August 23, 2006
One Less Mayoral Candidate?
Late yesterday afternoon we received a call from mayoral hopeful Michael Brown's campaign office. "Tomorrow, 11 a.m., outside the Wilson Building," was about as much info as we could get out of the campaign volunteer. The call was followed up by an email adding that the press conference would include a "major announcement regarding his plans for the future."
Uh oh. We might be jumping the gun here, but we're guessing that Brown, who we interviewed earlier this year, is bowing out of the race. Why? Well, he's never much broken above the single-digits in support. But maybe more importantly, his campaign's financial situation isn't too cheery -- in an August 10 campaign finance filing, he admitted to having only $2,407 on hand and $55,000 in loans. And most obviously, no one holds a press conference to make a "major announcement" that they're gonna stick it out.
Since we're in the realm of total, though semi-educated conjecture here, we may as well guess that Brown will throw his support behind another candidate. We'd wager it would be Adrian Fenty. But then again, we're guessing here.
If he does pull out of the race, it'll be too bad. Regardless of his lack of support, Brown was consistently optimistic, arguing that even if he didn't win the race, he'd make some good points in the process. Brown was the only candidate to spend the early months of this year focusing on youth problems, a timely issue considering the focus they have become in the recent crime emergency. He also constantly demanded statehood, while many other candidates were content with arguing for one voting seat in the House of Representatives. And in a shocking admission, he opined to the Washington Times that if he were elected, he'd dump the new stadium altogether and refurbish RFK instead.
For now, though, we don't really know what he'll say at 11 a.m. But guessing is a lot of fun.
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Okay, I'm staring at that headline and trying to figure out whether it's grammatically correct or not. I don't think it should read "One Fewer Mayoral Candidate." But maybe "One Mayoral Candidate Less"? I'm confused.
Anyone with a Ph.D. in English want to help me out here?
And most obviously, no one holds a press conference to make a "major announcement" that they're gonna stick it out.
Well, except for Katherine Harris (and Joe Lieberman). But point taken.
HMMMMMM....banking on Fenty winning and Mike Brown running to fill the newly vacated Ward 4 Council seat (since he lives in Ward 4)...just my 2 cents. What a disaster...
Disaster? I'm curious as to how, given you didn't explain how that meant Linda Cropp becomes mayor.
Disaster? How? I didn't see you saying Linda Cropp would become mayor. Now that would be a disaster.
I never thought Mr. Brown was the best choice for mayor, but I've got to give him credit for his performance at the debates I've watched and for showing up and successfully engaging at neighborhood events. He didn't impress me badly, and could make a fine CM.
Jason, "less" is for nouns you can't count (such as dirt). "Fewer" is for nouns you can. Since you can count candidates, it should be "fewer."
The More You Know (ding!)
So -- what happened at the press conference?
Hey Grammarian,
Yeah, that's what I think, too, but I wonder if there's an exception when you're just dealing with one of a countable noun. "One fewer" sounds very odd to me, but "One Less Mayoral Candidate" also sounds stilted. I just can't figure out what specifically is wrong with it.
How would you say the headline should be phrased?
Maybe Brown will throw his support behind Nestor Djonkam, who credits Michael Brown's father, Ron Brown, with being his political mentor.
Unfortunately, this is going to make it even more likely that people will think the Michael D. Brown running for shadow senator is the same person as Michael A. Brown the (former) mayoral candidate. It's not Michael D. Brown's fault, of course, but support coming from name recognition based on coincidence is even worse than when it's based on family relationships.
I was at the press conferecne. I guess we were all wrong. Not only is Brown not getting out, he is already acting like the Mayor with a new stadium financing plan which stops construction on the boondoggle on South Capital Street and refurbishes RFK Stadium. His plan for the excess money the city would save would go back to the people in the form of capital improvements and infrastructure. Also, we learned while talking with Brown, he has two huge union endorsements are coming his way in the next day or two. For those who were not at the press conference -- Michael Brown is a leader and he is already acting like the mayor by taking control of an out-of-control situation (unlike Cropp and Fenty who have admitted to just accepting the stadium as a bad deal). I've got to say that I'm impressed.
Two "huge" union endoresements? Probably not.
Cropp's been endorsed by the Washington Metro COuncil AFL-CIO, AFGE District 14, AFSCME Council 20, Teamsters Joint Council 25, and so on.
i wasn't at the press conference, but i heard from a co-worker that brown was, as the comment before says, going over his stadium plan. i also heard he's getting a couple of union endorsements, too, but not sure from whom. dcist - update your story! you all are a bit behind.
Stopping the stadium at this point and refurbishing RFK? Brown has seriously Jumped the Shark.