CHARLOTTE—Chicago Mayor and former Chief of Staff to President Barack Obama Rahm Emanuel is on the ground in Charlotte and soliciting secret super PAC cash in support of the president’s reelection campaign, according to a report in the Washington Post:
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a legendary fundraiser and political strategist before he won elected office, has dropped his honorary chairmanship of the Obama campaign to help raise big-dollar contributions so that Democrats can compete with what is emerging as a clear GOP fundraising advantage this election cycle, according to campaign and fundraising individuals.
Emanuel made the switch to work with the pro-Obama SuperPac Priorities USA in the last two weeks, and news of it began circulating through Charlotte on Tuesday as the Democratic National Convention was getting underway.
As Emanuel, a noted ballerina, grand jete-s his way through the DNC’s money circuit, he leaves behind a city in crisis.
Since Friday, more than 38 people have been shot—two fatally on President Obama’s native South Side overnight on Tuesday.
Despite enacting some of the nation’s strictest gun control measures, Chicago remains a bastion of gun violence. Emanuel’s tenure in office has failed to tame the savagery and the city suffered an especially bloody August.