Everyone expected Rahm Emanuel to air the first TV ad of the New Year. Rumor has it he’s already raised $10 million for his mayoral campaign. Emanuel went on the air Tuesday with an ad that claims credit for helping President Bill Clinton put 100,000 more cops on the street and pass an assault weapons ban. Here’s Rahm, talkin’ tough on crime, followed by the transcript. From the mustard squeeze bottle behind his right shoulder at 0:15, he appears to be sitting in a bar. Let us know if you can identify it.
Rahm Emanuel: For President Clinton, we helped pass a crime bill.
Text: With President Clinton, Rahm put 100,000 more cops on the beat, and targeted gun violence.
Rahm: I was not going to allow the Washington gun lobby stand in the way of what it took to put police officers on our street or pass a Brady Bill or assault weapon ban.
Rahm: After school today, a kid can be out on a street corner or they can be in the classroom.
And we’ve got to make sure there’s a responsible adult looking out for them.
Text: As Mayor, he’ll expand after-school programs and add 250 more police.
Rahm: These gang bangers don’t own the streets, but the police officers and the families that live in that neighborhood- those are their streets.
Rahm: They don’t want to give up on that.
On the other hand, no one expected to see a Patricia Watkins ad on TV the next day. Watkins, a former project-dweller, steelworker, evangelist and community activist, is considered such an obscure long-shot she was only invited to one mayoral forum in December. Yet she’s beating Gery Chico, Carol Moseley Braun and Miguel del Valle onto the airwaves this year. Her ad, “Broken,” can’t match Emanuel’s Clio Award-level production values, but it’s not embarrassing by local TV standards. The $50,000 buy is getting Watkins two weeks of air time on MSNBC, CNN, TNT and USA, a campaign spokesperson said.
Here’s the transcript:
Narrator: Career politicians doing business as usual have cost Chicago tax payers billions;
selling our city assets to private companies, not making education a top priority. Fear of crime at an all time high, while jobs are at an all time low.
Watkins: As tax payers we have been more than fair to the city, As mayor, I will make our city fair to us. Vote for change on Feb. 22 Together, I know we can do better. I’m Dr. Patricia Watkins and I approve this message, because I have lived this message and so have you.
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Now that James Meeks and Danny Davis have dropped out, there are surely Chicagoans who want a black mayor, but don’t want to vote for Carol Moseley Braun. Maybe Watkins can fill that niche.
