I kid, I kid. He didn’t say that; that’s what he was thinking while droning through this very politic “we will prevail” statement. A few points to add to Ed’s post from a few hours ago. One: No, Rahm can’t run as a write-in. Being a non-resident means you’re not eligible to hold office, so in theory even if he went the Murkowski route (“R-A-H-M, not R-O-M”), he’d be sunk. Two: Yes, of course he’s appealing the decision, but the state supreme court will have to act very quickly. Early voting for mayor starts in just one week(!) and ballots need to be printed, so we should have some some sort of resolution in the next day or two. Three: Twitter was aflame for awhile after the decision first came down with reminders that the Illinois Supreme Court rarely overturns an appellate ruling. I’m sure that’s true, but if you think that rule of thumb applies in this case, you’re kidding yourself. There’s no way that they’re going to rubber-stamp a blockbuster lower court decision that’ll determine who runs one of America’s biggest economic engines for the next several years — especially when the candidate involved is a former White House chief of staff and happens to be the frontrunner in the polls. For cripes sake, the appellate decision wasn’t even unanimous. So yes, the Illinois Supremes will take this up and give it a very non-deferential look, and yes, the odds of a reversal are quite fair. Which isn’t to say today’s decision isn’t glorious — the Hammer hit the nail on the head as to why — just that its glory is likely to be sadly short-lived.

Thanks to RCP for the video. Exit question: Why do we have residency requirements for eligibility in the first place? If a lifelong New Yorker shows up in Chicago and decides he wants to run for mayor right away, why not leave it to voters to decide whether they want him or not? His opponents will end up destroying him over it in campaign ads (he’s a carpetbagger, he doesn’t know the city and its needs, etc), so it’s not like voters won’t know he’s from out of town by the time they go to the polls. In an age of mass media, there’s no good reason I can think of to impose a total statutory bar to office on this ground.