*Or how we imagine Fioretti might correct and clarify his endorsement of Rahm Emanuel

To my friends and supporters:

As you may have heard, yesterday I declared that the best person to help us recover from the disastrous policies of Mayor Rahm Emanuel is Rahm Emanuel.

My endorsement of the mayor for reelection has apparently confused some of you, so I wanted to clarify some of my previous statements about him.

On the eve of the February 24 election, I pledged to endorse "anybody but Rahm" if there were a runoff. The "anybody but" part was a slip of the tongue.

When I announced my campaign for mayor, my comment that "Our schools are being gutted, our streets are not safer, and so many are missing out on economic opportunities and jobs" was taken out of context.

In November, when I called Mayor Emanuel a "good Republican," I got my parties confused.

My statement to the City Club that "Chicago has been moving in the wrong direction for some time, and it's gotten worse in the last four years," was a speechwriter's error.

When I said Mayor Emanuel "has failed us by every measure," I was exaggerating for dramatic effect.

When Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis took ill, and I said it was "up to us to continue the movement," my desertion to the Emanuel camp yesterday is the kind of movement I had in mind.

I did say recently that we can no longer afford Mayor Emanuel's divisive leadership, but I now realize that Emanuel is our best hope for addressing our grave fiscal problems, including my campaign debt.

Sincerely,
Bob