Rahm: I'm not a Washington Insider
The Chicago Sun-Times reports:
Q. Do you think questions about your residency will resolved in your favor?
A. The Board of Elections will resolve it. ... We should talk about the key issues and not use this as a smokescreen to avoid the key issues. ... This is old politics of trying to limit choices for the voters, rather than giving them choices. This is an old game and an old set of politics.
Q. Even if that's resolved, you're still someone who has spent the last decade in Washington.
A. That's not true. ... I was born in Chicago. I lived in Chicago until my parents moved to Wilmette. ... I went to college and I moved back Chicago. ... I worked in Chicago for ten years, then moved to Washington for two. I moved back to Chicago. After my service to President Clinton, I didn't stay in Washington. I moved with my wife and my two young kids back to the city of Chicago. ... My family lived here while I represented the city of Chicago in Congress.
Q. But, you are viewed by some as a Washington insider at a time when being a Washington insider could not be more unpopular. How do you sell that to voters who blame Washington?
A. I don't think anybody in Washington would see me as an insider. They saw me as someone who came in as a member of Congress to change it so we could could get a minimum wage passed, so we could get an extension of the children's health care bill passed.
Q. But, why do you need a listening tour to tell you what Chicagoans are thinking?
A. Why do I listen? Because every problem that ails the city of Chicago, the solution can be found in Chicago. When I do my listening tours, it's to make sure that if I'm lucky enough and fortunate enough to get the confidence of the peole to get to the fifth floor, I carry their voice, their concerns and their issues up there. It is an experience I would recommend to everybody seeking public office....I did [weekend] office hours at the grocery store, Congress on your Corner, and I will do Mayors on Your Corner [if elected].
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