CHICAGO — The crowd at the Irish American Heritage Center was subdued, some quietly sipping beers. The moderator reminded mayoral hopeful Jesus “Chuy” Garcia that the incumbent, Rahm Emanuel, had a much bigger campaign war chest.
“And more fear of me than I of him,” Garcia, a mustached Mexican American upstart, snapped back, and the audience was subdued no more.
President Obama returned to his home town Thursday, where he sought to propel Emanuel, his former chief of staff, to a second term. The race remains surprisingly competitive, and it has crystallized some of the deep internal divisions in the Democratic Party as it prepares for the 2016 presidential campaign.
Garcia has emerged as a nothing-to-lose dissenting liberal voice who has channeled frustration with Emanuel’s rocky first term into an aggressive campaign against the mayor. The Chicago fight has become the latest front in a simmering nationwide battle between the establishment governing wing of the Democratic Party and a more restive, populist wing that is demanding a more openly liberal agenda.
Please RT
