The last laugh is the best laugh

Getting a late start this morning after doing the Patti Vasquez show on WGN Radio last night. Didn't get home til after 1 a.m. I really like her format and WGN's big late-night (11:00pm-2:00am) audience. Patti, a local  stand-up comedian, likes quick, both humorous and serious banter back and forth on topical issues of education and politics. Last night we wound from the mayor and gov races, to CPD's fudging of violence numbers, to Byrd-Bennett's waiving of principal eligibility requirements so that Ald. Pat O'Connor's sister, could be appointed as Gray’s interim principal. What fun!

'LAUGHABLE'...That's how the Little Emperor's courtiers responded to current polls showing Karen Lewis giving Rahm a run for his (obscene) money in next year's election. Austin Weekly columnist Arlene Jones offers the proper response to their guffawing.

When the witty people on the mayor's staff were told of the poll results, their response was loud and clear: Laughable. Now I must confess that I did agree with Rahm's staff. The image of a mayoral race featuring Karen Lewis vs. Rahm Emanuel did have me laughing. I was rolling all over the floor laughing at the image of Karen Lewis giving him her size eight right up the old keyster. 

Remember, the last laugh is always the best laugh.

That's me in Karen's corner.

RAHM'S NEW SUPER-PAC...Now that Karen has formed her committee and has begun raising some dough, the chuckles appear to have died down. Latest reports have Rahm's patrons creating a new super-PAC that has already raked in $1.35 million from a handful of business titans to “destroy” the City Council’s Progressive Caucus.

Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd), who also is mulling a race for mayor against Emanuel, calls “Chicago Forward” a thinly veiled attempt to stifle City Council dissent by “taking out” eight aldermen with the guts to stand up to Emanuel. The Progressive Caucus has been Emanuel’s most persistent critic. It includes Fioretti and seven colleagues: Leslie Hairston (5th), Roderick Sawyer (6th), Toni Foulkes (15th), Ricardo Munoz (22nd), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Nick Sposato (36th) and John Arena (45th).

I'm clearly in Karen's corner as you can tell from the picture above. But I don't think Fioretti jumping into the race will hurt her at all. They each bring a different base of support and a different group of funders to the table. And they both bring a powerful critique of the mayor.  Together they will tag-team Rahm without tearing each other down. Fioretti will pull lots of votes that Karen is unlikely to get -- at least in the first round. These are voters that otherwise might stay home or even go with the mayor. That will likely force Rahm into a runoff where a unity candidate (one throwing support to the other) would have a great chance to winning.  At least that's my perspective.