pulled off his suit jacket and led a parade of television cameras down 26th Street the other day, carrying himself — with his confident wave to passing cars and his unswerving message for the microphones — every bit like this city’s next mayor, and not so unlike its current one.
The possibility seems closer than ever. Since Mr. Emanuel gave up his job as White House chief of staff last month, the flood of people talking about running to succeed Mayor , who is retiring, has slowed to a trickle.
And on Monday, when Mr. Emanuel intends to file tens of thousands of signatures on petitions to make his bid official, some of what once seemed an endless list of possible candidates — including a sheriff, several state and federal lawmakers and numerous aldermen — will not. That is in part, many here suspect, out of a sense (perhaps a memory?) of what a run against Mr. Emanuel might feel like.
Some leading members of Chicago’s business establishment have lined up behind Mr. Emanuel, and, come Monday evening, , the chairman of Continental Holdings, the combined airline company whose corporate headquarters are here, will be among the hosts of a fund-raiser for him.
Still, it is also certain that the election in February, the first competitive one this city has had in decades, will not be without obstacles for Mr. Emanuel. In case his time at the White House made him hazy, Mr. Emanuel has gotten some swift reminders of what Chicago politics looks like: gritty, petty, racially complicated and never ever dull.
There is, of course, no incumbent in the race, but other candidates, too, are taking unambiguous aim at Mr. Emanuel. , a former senator who is expected to run, says Mr. Emanuel “cut and ran after engineering the biggest political loss in 27 years,” leaving “holding the bag.”
CLICK: For Emanuel, Obstacles in Path to Chicago Mayor – NYTimes.com