CHICAGO TRIBUNE: 'This was not my idea,' says Rob Halpin
There's a new twist in the effort to stop Rahm Emanuel from becoming mayor of Chicago: Rob Halpin, businessman, cigar smoker, man of destiny and potential mayoral candidate.
"This has nothing to do with Rahm Emanuel," Halpin told me Tuesday.
Really?
"This was not my idea," Halpin said. "I'm outside the mainstream. I'm not a professional politician. … I was approached by some businessmen who asked if I would be interested in running for mayor. And they explained to me why they thought I'd be a good candidate and a good mayor."
I figure that the guys thinking about Halpin as a candidate aren't interested in his taste in cigars.
They're interested because he's Rahm Emanuel's stubborn tenant.
Halpin's the guy who's been renting Rahm's North Side home. When Rahm was about to leave the White House, he asked Halpin to move out. Amazingly, Halpin refused the Rahmfather.
Now Emanuel's campaign is expected to be challenged in the courts, a legal maneuver backed by guys on the South Side who are part of the stop-Rahm movement. And Halpin's talk of candidacy highlights the argument that Rahm is not a resident.
In a city famous for political shenanigans, this one is downright shenaniganlicious (just try pronouncing it). >>> John Kass | Wednesday, November 10, 2010
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Rahm Emanuel's awkward tenant may run against him in Chicago: Rahm Emanuel's tenant has announced he is considering running for mayor of Chicago. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington | Friday, November 12, 2010
