RAHM ROMPS – AT 9:04 A.M. ET:  Rahm Emanuel seems headed for a huge victory in the Chicago mayoralty race, without having to go through the inconvenience of a runoff.  The Politico reports:

Rahm Emanuel is headed toward victory in the race for Chicago mayor, a new poll of the city’s likely voters suggests.

With less than two weeks to go until Election Day, 54 percent of voters surveyed by Chicago’s ABC affiliate WLS-TV said they plan to vote for the former White House chief of staff — almost four times the percentage of respondents who said they would support his closest competitor. If he is able to capture more than 50 percent of the vote in the Feb. 22 general election, Emanuel would avoid a runoff and replace Richard M. Daley as mayor.

COMMENT:  As we've noted before, this is an important race because the mayor of Chicago has substantial state and national political clout.  Emanuel was almost thrown off the ballot because of a residency question, and has overcome an ugly racial challenge from "leaders" of Chicago's black community.  If he wins, the next stop on the line will be governor.

February 9, 2011