News broke on Thursday afternoon that Joe Ricketts, financier of the Chicago Cubs purchase and father of Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts, was orchestrating an unusual attack ads compaign targeted at incumbent President Barack Obama.
Tom Ricketts has released a statement following the scandal, distancing himself from his father's campaign. David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune has the details:
"As Chairman of the Chicago Cubs, I repudiate any return to racially divisive issues in this year’s presidential campaign or in any setting—like my father has. My focus is on one of great American pastimes, baseball. Our team and every other MLB team are great examples of people of diverse backgrounds working together towards a common goal. My full-time focus is on making the Chicago Cubs a World Series champion preserving Wrigley Field and making the Chicago Cubs a great corporate citizen." (links 1, 2, 3 and 4)
Despite her father's leanings, Cubs chairperson Laura Ricketts also wanted to make her intentions clear:
His sister, Laura, a strong supporter of President Obama, also released her own statement making clear she and father Joe Ricketts...
— David Haugh (@DavidHaugh) May 17, 2012
"..have diverse political views (but) above all we love and respect each other.'' Statement calls Obama, "great leader in difficult times.''
— David Haugh (@DavidHaugh) May 17, 2012
Laura is Barack Obama supporter and a key financial contributor to his reelection campaign.
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