Timeless Advice
2011-01-11 17:51:15.531189+01 by petronius 0 comments
My brother and his family live in the Chicago suburb of Forest Park, a pleasent bedroom community at the end of two elevated train lines with a population of about 15,000 souls. Rather to my surprise, my 17 year-old nephew has decided to run for the town council this April. (he will be 18 by then, and finishing high school) I saw him this weekend, and he spoke of setting up a fund-raising event and getting our large clan out to drum up support. He also had his first political anecdote.
Last week he attended a basketball game at his school and discovered that former White House consigliere Rahm Emmanuel was also there. Rahm is of course in a four-way race for mayor of Chicago (4 real candidates plus some cranks). My nephew went up and introduced himself to the former US congressman as a fellow candidate and asked him for any words of statesmanlike wisdom. Rahm took him by the shoulder, looked into young Matthew's eyes and told him, "Go negative early."