Don’t Believe Media Polls: The Verdict of Who Will be the Next Mayor Lies in the Hands of Black, Southside Chicagoans
By Chinta Strausberg
Polls published by newspapers that endorsed Mayor Rahm Emanuel cannot be believed. There is a conflict of interest voters cannot overlook. The reality is answer who will be Chicago’s next mayor literally lies in the hands of South Side black voters. The verdict will begin to come in after 7 p.m. today.
You, voters, are the TRUE polls; so what are you going to do today, “D-DAY,†Tuesday, February 24, 2015? Will you make history by coming out in record numbers or will you think your vote doesn’t count or feel you don’t have a dog in this race.
If the latter is your thinking, you are WRONG!!!
Your vote DOES count, and yes YOU DO HAVE A ‘DOG’ in this race—it’s call YOUR FUTURE for the results will impact YOUR life whether you vote or not.
Some of my friends are endorsing Mayor Emanuel. They’ve been promised a lot of things. That’s their choice, but I always tell people to look at the RECORDS of all mayoral candidates.
1. Has the candidate spoke out on the closing of the 50 schools when it was happening or was he a Johnny-come-lately aka election time before taking a position on this controversial issue?
2. Do you go along with the red light issue and/or the speed traps under this administration and if so do you forgive the mayor and want to give him another chance?
3. Did President Obama’s endorsement of the mayor sway your support of the mayor?
4. Are you satisfied with the single digits African Americans are getting in contracts vs. the double digits by Hispanics and whites?
5. Are you satisfied with the transparency or non-transparency of this administration?
6. Are you satisfied with the Taxing Increment Financing (TIF) program where tax dollars are supposed to go towards improving blighted areas but too often are given away to billion dollar companies like Target, Jewels, and Loyola University for non-blighted projects?
7. Are you satisfied with the number of blacks in this administration?
8. Are you basing your support for the mayor or any other mayoral candidate on media polls?
9. Are you satisfied with the level of crime in the city for the past four-years?
10. Are you satisfied with the potholes and the snow removal over the past four-years?
11. Are you satisfied with your alderman?
12. Are you comfortable with the mayor’s tight control over the aldermen and his supporters?
According to a poll conducted by mayoral hopeful Willie Wilson, pollster Rod McCulloch, who said he had never met Wilson before last week’s press conference, concluded that of 806 likely voters Tuesday would be “bad news†for Mayor Emanuel. Of the 806 people polled, 41.3% voted for Emanuel, 9.8% for Fioretti, 15.8% for Garcia, 14.6% for Wilson and 17.1% undecided. In the black community of 322 voters, 32.3% voted for Emanuel, 7.5% for Fioretti, 5.3% for Garcia, 31.4% for Wilson, 2.2% for Bill Walls with 21.4% undecided.
But, if there is a run-off between Emanuel and Fioretti, the pols showed 46.0% voted for Emanuel, 21.2% for Fioretti and 32.8% undecided
If the run-off were between Emanuel and Garcia, the mayor received 45.7% to Garcia’s 32.6% with 21.7% undecided.
And, if the run-off were between Emanuel and Dr. Wilson, the mayor received 47.3% to Wilson’s 34.1% with 18.6% undecided.
McCulloch said, “It is bad news for a well known incumbent to get below 50%. It often happens in run-offs, if an incumbent is forced into a run-off, all the votes of the candidates will go to the runner up because they were not for the incumbent in the first place.†Of the 806 people polled, 41.3% voted for Emanuel, 9.8% for Fioretti, 15.8% for Garcia, 14.6% for Wilson and 17.1% undecided. In the black community of 322 voters, 32.3% voted for Emanuel, 7.5% for Fioretti, 5.3% for Garcia, 31.4% for Wilson, 2.2% for Bill Walls with 21.4% undecided.
But, if there is a run-off between Emanuel and Fioretti, the pols showed 46.0% voted for Emanuel, 21.2% for Fioretti and 32.8% undecided
If the run-off were between Emanuel and Garcia, the mayor received 45.7% to Garcia’s 32.6% with 21.7% undecided.
And, if the run-off were between Emanuel and Dr. Wilson, the mayor received 47.3% to Wilson’s 34.1% with 18.6% undecided.
McCulloch said, “It is bad news for a well known incumbent to get below 50%. It often happens in run-offs, if an incumbent is forced into a run-off, all the votes of the candidates will go to the runner up because they were not for the incumbent in the first place.†McCulloch said the area of the city that has the largest number of undecided voters and “where the mayor has the lowest amount of support are the African American South Side wards. In those wards, Mayor Emanuel has 31.4% and undecided 29.7 percent.†“This is the area that can decide the race,†he told this reporter. “These are the voters Mayor Emanuel is hoping†to win over by bringing in President Obama who came Wednesday to declare Pullman a national monument.
So, the question becomes, will the South Side African Americans give Mayor Rahm Emanuel a second chance and re-elect him and if so will they also give his ‘Rubber Stamp’ alderman a second chance as well?
Voter turnout is the key to this election. According to WGN-TV’s Chicago Weather Center—Skillings’ forecast—Tuesday, February 24th, will see 28 degrees, mostly cloudy with some light snow likely in the afternoon and evening; so VOTE EARLY. There will be “strong, gusty southwest winds gusting well over 30 miles an hour. It will be around 10 degrees tomorrow night. This is why voting early is so important, but at this point, that issue is over and off the table.
So, what am I saying? VOTE EARLY today. VOTE with your HEAD and not your HEART. VOTE based on a candidate’s TRUE and PROVEN track record and his compassion for people, not corporations and certainly not linking themselves to our first black mayor, Harold Washington. Examine their CURRENT contributions to the African American community and their many causes like the lack of diversity in contracts and jobs especially on the lack of blacks on public works projects all over this city but especially in the black community where black men stand on corners watching other ethnic groups fix their streets.
BE SMART with your vote because who ever is elected will probably be in office as long as the previous mayor.
So, is the time for change now? Or, will this mayor be forgiven and given a second chance to redeem himself with the black community—black voters who literally hold his fate in their hands?
Today, the verdict will be in when the polls close at 7 p.m., and I do hope there will be monitors so that this election will NOT BE STOLEN.
Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.
