Just days are leaving the position of White House Chief of Staff to pursue the mayor-ship of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel says its time to hit the streets and get reacquainted with Chicago.
Emanuel was careful not to launch his campaign for mayor from Washington, instead heading to Chicago as soon as he resigned his post at the White House. In a video published on his campaign website, Emanuel told that he planned on conducting a “Tell It Like It Is” tour of Chicago, where he plans to listen to the public at "bowling alleys and hot dog stands" and other local venues. "I want to hear from you — in blunt Chicago terms — what you think about our city, and how the next mayor and you can make it better."
The announcement via YouTube shows that Emanuel is walking in the footsteps of Obama, whose techno-savvy campaign galvanized the younger votes. Emanuel’s office has several ways to stay updated on the campaign, from text messages to emailed updates and of course, Facebook. More than 15,000 Facebook fans had clicked the ‘Like’ button on Emanuel’s page by Monday morning.
Analysts say that Emanuel is clever to keep communication lines open via new technologies, especially since he is a little known figure in the Chicago scene, which is one of his biggest obstacles: reconnecting with Chicago voters.
The planned ‘listening tour’ is an attempt to make inroads in on-the-ground presence and to try and kindle a sense of ‘Chicago is my home’ that is believable to its residents.
