By Edith Phillips
In an apparent effort to stop Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel from winning, his opponents Gery Chico and Carol Moseley have changed their tactics. Chico is pushing a class warfare message while Braun is working hard to win back African-American voters. But Emanuel is unperturbed by his opponents’ tactics and is still following the same path that has kept him the front-runner throughout. Emanuel is airing a non-stop ad blitz of his near-endorsement by hometown President Barack Obama.
In last week's Tribune/WGN poll, former White House chief of staff Emanuel was at 49 percent, Chico, the former Chicago Board of Education president, was at 19 percent, while U.S. Sen. Braun was just at 10 percent. Chico is stressing that Emanuel is not the right candidate because he can't relate to struggling Chicago families as he was raised on the North Shore.
"I don't mean to take away from anyone's upbringing. I really don't. But Rahm Emanuel's is very, very different, and we're going to continue to focus and focus and focus on that," Chico said to Chicago Tribune. "I think I have a real feel for what goes on in the households of this city and the anxiety that people go through to try to pay the bills."
Though Chico grew up in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, he’s now a successful lawyer and has strong political connections. In his latest tax returns, Chico claimed that he had made $2 million to $3 million a year running a small law firm that represents companies doing business with City Hall.
