Sneed: Political bickering baffles wives of gov, mayor

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A wives’ tale . . .

Rahm & Rauner: The battling boys from Illinois may be having at it.

But it’s their wives who may have innocently started the stew that led to the brew.

• Translation: Sneed is told Gov. Bruce Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who are lobbing hot coals at each other, were once so friendly they spent a few family holidays together (Hanukkah?) — via a friendship developed between their wives, Diana Rauner and Amy Rule.

Sneed is told the women ostensibly became friends via their volunteer work (both hugely committed to children’s issues) and their husbands’ work in upper echelon financial circles.

They eventually connected as families.

Word is both highly educated women — who are devoted to their children, have strong marriages and are protective of their hubbies — are each flummoxed over the intensity of brickbats being tossed back and forth by their Type A personality mates, who once got a kick out of their political mantles in different political worlds.

Sneed is told Rahm and Rauner used to ring each other up offering friendly discourse and sometimes advice.

Ah, politics.

But . . . I wouldn’t mess with Amy.

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A trumper trumpeter?

If reports are true GOP presidential hopeful Donald “Trumper Tantrum” Trump is among 200 nominees for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize this year, then Sneed asks this head-scratcher: Who in the heck nominated him?

• Anyone out there want to lay claim to that answer?

Swat ’em. . .

Hmmm. Powerful House Speaker Mike Madigan seems to be using a rather big swatter for a congressional opponent he ostensibly likens to a nettlesome tse-tse fly.

• To wit: Sneed is told pro-Madigan forces have reportedly sent out three negative mailers on Jason Gonzales, 41, a business consultant who is one of three of Madigan’s hispanic Democratic primary opponents.

• Buckshot: One of the mailers includes Gonzales’ old suburban arrest record, which occurred in the early ’90s. Gonzales, once a high school dropout who eventually attended Duke University and got master’s degrees from MIT and Harvard several years ago, claims to have turned his life around — and getting a full pardon from Gov. Pat Quinn.

• Quoth a Gonzales source: “Contrary to what is being rumored, Jason is not a plant by Madigan’s nemesis, Gov. Bruce Rauner; Jason comes from a union family; has worked with progressive groups, and was fully pardoned by Gov. Pat Quinn — but not Republican Governors Jim Edgar or George Ryan. He is not a Republican plant.”

• Please note: Although pro-union Gonzales has denied being a Republican . . . he has admitted accepting contributions from Rauner donors.

Ah, politics.

The eraser set . . .

Sneed hears two aldermanic names have surfaced as possible replacements as chairman of the City Council Education Committee, now that Ald. Will Burns (4th) is resigning the post as well as his City Council seat: Ald. Patricia Dowell (3rd) and Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th).

Stay tuned.

Gaga gab . . .

Hmmm: Will the famous warbler show up as a very costumed Lady Gaga when she sings the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday?

Or will Gaga show up as a sophisticated Stefani Germanotta during halftime when the Carolina Panthers take on the Denver Broncos in Santa Clara, California?

P.S. Will our town’s Marlee Matlin, the gorgeous Academy Award winner set to perform in sign language during Gaga’s performance, follow suit?

Stay tuned.

The Bowie beat . . .

It’s no secret the British tabloid press will go all out to get a juicy story or link nonsense to a celebrity photo.

• Case in point: The London Daily Mail just noted the late rocker David Bowie’s dog, Max — photographed recently being walked by Bowie’s widow, Iman — shares “a distinctive look with his late owner — one blue eye and one brown.”

Breathe.

Sneedlings . . .

Today’s birthdays: Alice Cooper, 68; Gavin DeGraw, 39, and Oscar De La Hoya, 43.

Tweets by @Sneedlings

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