Could Rahm Emanuel lose to Chuy Garcia?

There’s so much to love about this…

In a recent television appearance, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, bedecked in a fuzzy sweater, apologized for his abrasive style. His political action committee accepted half a million dollars from billionaire Ken Griffin, adding to a campaign war chest totaling more than $30 million. And three aldermen and the city clerk delivered dollies heaped with financial records to Cook County commissioner and mayoral hopeful Jesús “Chuy” Garcia — a stunt meant to highlight Emanuel’s contention that Garcia lacks the financial acumen to run the city.

It’s with measures such as these that Emanuel hopes to secure victory in the city’s April 7 election, after being embarrassed, as pundits put it, when Garcia forced him into a runoff in the February primary.

Garcia got 33.8 percent of the vote to Emanuel’s 45.4 percent in February. Polls soon after showed them in a dead heat. The latest polls give Emanuel a solid lead, but it is still anyone’s race. There is a good chance that a populist Mexican immigrant who still lives in a gritty low-income neighborhood will unseat President Barack Obama’s former chief of staff.

Emanuel has powerful Wall Street and Hollywood backers, the endorsements of major media outlets, seemingly unlimited funds and the ability to flood the airwaves with ads. But Garcia has a secret weapon: the power of excitement, a sense of possibility that is motivating scores of volunteers and evokes the legendary movement to elect Chicago’s first African-American mayor, Harold Washington. 

Rahm Emanual’s “Mayor 1%” nickname is well-deserved, and I would love to see him lose to someone who actually understands the struggles of so many of the people he aspires to serve.