Mr. Mayor, please don't embarrass our city
The DNC is the time for you or your feckless agenda to sign
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If there are two things Chicagoans and nearby residents have learned about first term Mayor Brandon Johnson, is he has an unwavering fondness for television news cameras; and the other is he is beyond enamored with the sound of his own voice, even when he is dodging reporters’ questions.
In a couple of weeks, he will need to stuff both of those penchants in his back pockets That is when the Democrats will bring their national convention here. From the mayor’s past practices, we have every reason to be believe he is in high gear prepping for the onslaught of tens of thousands of visitors from throughout the world. He likely will have his controversial make-up artist on standby.
The reality though is Johnson’s role during convention time will be a minor one and the sooner he accepts that the better. Of course, this is the first national political convention in Chicago in more than 50 years; and yes, Johnson is the mayor. His problem, a persistent one is his the political naivete that he has shown and likely to portend.
What should be top-of-mind for Johnson is that the key reason Chicago has the convention is because of the man he often wants to make his nemesis-Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Were it not for our billionaire governor footing much of the bill for the convention to land here, the Dems likely would be convening in another state-most likely New York.
The mayor will not be ignored while all of this is going on, but he can’t take umbrage that he is likely to get 10 seconds of airtime for every 10 minutes the governor gets\. And in preparing for the international spotlight, Johnson would do himself an enormous amount of good if he hired professionals to take him through the interview scenarios of directly answering reporters’ questions instead of deflecting them or going on the defense.
It is a huge ask of the rookie mayor, but please don’t embarrass Chicago.
