It turns out the Chicago mayor’s race is all about Obama. That’s what the Republican National Committee is telling donors in a new fundraising campaign to defeat Rahm Emanuel. Because if Obama’s ex-chief of staff loses, then Obama loses, right? The RNC is using this pitch to solicit donations of up to $5,000.
Rahm Emanuel, President Obama's Chief of Staff, has resigned his post in order to pursue the cushiest of jobs: Mayor of Chicago and head of the Chicago political machine. Make no mistake:You drove Rahm Emanuel from Washington. By fighting back against the Obama administration's attempts to curtail your freedoms and expand the powers of the federal government, you proved too much for him, and he threw in the towel. You embarrassed the Obama White House, and you should be proud.
But you have the chance to do more than drive him from Washington. You have the chance to finish his political career by denying him his dream job. If Rahm Emanuel is not elected Mayor of Chicago, it will be the ultimate humiliation to both he and the White House that has supported him. Defeating Emanuel means embarrassing Obama.
The Republican National Committee is committed to preventing Rahm Emanuel from assuming control of the Chicago political machine. Are you? If so, then contribute to the RNC today. We'll do everything in our power to make sure that Rahm Emanuel never works in government - any government - again.
Emanuel is already fighting back with his own fundraising letter, in which he portrays himself as a victim of Republican attacks.
We expected that some of our opponents may run negative ads against us, but the first ad didn’t come from another candidate in the race: it came from the national Republican Party.
The Party of George W. Bush doesn’t have any ideas to move the City of Chicago forward. They are just out to attack Rahm’s character and attempt to attack President Obama in the process.
We’ll continue doing our part by focusing on the issues at hand: safe streets, strong schools, and stable city finances, but we’re counting on you to help us defend ourselves against these Republican attacks.
This Republican fundraising campaign is a boon for Emanuel. It allows him to tie himself to Obama without actually getting Obama’s endorsement. And it allows him to rally Chicagoans against an external enemy -- the Republican Party -- that would otherwise have no skin in this election, since the Chicago mayor’s race has been non-partisan since 1999. “If I lose, the Republicans win” is a pretty powerful message in a city that’s 80 percent Democratic.
