Rahm Emanuel leaves Chicago headquarters and says Biden is "disciplined" in his bid for 2020

CHICAGO – Rahm Emanuel leaves the office of the mayor of Chicago with a provocative attitude towards his critics on the left and encourages, although not engaging, the campaign of the democratic leader Joe Biden.

Emanuel, who passes the baton to Lori Lightfoot on Monday after a tumultuous second term, spoke with POLITICO last week for an exclusive interview while he was preparing to leave City Hall. Emanuel joins a long list of former Obama soldiers, saying it was "too early" to approve a candidate for 2020. But he said Biden "was focusing on Trump, ignoring the Democrats and not committing no mistake, where his lack of discipline in previous races "returns" to haunt him.He learned this lesson by being disciplined. "

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Among the nearly two dozen Democrats in the presidential race, including novices such as Pete Buttigieg and former Beto O'Rourke representative, nobody has a longer political summary than the former vice president. "The problem with Biden, the expectations are there," said Emanuel, hands in the air. "For Mayor Pete, Beto and others, expectations are here. Joe Biden is Biden's biggest challenger. "

Emanuel, who was President Barack Obama's first chief of staff from 2009 to 2010 after a six-year term in the House, said the progressive concerns over Biden's track record turn out to be exaggerated. "Activists told Joe Biden three months ago:" You must apologize for the Violence Against Women Act, the Prohibition of Assault Weapons, Community Outreach and Investments. the most important in the crime bill, "said Emanuel.

Instead, Democrats must "focus on ideas, not ethnicity and origins," he said. Voters, said Emanuel, are "focused on victory. And whoever can help them win is their ideology. "

And he argues that the attacks on Biden for drafting the 1994 crime bill actually did not tarnish his status among African Americans in crucial crucial homes like South Carolina.

"All activists are missing because voters are pragmatic. Activists are not pragmatic, "said Emanuel. "That's what Joe Biden showed. He showed that Democrats want to win. It's not about "You're not for Medicare for all".

Emanuel has had his own strained relationship with the progressives in a city where he is considered too moderate. Even after reaching a minimum wage of $ 13 an hour in Chicago, "I was shouted not to touch $ 15 – in the meantime, Illinois was $ 7.25," he said. he declares. "I would just say left: that sometimes explains why you do not win."

At the end of his job at Chicago City Hall, Emanuel said he did not care at all about how critics valued his past as mayor.

"Sometimes, all those people who talk for whom they are trying to fight do not even know them. They swirl their white wine, their windfall, sit down and munch on small salty biscuits and brie and discuss what you need to do. And they have never been to neighborhoods and communities, "he says.

"This is what I know about politics. The facts have weight, "said Emanuel – suggesting that he cared more about his legacy than he would like to admit. He then checked what he called his success. Graduation rates are up: "Done!" Reading and math scores are up: "Done!" High school teens enrolled in community college programs are on the rise: "Done" . Mentoring is on the rise: "Done". , waving his arm for the last "Fact!"

And although Emanuel has criticized the closure of underutilized schools, the conviction of one of his school heads for corruption and a seven-day strike against a teacher, he may always boast of winning. The teachers' strike culminated in the promise of its campaign to extend the public school children's day of Chicago public schools and kindergarten and day kindergarten and universal pre-kindergarten .

Later, in the midst of the swell and budget cuts in the state, Emanuel and his director of public schools in Chicago successfully led a campaign to get state legislators to increase their spending on education, which has finally helped underfunded schools in Illinois. It was a fierce battle with former Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, who had already been friends with Emanuel, but came at a time when it seemed possible that Chicago schools would not even be open for a year.

"Inequality of income – which is our biggest challenge – is really a dip in a degree," he said. "We have made education a bridge to the future, rather than division. … we have positioned Chicago for the future. "