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 Emanuel's political stock has tumbled after a racially divisive
scandal that grew out of a fatal police shooting of a teenager in
October 2014.
Sanders, a senator from Vermont, campaigned for Emanuel’s opponent
in last spring’s mayoral race and called for changes in the U.S.
policing strategies to ensure "lethal force should be a last option,
not a first option."
His comments appeared to be a direct reference to the killing of
17-year-old Laquan McDonald, an African-American who was shot 16
times by Jason Van Dyke, a white Chicago police officer who has been
charged with murder.
"If the question is whether I want or need Rahm Emanuel’s support
for president, the answer – in all due respect to the mayor - (is)
no, I don’t," Sanders told reporters.
While scorning support from Emanuel is no surprise, invoking his
name and alluding obliquely to the mishandled McDonald video
appeared to be a calculated political strategy aimed at mining
votes.
 Emanuel fought to keep a dash-cam video of the shooting out of the
public eye during his re-election battle, releasing it only after a
judge forced the city to do so last month.
The video's release triggered protests that are expected to resume
in Chicago on Thursday. Calls for Emanuel's resignation continue,
and the U.S. Justice Department is investigating complaints of
abusive policing and a lack of accountability within Chicago's
police force since the video's release.
Sanders appeared alongside Emanuel's vanquished 2015 mayoral
opponent, Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, and a
Democratic state lawmaker, Representative La Shawn Ford, who has
sponsored legislation in Illinois to permit voters to recall
Chicago's mayor. A young person stood behind Sanders during his
media conference wearing a t-shirt that said: "Rahm Failed Us."
Asked whether his vision of criminal justice reform matched that of
Emanuel’s, Sanders said, “I suspect not.” He did not elaborate
during a brief news conference.
Emanuel’s office declined to comment in response to Sanders’
comments, which followed a new listing by GQ magazine of its “Worst
People of 2015.” Emanuel was included in that group.
SAVVY, CONFRONTATIONAL
Emanuel stood as one of the Democratic Party’s savviest, if not most
confrontational, personalities before his political fortunes sagged.
He helped elect the last two Democratic presidents, serving first as
a fundraiser and political director under President Bill Clinton in
the 1990s and later as White House chief of staff for President
Barack Obama.
Between those jobs, Emanuel held a seat in the U.S. House of
Representatives, helping engineer a Democratic takeover in 2006.
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Sanders’ criticism also highlighted Hillary Clinton's dilemma over
how to use her politically damaged ally. With his vast experience in
Washington, Emanuel would normally campaign for her on Sunday
morning television news programs and be a valuable conduit to
Chicago’s historically fertile Democratic fundraising circuit.
However, some of Emanuel’s closest friends believe he must remain on
the sidelines of the presidential campaign to focus instead on
restoring public confidence in his mayorship and instituting a
crackdown on the kind of police behavior seen in the McDonald video.
“The last thing he should be focusing on is presidential
politicking,” longtime friend and former Obama adviser David Axelrod
told Reuters.
“I think he feels now more than ever an obligation to try and fix
this in a way that’s durable and lasting."
Hillary Clinton has expressed confidence in Emanuel but also
publicly backed the Justice Department probe into Chicago’s police
department, a stance that had her briefly at odds with Emanuel until
he threw his support behind the investigation.
Clinton’s campaign did not respond to questions from Reuters about
what role, if any, Emanuel might play.
Some veteran political observers have little doubt that Clinton has
no choice but to downplay her ties with Emanuel as she courts some
of the same African-American voters he has alienated in his handling
of the McDonald case.
"Politics is a business, and loyalty is great, but at some point, if
you’re too much of a liability, you get thrown under the bus,” said
former political journalist David Yepsen, who is head of the Paul
Simon Public Policy Institute at Southern Illinois University.
“And Rahm Emanuel understands that probably better than anybody
else,” he said.
(Editing by Paul Tait and Nick Macfie)
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