’t want to risk losing her as the public face of his school closings.
