Democrats are not going to take political power back in just two years and they need to be more realistic about the political climate, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
“It ain’t gonna happen in 2018,” Emanuel said Monday, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Take a chill pill, man. You gotta be in this for the long haul.”
Emanuel was speaking at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California and tried to make the case that it’s going to be a longer fight than some Democrats may believe.
Some Democrats have pointed to the 2009 tea party movement as an example of a guide to follow now that they’ve lost all power in the federal government. That tea party movement led to Republicans taking back the House in 2010, the Senate in 2014 and helped usher President Trump into the White House.
Emanuel said it will take longer for the same thing to happen for Democrats and they need to be ready for a long fight.
“Winning’s everything,” he said. “If you don’t win, you can’t make the public policy. I say that because it is hard for people in our party to accept that principle. Sometimes, you’ve just got to win, OK?”
“Our party likes to be right, even if they lose. I don’t go to moral victory speeches. I can’t stand them. I’ve never lost an election. It’s about winning, because if you win you then have the power to go do what has to get done.”
“If you lose, you can write the book about what happened — great, that’s really exciting!” he added.
