Ken Berwitz

If Rahm Emanuel thought his biggest obstacle to becoming Mayor of Chicago was getting a sympathetic ruling on whether he really is a citizen of the city anymore, he was sadly mistaken.

His problem - a very, very big one (that is not an anatomical reference) - is named Carol Moseley Braun.

You may remember Ms. Moseley Braun as a former U.S. Senator, whose re-election bid was thwarted by a quarter-million dollars in unexplained campaign funds and a highly aromatic relationship with then-Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha.

Well, she is back, and ready to take the reins of office in Chicago --- with little other than Rahm Emanuel standing in her way.

Is this going to be a racially tinged campaign?  Given the fact that, for overtly race-based reasons (read the excerpt below) a slew of major Black politicians have immediately come to her side, it is hard to imagine anything but.

And does this have the potential to create major racial tensions in Chicago?  The answer is eminently obvious.  Excerpted from an article in today's Chicago Tribune:

Braun was lauded by state Sen. James Meeks and U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, both of whom dropped out of the race, as well as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who held private meetings aimed at getting the major black contenders to unite to improve the chances of an African-American candidate winning the mayoral election. 

"The realities are that when our community comes together, as the song says, ain't no stopping us now," said Davis, who quit the race on New Year's Eve, just days after saying he was in it to win.

Given that there are also a number of lesser candidates, it is doubtful that either of these two can get the 50% or more of the vote necessary to win outright.  The greatest likelihood is that there will be a runoff between Mr. Emanuel and Ms. Moseley Braun.

So let the games begin.  Let's have the three-ring circus of a Black President's White (and Jewish) former chief of staff being opposed by a Black former U.S. Senator with the preponderance of Black support behind her -- in the city of jeremiah wright and louis farrakhan.

And who will Barack Obama support??????  That is a helluva question, isn't it?

You can't say this won't be entertaining.