At Issue: Emanuel Positions Himself For A Third Term
CHICAGO (WBBM Newsradio) -- Looking back on 2017, we saw Mayor Rahm Emanuel all but announce his bid for another term in office, and we also saw movement from a possible high-profile opponent.
As the mayor ramps up his re-election campaign, we're hearing more and more about a possible run for mayor by former Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, the man Emanuel fired in 2015 at the height of the Laquan McDonald scandal.
WXRT host Mary Dixon and 670 The Score host Mark Grote joined this week's "At Issue" to talk about the mayor's race.
"To enter a political race, you have to really want to do that job. I'm not sure exactly what the plan is here. I don't see him telling people, 'No, no, I'm definitely not running for mayor.' He is sticking around Chicago," Dixon said.
Grote said, whether McCarthy runs or not, being mentioned as a possible challenger might have Chicagoans rethinking whether or not he should have been fired.
"Is he the one that took the hit for everything?" Grote said.
Emanuel spent much of 2017 continuing to try to rebuild his public image after the Laquan McDonald controversy. He has joined national panel discussions, and was a guest on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" earlier this month.
The mayor's high-profile posture was not lost on Dixon and Grote.
"It's clear that the mayor plans to run for another term, and it's clear that by appearing on Colbert, he came on to XRT to talk about 'One Book, One Chicago,' he is trying to change the conversation into how everything is super," Dixon said.
Grote said 2017 has been a much better year for the mayor than 2016.
"As it pertains to where Rahm Emanuel was last year at the time we did this show, it was chaos for him, with Laquan McDonald, and all of those types of stories. I feel like this year, for him, has been sort of rehabbing," he said.
Dixon, Grote, and WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore will look back at the year that was on "At Issue," airing Sunday at 9:30 p.m. on Newsradio 780 and 105.9FM.
