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What A Clinton Or Trump Victory Would Mean For Chicago

By Heather Cherone | November 7, 2016 8:43am
 Whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump wins, the two-term tenure of President Barack Obama — who claims Kenwood as home — will end.
Whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump wins, the two-term tenure of President Barack Obama — who claims Kenwood as home — will end.
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flickr/Gage Skidmore; flickr/Tim Pierce

CHICAGO — However you look at it, Chicago stands to be a big loser after the final vote in Tuesday's presidential election.

Whether Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump wins, the two-term tenure of President Barack Obama — who calls the South Side Kenwood neighborhood home — will end.

A New Yorker is sure to move into the White House, replacing one of Chicago's most beloved sons.

Trump is a native New Yorker. While Clinton was born in Edgewater, she grew up in Park Ridge, just outside the city limits. After she and her husband left the White House, they moved to Chappaqua, N.Y., about an hour outside the Big Apple.

Hear Heather and Matt chat about what's next for President Obama.

There can be no doubt that Mayor Rahm Emanuel — a Democrat and former aide to former President Bill Clinton — is rooting for Hillary Clinton to win. She is far more likely to listen to Emanuel's pleas for help for Chicago than Trump, whom he has repeatedly criticized.

But the days when Emanuel got to show off his White House clout with a ride in Marine One are probably over.

Go to DNAinfo's 2016 Voter Guide.

Emanuel and Clinton have clashed over the years, including while Emanuel served as Obama's first chief of staff before he moved back to Chicago to run for mayor in 2011.

In addition, Emanuel's national and local political standing was tarnished by the way he handled the release of a dashcam video showing a police officer fatally shoot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times.

Aside from widespread demonstrations, the video sparked a federal investigation of the Chicago Police Department — an inquiry initially supported by Clinton, while Emanuel said it was not necessary. Under intense scrutiny, the mayor reversed himself.

RELATED: Hillary Clinton's Father Owned Chicago Drapery Business

Emanuel has played almost no public role in Clinton's campaign against Trump, appearing at just one event last month in front of Trump Tower, where he denounced the businessman-turned-politician as someone unfit to lead America.

The mayor has publicly rejected as unfounded suggestions that Clinton will appoint him to a Cabinet post or ambassadorship if she is elected.

RELATED : Will Another Former Chicagoan Be Moving Into The White House Soon?

If Trump is elected, he may decide to exact some revenge on Chicago officials, who Tuesday ordered that a street sign honoring him outside Trump Tower be taken down as soon as possible.

Trump has written in his books and said often that he is driven by revenge and that it is a basic tool he uses in business.

Ald. Patrick O'Connor (40th), Emanuel's floor leader in the City Council, told the Sun-Times that it was a mistake to pick a fight with Trump.

"It will be a terrible thing for us personally in Chicago if he were to become president,” O'Connor said.

That desire for payback could affect Chicago's ability to get federal approval for redevelopment projects or financing for other projects, such as the proposed extension of the CTA Red Line south to 130th Street.

RELATED: Is Chicago More Dangerous Than A 'War Zone?' Not Even Close

But whoever wins, the lasting legacy of the campaign for Chicago may be the time it spent at the center of the spotlight created by the presidential election.

Chicago was held up by Trump as the embodiment of all that is wrong with urban America — a "war-torn country" rife with voter fraud and consumed with violence and poverty.

"It is terrible there," Trump said in the first presidential debate.

Beginning in the Republican primary election, Trump singled out Chicago for criticism, decrying the number of people shot in Chicago during Obama's presidency.

There have been about 4,000 murders and about 3,000 shootings in Chicago since Obama took office on Jan. 20, 2009.

Clinton, who noted that crime rates are still at all-time lows despite the surge in violence, supports what she calls "common sense" gun regulations and an increase in spending to retrain police officers to reduce what she called "implicit bias."

Trump repeatedly criticized the city and its gun control laws, but activists have said he doesn't care about Chicago, and a rally for him was canceled in mid-March as protesters spoke out against him. Several times, Trump has called for stop-and-frisk to be used to reduce violent crime in Chicago.

However, a state law that requires officers to have reasonable suspicion before pulling someone over, and the Police Department's ACLU-approved policy calls for officers to document nearly all investigative stops, which are then to be reviewed by an outside agency.

RELATED: Trump Wants Stop-And-Frisk in 'Out of Control' Chicago

But that new policy was blamed for a huge drop in street stops, depressing morale and contributing to a surge of violence that claimed 78 lives in October alone, a 278 percent increase from last year.

Last week Emanuel acknowledged that Chicago has endured a tough year, and said he is determined to repair the breach in trust between the Police Department and Chicagoans spotlighted by McDonald's fatal shooting — and given national attention during the presidential campaign.

"Our kids are good kids," Emanuel said. "We owe them a chance to do right."

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