CHICAGO — The Democratic National Convention has been providing unexpected fodder for Chicago's political tea readers.
First to send pundits atwitter was the appearance of Toni Preckwinkle seated prominently next to Bill Clinton on the convention's opening night. Was the Cook County board president being anointed for ... something?
Yes, that was @ToniPreckwinkle sitting next to Bill Clinton last night. Bad news for Rahm? https://t.co/DJZERCpKth pic.twitter.com/ykaO2dczpk
— Jessica Reynolds (@reynoldsjessica) July 26, 2016
Then came Wednesday night's victory lap for outgoing President Barack Obama, where an otherwise glowing video hagiography of the chief executive and his accomplishments included a pointed swipe at Rahm Emanuel, who was called out, by name, for counseling against Obamacare during his tenure as White House chief of staff.
"Thrown under the bus" comments immediately cropped up on social media.
.@RahmEmanuel finally arrives at the #DemConvention and immediately gets thrown under the bus https://t.co/P6zHm0IAVH
— POLITICO Illinois (@politico_il) July 28, 2016
Even non-#Chicago folk were hooting yest about Rahm getting thrown under the bus @ #DemConvention. It's all here: https://t.co/YNwqIsxN9i
— dri (@DriXander) July 28, 2016
Mayor Emanuel shows up for the Illinois delegation breakfast on the final day of DNC pic.twitter.com/aV00PHRDM3
— Tony Arnold (@tonyjarnold) July 28, 2016
Found his way out from under the bus I guess. https://t.co/fZWmNFF2Fm
— Craig Newman (@craignewman) July 28, 2016
The morning after, Emanuel brushed off the jab as old news.
Rahm Emanuel said he didn't take DNC video as an insult. On Obama healthcare decision: "Thank God he didn’t listen to my advice" #DNCinPHL
— Bill Ruthhart (@BillRuthhart) July 28, 2016
But critics noted that Vice President Joe Biden had also initially been lukewarm about Obama's healthcare reform bill — and emerged unscathed in the video presentation.
Still, video didn't need to call him out to the nation for it. Yet it did. Somebody decided to name-check Emanuel. https://t.co/CZJXnluBmf
— John Byrne (@_johnbyrne) July 28, 2016
"[Obama] humiliated his former chief of staff before a national audience," Dylan Matthews wrote for the news website Vox.com. "It was a justified action ... but nonetheless startling in its brutality."
For more neighborhood news, listen to DNAinfo Radio here:
