Miguel del Valle went on national television Monday to talk about his campaign for Mayor of Chicago. But all MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell wanted to talk about was Rahm Emanuel.
“That’s all the media has wanted to talk about,” Del Valle said with a shrug after the interview at MSNBC’s NBC Tower studio. “He has rock-star status, and so when the questions are asked, I have to respond. But I can tell you, when I talk to the voters on the streets, they’re not even mentioning Rahm Emanuel’s name.”
It has been one of the stubborn hallmarks of the Chicago campaign: an undisputed frontrunner, cast with an air of inevitability, with the remaining candidates left to explain their campaigns against an undefined Emanuel standard.
“The contrast is a stark one,” Del Valle said. “I am the candidate from the neighborhoods of the city of Chicago. Both feet firmly planted in the neighborhoods. I am the candidate with the most experience.”
Noting his service in the Illinois General Assembly, Del Valle maintained he is most qualified to tackle Chicago’s seemingly insurmountable budget issues.
“I dealt with budgets for 20 years, five times the size of the city budget, in Springfield.”
“I think what we’re going to see tomorrow is two individuals gaining the most number of votes, and then going into the runoff,” he said. “And I intend on being that second person."
