Video: Bernie Rips Rahm (And Hillary) In New Ad

By Sam Stecklow in News on Mar 11, 2016 3:51PM

In a Bernie Sanders campaign ad released five days before the Illinois primary, Chicago Public Schools principal and perennial Rahm antagonist Troy LaRaviere ties Chicago's corrupt political system, Rahm's closure of 50 South and West Side Schools, and Hillary Clinton together so seamlessly it's almost easy to forget you're watching a political ad.

"If you have a presidential candidate who supports someone like our mayor, you have a candidate not willing to take on the establishment," LaRaviere says, bringing to mind Clinton's shrugging off of the mayor's potential culpability in the Laquan McDonald cover-up.

LaRaviere has been a thorn in Rahm's side for years. In a letter to the editor printed in the Sun-Times in 2014, he wrote that CPS's budget cuts and school closures showed that Emanuel cared little about the public school students of Chicago. And he is the frontrunner to lead the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, the principals' union, which would bring him even more directly into regular conflict with Rahm.

Sanders, after his surprise win in Michigan, is concentrating heavily on the Illinois primary. Two recent polls, one in February and one last week, had Clinton up 19 and 42 points, respectively, though polls in Michigan had Clinton up 21 points before election day. Both candidates have had rallies in the Chicagoland area this week.