April 8, 2008
Morning Roundup: Keep it Moving Edition
Good morning, D.C. The Nats lost their second regular season home game last night to the Florida Marlins in an action-packed game that left fans still hopeful for a rally well into the final inning. It was a disappointing, 10-7 finish, which brings the Nationals to five straight losses. WJLA also notes that the scoreboards weren't working properly until about 10 minutes into the game. The only silver lining for those who attended was that lighter than expected attendance kept Metro running smoothly both before and after the game, despite our predictions. WTOP gives the cold weather credit for reducing last night's crowds. We're now curious to see what Wednesday night will be like, with the Nationals again facing the Marlins, the Wizards scheduled to play the popular Boston Celtics, and D.C. United heading in to CONCACAF Champion's Cup play against Pachuca, all at approximately the same time. Hopefully we'll again be pleasantly surprised by how easy getting around at rush hour will be, but with three simultaneous games, it's hard not to anticipate a mess.
Gandhi Under Fire In New Audit: The new annual independent D.C. government audit by BDO Seidman is scheduled to be released tomorrow, and everyone has their own take. The Post reports on the "material weaknesses" found in the the District's handling of finances in DCPS, Medicaid and the Office of Tax and Revenue, while the Examiner notes that the report reveals that $9 million was stolen from the Office of Tax and Revenue in 2007 alone. WTOP's Mark Segraves has the money observation, however, pointing out that this is the first annual audit in recent history that is critical of Natwar Gandhi. Could this new report endanger the CFO's future?
Thomas Switches to Undecided: In what could be a sign of things to come, the Examiner reports that one of the District's unpledged Democratic delegates, Ward 5 Council member Harry Thomas, Jr., has switched from publicly supporting Sen. Hillary Clinton, to being listed as "undecided." The District will have a total of 39 delegates at the Democratic National Convention this summer: 15 pledged delegates, 20 superdelegates and the two unpledged add-on delegates, Thomas and Ward 7 Council member Yvette Alexander. Sen. Barack Obama won 75 percent of the popular vote in D.C. democratic primary.
Briefly Noted: D.C. once again won't meet its special education requirement ... D.C. Madam trial begins ... Howard County police officer accidentally shoots two teens ... Fire broke out in a high rise at 401 K Street last night.
Photo by joseph_j_dangelo
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Et tu, Harry? Then fall Clinton.
harry isn't switching because he personally is up in the air on this. as one of his constituents, i know that he's feeling heat because the vast majority of his ward are obama supporters, and if he doesn't cast a vote for the candidate that won his ward easily, he's going to get shit about it for the rest of his days.
that said, i look forward to him casting a ballot for obama!
you mean there were other events going on last night besides the ncaa championship?
IMGoph, I can see your point and it makes sense, but it shows that rather than voting his conviction, he is voting to pander to his constituency.
Isn't this a situation where his vote as an unpledged delegate is above representation of his constituency?
Nope. As a politician, it is his best interest to get reelected. This can be put in context of his commitment to his constituents in that he believes that he is the best able to serve them. Thus, if supporting Hillary over Barack is endangering his reelection, then he is right to switch. He can easily explain his switch by stating that he was voting for his constituents. Showing some political cajones on this one wouldn't win him much in the way of votes, and it would open up the charge that he is out of touch with his constituents.
It's nice that Metro was taking care of those at the game last night, but can someone remind them that there are other people on the system, too? Waiting 20+ minutes for a green line train, which is then followed by 2 more in the next 4 minutes, all held for the game to get out, doesn't make me or anyone else on the packed platform very happy.
Very ugly CAFR report. Gandhi is going to get hit hard for the report.
drew: i would argue that the opinion of his constituency is more important in the case of selecting the president. of course, that's not the way the nominating rules are set up right now. i think the rules should be changed (the entire superdelegate thing is kinda out there).
you have a point, but in the greater realm of the election and the will of the people, i think he should be voting obama.
The Green Line needs more frequent service in general. Seven minute headways are insufficient. Having the Yellow Line go all the way to Fort Totten during rush hour would help, but obviously not do much for the stadium crowds.
His vote, as a delegate of the DC Democratic Party, should not have any bearing on his election as a DC Councilmember.
The constituency of Ward 5 voted overwhelmingly for Obama, and the pledged delegates reflect that. But, he wasn't selected as a delegate on the sole count that he is a Council member. If that was true, then the entire Council would be going to Denver as well.
If he wants to jump ship because his constituents voted for a different candidate, even though it conflicts with his personal view, so be it.
Not only is the superdelegate thing out there, the whole Democratic nominating system is out there. Very convoluted, and no relation to how the general election works. I consider myself a fairly educated guy when it comes to how politics works, but about the only thing missing from the Democratic Party's process is a college of cardinals and a puff of white smoke.
"Nope. As a politician, it is his best interest to get reelected."
this is why we need term limits.
oh, yeah this and Marion Barry.
Gandhi will probably end up having to resign over this.
There's a good chance that more than half the Democrats on the council will be going to Denver. Vincent Gray, Kwame Brown, Yvette Alexander, and Harry Thomas Jr are delegates, and there are still three pledged at-large delegates to be selected May 1. I wouldn't be surprised if Muriel Bowser (Obama) and Jack Evans (Clinton) were among the three.
There are also a couple of former council members in the DC delegation: DNC member Arrington Dixon (Obama) and pledged district-level delegate Sandy Allen (Clinton).
To be fair to Gandhi, why is it buried that the city has a $280 million surplus for '07?! Have I just not been paying attention, and this was already reported?? Cuz, that's news to me, and good news. DC, with an nearly $300 million surplus? Great.
Term limits definitely let the public off the hook--they don't need to hold the elected official accountable for his/her malfeasance, as he/she will be term-limited out anyway. Some (not me) would argue that term limits harm public representation by getting rid of politicians who have experience working within the system (nice to have people who know how to write and pass legislation or budgets, for example). In a perfect world, the public would care enough to inform themselves about elected officials actions, then punish or reward them aptly at the ballot box.