CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Rahm Emanuel's office says the Chicago mayor and former chief of staff to President Barack Obama is coming home early from the Democratic National Convention.
Emanuel is facing a tough week of contract negotiations between the city's school district and the Chicago Teachers Union, which is threatening to strike next week. The teachers put on a show of strength Monday, gathering thousands of supporters outside City Hall.
Emanuel
had a quick response to Teachers Union activists claiming he should not go to Charlotte at all.
"The country we live in can help the City of Chicago grow. And I'd
rather make sure that the next four years are under President Obama's
leadership. And, at his behest, I'm going to speak."
The mayor told FOX
Chicago News that his speech will include some of the President's specific
decisions that Emanuel believes stopped the economy from sinking further than
it did right after he took office.
"I had a front row
seat to those crucial years. How he leads this country to the point of what he
inherited is not where we are today. Now, we're not where we need to be, but it
was because of his leadership."
Emanuel is also
targeting the opposition. A Gallup
survey found Republican Mitt Romney's nationally televised speech last Thursday
gave him barely any "bounce" at all.
Emanuel claimed it
contained nothing memorable.
"There
is no "Read my lips." There is no "For those who work hard and
play by the rules," as Bill Clinton said in Madison Square
Garden. There is no
"compassionate conservatism" as George W. Bush said. There's none of
that. After the convention, it's usually the nominee's speech that defines.
Coming out of their convention, it's Clint Eastwood and an empty chair that
define their convention. "
Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton says the schedule change was solely because the mayor was asked to host a party for Obama campaign staffers in Chicago on Thursday to watch the president's speech.
The mayor is scheduled to address the convention Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. He had planned to stay until Friday morning, but will now leave late Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
