Daley’s decision to bail on a debate he agreed to participate in weeks ago also came on the same day the Chicago Tribune published a story about a 1970s scandal in which testimony and court records showed his licensing test to sell insurance was tampered with so he could pass an exam he already had flunked once. Daley insisted he didn’t bow out of the debate to avoid criticism, but because he thought it more important to go accept the endorsement of a plumbers union.