With the sudden removal of Rahm Emanuel from Chicago’s mayoral race, things couldn’t look better for Carol Moseley Braun. Prior to Emanuel’s departure, Moseley Braun shared in nearly equal measure the African-American vote. But those voters, and the votes of women, are likely to shift overwhelmingly to Moseley Braun.
Moseley Braun has an impressive resume behind her, including a term in the U.S. Senate and a stint as the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand.
Another thing that could count in her favor is she does NOT have an Ivy League diploma nor does she pal around with fat cat bankers who fund businesses that fail to create jobs for American citizens. In this light, Moseley Braun could be the best choice for a grass roots eager for genuine change. Rather than the mere rhetoric of change so many liberal politicians peddle, Moseley Braun, whose campaign is out-funded by all of her competitors, offers the public a real chance to elect a politician who hasn’t “sold-out” to the man.
Confident of her chances, Moseley Braun nevertheless cautions that Emanuel’s removal from the race could be reversed. She told Larry King Monday, “Politics in Chicago is a roller coaster, and so I’m just going to continue with our campaign and our message of creating jobs for our city, for the people of our city, and getting our schools together and protecting senior citizens and having public safety. So we’re still on message. We’re still doing what we’ve been doing all along, which is campaigning for all of Chicago.”
Asked whether she agrees with the appellate panel’s decision, Moseley Braun said: “The law is the law. And I’m a great believer in the rule of law. And I support what the court did. Remember, we have requirements, residency requirements for police and fire and teachers, and so the court’s interpretation is one that, frankly, doesn’t surprise me.”
A Chicago Tribune/WGN poll last week showed Emanuel, a former Illinois congressman who left the Obama administration late last year to run for mayor, getting a decisive 44 percent of voters surveyed, with Moseley Braun receiving a distant 21 percent. Other main candidates in the race, former Chicago schools chief Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle, received 16 percent and 7 percent, respectively.