McCarthy for Mayor. What do you think?

I wanted to write about this last week. It was already in the news that former police chief Garry McCarthy is running for mayor of Chicago. He was looking at it and now he dropped his hat in the ring? Can he get signatures on his petitions? Does he have good lawyers on hand to defend against challenges? Most important when he does get on the ballot, does he have support?

Well one problem with support, Rich Miller opined on this. Can McCarthy raise the money necessary to take on Mayor Emanuel?

Does McCarthy even have a path to victory? https://t.co/VDj2e2v77d

— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) March 22, 2018

A conservative Democrat in Chicago who “loathes” raising money? He’s gonna run to the right of campaign cash-loving neo-liberal Rahm Emanuel in that liberal city without loads of dough? Good luck with that, dude. Two Chicago-based members of the Cook County Board lost their re-elections Tuesday after fighting hard against the pop tax. And he wants to run as a law and order guy, but a legalizing marijuana referendum just got 73 percent in the city.

Also last week Lynn Sweet speaks with McCarthy about his bid. A series of videos shown on the Chicago Sun-Times' YouTube channel. Let's start with why McCarthy who began his police career in New York City, then moved on to Newark, New Jersey, and then was appointed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in Chicago by 2011. [VIDEO]

And this is probably why many Blacks may be hesitant to support McCarthy and the reason is Laquan McDonald. He attempts to answer this with Lynn Sweet [VIDEO]

Another reason for McCarthy's run to "save Black lives". That comment may not go down very well for any Black support.

Morning Spin: McCarthy says he's running for mayor 'to save black lives' - & Chuy candidate gets Madigan help https://t.co/sFrQcNqSgz

— Hal Dardick (@ReporterHal) March 26, 2018

“Eighty percent of the murder victims in this city are male black,” the former Chicago police superintendent said during an interview with WLS-AM’s Bill Cameron that aired Sunday on the “Connected to Chicago” program. “And at the end of the day, that’s got to stop.”

McCarthy drew the ire of black aldermen allied with Mayor Rahm Emanuel even before he officially announced his run for mayor last week, saying during a recent fundraiser that the exodus of black residents from the South and West sides has left behind “trigger pullers.”

McCarthy also said during the radio interview that he would look to give the police superintendent the final say on discipline, instead of the mayor-appointed civilian Police Board. He said the board too often overturned his recommendations to fire officers. “I had accountability, but I didn’t have authority,” he said.

2nd City Cop - a blog written by police officers - aren't a huge fan of McCarthy. Well that's probably an understatement, regardless they wrote about this and aren't holding back. They broke out the popcorn for the "cagematch" between McCarthy and Emanuel:

So two outsiders fighting over the rotting corpse of a once great midwestern city. Should be a great time. And there are plenty of character flaws, missteps and behaviors bordering on misconduct in both camps. Quite frankly, we're hoping for a "scorched-earth" campaign.

I would be very curious about how much support McCarthy could receive from the city's police officers.

Speaking of which McCarthy is an outsider having been born in New York City and he was one of many people Emanuel brought in from the outside in 2011 to handle the important departments in Chicago. Police of course and let's not forget Jean Claude Brizard who lasted almost two years as CPS CEO. So one more video of Lynn Sweet this time interviewing columnist Neil Steinberg about whether or not a man with a Bronx accent could be Mayor of Chicago. [VIDEO]

Finally found this is on Rich Miller's blog (from the tweet at the start of this post) it appears Emanuel is already getting ready for his "cagematch" with his former police chief. As alluded to on the 2nd City Cop blog, both McCarthy and Emanuel are attacking each other based on Trump.The video below shows President Donald Trump praising McCarthy - ah it has to be that New York connection. [VIDEO]

McCarthy's response:

 “Absolutely, I do . . . [They’re both] polarizing figures. People come up to me all day long and talk about their distaste for the mayor. And once in a while, I have to remind them, `Does that mean that you like me or does that mean you’re gonna vote against him,’” McCarthy said.

Basically, McCarthy is comparing Emanuel to Trump. Kind of funny since it seems the Mayor wants to antagonize the President. It makes for some entertaining news or in Trump's case tweets, however, I feel as if there is no need to add to the polarization of this nation right now. Also Chicago has some serious issues which could require some federal action or help so why antagonize a President who isn't too far above spiting those who antagonize him.

I wonder who else is interesting in running against Rahm Emanuel who if you don't remember in 2015, had a run-off against future congressman Chuy Garcia. ;)