Signs that Stone Runs Scared

Seven months ago, Ald. Stone wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Chicago Reader. In his normally arrogant tone, he invited Greg Brewer into the race for Alderman: "Come on in—the water is fine." Seems he wished he could rescind that invitation.

Friday I drove past the Brewer headquarters at Lunt and Western. There are Stone signs plastered all over that building. One empty storefront screams, "I'm scared, Mr. Brewer! Go away!"

But I'm betting the message is aimed more at Brewer's supporters (and the voters in the 50th) than anything else. That's our Berny. If you don't love him, he wants you to fear him. Very scared is even better. It's an old mob thing. He's all about intimidation. Thus his blatant attempt at public humiliation. Or so they think.

For comparison, this morning I drove by Salman's and Naisy's headquarters. No real sign of Stone activity. The empty storefront near Naisy's has a "For Rent" sign, but no Standing with Stone, no signs that express Stone's need to intimidate Naisy's supporters. They pose no threat to him.

Stone is clearly scared of Greg Brewer. So buck up, Brewer supporters! The recent additions around your campaign office should be viewed as an indicator that you've gotten under Berny's skin. He's scared. He's feeling cornered. He knows that Brewer is his only real competition, and he continues to show that month after month.

If you haven't seen the "I'm scared" Stone signs, you should take a look. It's a hoot. Everyone will laugh by how scared Stone and his supporters are acting. Then we should do everything we can do make Berny's fears of losing real.