Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel advised Democrats to “take a chill pill,” and warned them it’s not going to be a “quick turnaround” when it comes to regaining power in Washington, D.C.
“It took us [Democrats] a long time to get this low,” Emanuel said Monday at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. “It ain’t gonna happen in 2018.”
Emanuel took a shot at some members of the Democratic Party, blasting them for sometimes taking a position that they feel is morally right, even if it costs them an election.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to win, OK?” the mayor lamented. “Winning’s everything. If you don’t win, you can’t make the public policy,” Emanuel said. “I say that because it is hard for some people in our party to accept that principle.”
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“You have to give people your vision, OK?” the mayor said in California. He mentioned his 2008 book, co-authored by political operative Bruce Reed. The mayor was a congressman when he wrote the book, “The Plan – Big Ideas For America.”
“You also gotta know, you can’t beat something with nothing, that was Bill Clinton’s lesson to me. You have to have an alternative,” the mayor said. The message may have been lost by national Democrats who failed to construct a clear message on why former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a better alternative to President Donald Trump.
“I’m With Her” became the slogan for the Clinton campaign. Issues surrounding her use of a private email server while secretary of state, coupled with questions looming over the Clinton Foundation and WikiLeaks may have played a role in her demise, but many Democrats simply campaigned against Trump.
“They [Republicans] didn’t get to this point overnight,” Emanuel added. “You’re going to have a success here and a success there. It’s worth fighting for. This country is worth fighting for.”
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