Seeking Daley endorsement, Clinton to stump for Rahm Emanuel

Don’t look now but the 'Campaigner in Chief'---former President Bill Clinton---will be pounding the pavement and pressing the flesh on behalf of Rahm Emanuel in his quest to become the next mayor of Chicago.  The former president has never met a rope line or pressed a palm he didn’t like; and with Emanuel’s tendency to brass knuckle behavior in hand-to-hand political combat, the velvet Clinton touch might be just what the former Chief of Staff in the Obama administration needs.

In recent days, two black candidates running against Emanuel have intimated that the former president is betraying the black community with such an effort; obscuring the fact that Clinton’s participation is presidential politics in its’ purest form.

Clinton and Emanuel go back a few years:  Emanuel served as a senior advisor in the Clinton administration from 1993-1998. A seasoned Democratic policy wonk and front-line gunner, Emanuel is no stranger to running for public office, having served in the United States House of Representatives representing the 5thcongressional district in Illinois from 2003-2009, when he resigned to join the Obama administration.

The former president campaigned heavily for the Democrats nationwide in the recent mid-term election drubbing, and has become a reliable go-to guy for the Obama administration. 

Earlier this month, President Obama and President Clinton briefly co-hosted a news conference about Obama’s decision to extend the Bush tax cuts.  To everyone’s surprise, Obama turned the podium over to Clinton for a Q & A session while Obama rushed to a rare date with the First Lady...underscoring the president's growing trust in Clinton on behalf of all things Democrat.

For his part, Clinton clearly relishes the relevancy of political power, and the exposure that goes with it.

Word that Clinton would campaign for Emanuel at a special event next month in Chicago has brought forth criticism against Clinton---who writer Toni Morrison dubbed ‘the first black president’ because of his long-standing support of black communities nationwide---with accusations that he is betraying the African-American community by endorsing a white candidate.

Emanuel is up against two black candidates, both of whom are Friends of Bill: former U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun and Danny Davis. 

Yesterday Davis released a veiled warning to Clinton to stay out of Chicago’s politics, even stating that the former president runs the risk of damaging his “long and fruitful relationship” with African Americans by working on behalf of a rogue white Jew with a known mean streak.

However, there is more to Clinton’s involvement on behalf of Rahm Emanuel than meets the eye.

A recent article in Newsweek magazine profiling Emanuel pointed out that while his rough-and-tumble style might be just what the city needs in the wake of Mayor Richard M. Daley’s retirement, to achieve victory, Emanuel might need the actual endorsement from Daley to seal the deal with the electorate.

Clinton’s efforts on behalf of Emanuel serves that purpose. 

Candidate Davis appears to have overlooked the fact that William M. Daley, the seventh and youngest son of the late Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, has a political ‘blood tie’ with Clinton, having served as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration from 1997-2000. 

Not only does Clinton linkage with the Daley family bode well for Emanuel eventually getting the outgoing mayor’s endorsement, but the former Commerce Secretary might well be enlisted to work on Emanuel’s behalf by Clinton, since William Daley was critical of President Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich in the waning days of his administration.

Specifically, in Taylor Branch’s massive work “The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History With The President”, Clinton recounts how Daley accused the President of ‘selling’ the pardon of Rich; an accusation that Clinton rebuked Daley for as a ‘slander’ and a ‘lie’.

In the world of political IOU’s---of which many are still owed Clinton because of his efforts on behalf of the Democratic party---the Daly’s ‘owe’ the former president for that embarrassment, big time.

Further negating the race card that candidate Davis is attempting to play is the insulation that Clinton provides the Obama administration by keeping Obama out of the uncomfortable position of endorsing Emanuel against two black candidates.

It’s not about race in Chicago. 

Bill Clinton campaigning on behalf of Rahm Emanuel is Clintonian politics at its’ best,  and no one should be surprised if former Mayor Daley’s endorsement of Emanuel doesn’t come shortly after President Clinton’s January campaign appearance…delivering a Clintonian knockout punch before the February election.

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