Boss Quigley Endorses Rahm Emanuel for Mayor! Congressman Steps Up, Because He Has To . . .

The big name yesterday was Congressman Mike Quigley. Tribune Editorial genius Bruce Dold handled the debate between Mayoral Candidates with all of the gravitas of a one armed man at a greased pig wrestle off. The seven Illinois Supreme Court Justices ruled unanimously that Rahm Emanuel can and will run for Mayor of Chicago. Yet, it was the career coat holder, Mike Quigley, the Uriah Heep of Illinois and now national politics who took the signet ring and hot wax into his stubby fingers and endorsed Rahm Emanuel - the man who made The Terror of Tiny Town a U, S. Congressman.

U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, who replaced Rahm Emanuel in Congress, will endorse Emanuel for mayor Thursday.
In a telephone interview, Quigley said he is backing Emanuel because he believes he is the only candidate who would exhibit “enough grit to stand up to interests” and solve the city’s budget problems.

“You have to be tough enough to say no and make the budget fit reality,” Quigley told the Chicago News Cooperative. ” . . .“We walked through what I meant by reinventing government,” Quigley said. “When I told people that, everybody said to me, ‘Baloney, you guys talked about politics.’ Honest to God, we talked about tax-increment financing. Rahm doesn’t need any help with politics.”

Quigley disputed the notion that Emanuel’s close ties to Daley and other Chicago politicians make it unlikely that he would truly reform City Hall.

“Everybody is an insider,” he said. “I don’t even know what the hell that means. All of the big issues — public safety, education, everything — all fail if you don’t deal with the budget issue. He understands those things.”

Yep, tough enough to " make the budget fit reality." Mike knows from years of tailoring off-the-rack duds and adjusting chairs and drawers to 'fit reality.' Nothing is beyond his grasp.

More so, Wee Mike readily admits that the canard of "insider/reformer" is one tough package of Oreos to open, “Everybody is an insider,” he said. “I don’t even know what the hell that means."


Talk about a Huey Long-esque Slogan "Everybody is an Insider!" Come on in!

It takes a tall perch to look up to Mike Quigley.

Oh, yeah! Rahm will sail into the Fifth Floor Suite!